Willow Flycatcher with honeysuckles in the background – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Three days ago I was up in the Wasatch Mountains when I photographed this Willow Flycatcher on a beautiful sunny morning. Things can change fast in the intermountain west though because yesterday a wildfire started in the canyon I use to access the mountains where I took images of this flycatcher.
I-80 runs east/west through Parleys Canyon and just after 1 pm a catalytic convertor ejected hot particles along the roadside which started the #ParleysCanyonFire. Strong winds and tinder dry conditions due to our ongoing drought caused the wildfire to rapidly explode up the mountain slopes.
I was at home when the fire started and even miles away down in the Salt Lake Valley the smoke plume could easily be seen. I could see it from home.
Parleys Canyon Fire – 08-14-2021
About 6,000+ homes to the east of the wildfire were evacuated. I-80 came to a standstill and it is a major east–west transcontinental freeway. Traffic was backed up for miles.
Parleys Canyon Fire 3:14 pm
Sitting at home I could view the UDOT traffic cams of the area and I was absolutely horrified by how rapidly the wildfire spread.
Parleys Canyon Fire 4:19 pm
Tankers from as far away as Idaho, Montana, and Oregon dumped load after load of fire retardant on the wildfire until sunset last night. One of the tankers is from Australia and that crew has been here in the U.S. helping to battle our numerous wildfires in the west this season.
The wildfire season here in the west has been horrific this year and I kept hoping that the Wasatch Mountains would escape the fires. Each time I go into the mountains I have worried about having a wildfire up there though because every thing has been so horribly dry this year, drier and hotter than any year since I have been in Utah. I always keep an eye on the sky to look for smoke during the wildfire season no matter where I am in the field.
By nightfall the Parleys Canyon Fire was estimated to have reached between 2,500 to 3,000 acres and was zero percent contained. The winds died down and hopefully overnight the fire didn’t spread as rapidly. I don’t know what will happen today with this fire. I do know that in the mornings there can be canyon winds and that won’t help the firefighters that have spent the night in the mountains battling this fire.
I don’t know how long it will be before I will travel up into the mountains to find birds to photograph because of this wildfire.
I do know that when I travel up Parleys Canyon again that my eyes are going to leak wet stuff on my cheeks when I see the burn scar. I have no doubt about that. I love those mountains and the birds and wildlife I find there.
Parleys Canyon Fire – Aug 15 2021
As I write this it is still too dark for me to see what is going on using the UDOT traffic cams. I really don’t know what to expect this morning. I can see plenty of smoke in the canyon.
Update: Night crews on the #ParleysCanyonFire reported minimal overnight for behavior. No accurate mapping yet, but ground truthing reports the acreage close to 1,500 acres.
Update 3:15 pm August 15, 2021: After more accurate aerial flights were conducted, the blaze was mapped at 619 acres — less than half the ground truthing estimate.
Mia
Utah wildfire forces thousands of homes to evacuate as the nation’s largest fire in California rages – CNN
Parleys Canyon Fire home, business evacuations to be reevaluated Sunday – KUTV
Fast-moving fire in Parleys Canyon reaches 2,500 acres; thousands of homes evacuated – KSL
6,000+ homes evacuated due to human-caused wildfire in Parleys Canyon – Fox13
Click here to see more of my Willow Flycatcher photos plus facts and information about this species.
Great pic of the flycatcher. The maps and attendant commentary you provided are both fascinating and scary. We’ve lived in So. Cal since 1953 and the drought, heat and attendant fires have never been worse. Seems like every year the frequency and severity of the fires in CA double down on the year before. And it’s happening all over the world. Maybe those apocalyptic Mad Max movies aren’t so silly after all.
Thanks Mia.
Thank you for the most comprehensive information available!
I am so very sorry about the fire – and hope it can be contained. Quickly. And yes, seeing the burn scars makes my eyes leak too.
I feel for you and the birds, animals, plants and people who love the area. Unfortunately we knew this was going to happen. And we know that there is nothing on earth or in heaven which will return things to a pre-1973 climate within the lifetime of any of our species. Those days are indeed gone for good. More unfortunately still we know it is inevitably going to get worse even if we “stopped dead” today and our only option is to learn to live with the new climate and its destruction while doing what we can on a micro scale as individuals and groups to remove the leaden foot from the gas pedal accelerating this destruction. Most unfortuately, those with the real power to call a halt on a macro scale to the increasing destructiveness of our cancerous methane and carbon emission socio-economic culture of perpetual growth are all refusing to do so and waste their time and ours with empty promises, platitudes and excuses for why they must continue on the same path. They apparently agree that it is “easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of . . . ” On a Sunday morning these are thoughts I wish had not taken over my mind but we all will find this type of grief intruding more frequently. Thankfully your photo shows you got a few moments of respite watching your Willow Flycatcher and we got to share that moment with you.
It all has me scrambling for new release sites and worrying over recent releases. I have been releasing all along Parleys Creek just across 1-80 from the fire down to Mt Dell Golf Course area. I am afraid to even try my other favorite release area around Little Dell Reservoir just in case the fire jumps 1-80 and heads north.
I carry a fire extinguisher in my car trunk, along with 3 gallons of water. I am often out photographing and releasing birds in dry brush areas. I try to only park my car on dirt, gravel or pavement but sometimes there is those few stray dry grass tops that I worry parking over.