The Tail End of 2021The Tail End of 2021

As the tail end of 2021 comes to a close it seemed fitting that the last photo I took yesterday was the tail end of a Common Goldeneye on what might have been my last trip into the field this year. I spent 17 minutes at my local pond yesterday simply because I needed a break from a couple of projects I have been working hard on. There were clouds rolling in and the light wasn’t the best. That is one cute, little duck butt.

Usually I try to pick a few favorite photos I have taken during each month of the year but I ran out of time this year so I will do a quick final report on 2021.

I’ll note how many times I was able to get into the field next to the months here and link to my archives for that month.

That is a total of 120 days in the field for 2021. That is an all time low for me. The reasons are many but smoke, drought, lack of birds, and nasty weather are just a few.

2021 was a year of extreme to exceptional drought here in northern Utah. Fruits and berries didn’t form on many of the trees and shrubs that feed migratory and resident birds. The grass, creeks, reservoirs, refuges, and lakes dried up. The Great Salt Lake water level hit an all time low. Birds were harder to find than they have ever been since I moved here in 2009.

But hey, we didn’t have any large earthquakes like we did in 2020.

I had some disappointments in 2021. Among those were not being able to photograph target birds because they simply were not there due to the ongoing, horrible drought. My Nikon D500 mirror and shutter had to be replaced because I had clicked the shutter on my D500 more than 620,000 times and the mirror was sticking. I was disappointed by some friends and acquaintances.

On the upside, I took many wonderful photos of birds in 2021 and other different subjects. I found a few rare birds to northern Utah including a Northern Waterthrush and a White-throated Sparrow. Even though my eyes are another year older I can still spot birds from hundreds of yards away or those buried deep in the brush and my hearing is still as keen as it ever was. I know birds, I find birds.

On the downside, the pandemic is still with us and I’m still masking up, I’m fully vaccinated against Covid, and I am perfecting social distancing. I have worried about friends, loved ones, complete strangers, and family more than ever because of this persistent, out of control virus.

December 31 to January 1 weather

Last winter we had very little snow down here in the valley, this winter we are actually getting snow. It is snowing this morning. I’ll have to scrape that white stuff off of my Jeep to go to the grocery store or get out to find birds. I’ll go out to try to find birds of it is snowing, I want to have some photos with big, fat, fluffy flakes in the frame.

2021 was what it was. Sometimes great, sometimes not so much. It was another journey around the sun and I am grateful that I was able to make the best of it.

Here is hoping that 2022 is better than 2021. For me, for you, for everyone.

Goodbye 2021. That’s a wrap.

Life is good.

Mia