{"id":76941,"date":"2021-01-01T06:57:05","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T13:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=76941"},"modified":"2025-10-29T06:18:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T11:18:54","slug":"happy-new-years-day-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/01\/happy-new-years-day-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy New Year’s Day 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is a chilly 29\u00b0F where I live in northern Utah on New Year’s Day 2021 and from my living room window I can see that it is foggy outside. I’m so glad to put 2020 in my rear view mirror. It was a rough year.<\/p>\n

I’m looking forward to seeing my first bird of 2021 and will be anxious to see what species I raise my lens for the first time in 2021.<\/p>\n

First Birds Seen In The Recent Past<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In both 2019 and 2020 the first birds I saw were American Crows. In 2020 I saw the crows<\/span><\/a> in the parking lot of my local grocery store when I drove there to get a cheese bagel.\u00a0 In 2018 it was a Black-billed Magpie I saw and heard outside my door. For three years in a row the first birds I saw in the new year were intelligent and fascinating corvids.<\/p>\n

First Birds Photographed In The Recent Past<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"CanadaCanada Goose on New Year’s Day 2020
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2020 the first bird I raised my lens for was an adult Canada Goose in flight at my local pond on a foggy, dreary New Year’s Day. I could wish that I had had better light that morning and that the first bird I raised my lens for was something less common than an Canada Goose. I am passionate about all<\/em> birds in all kinds of conditions so this goose made my day.<\/p>\n

\"BathingBathing Pied-billed Grebe on New Year’s Day 2019<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2019 the first bird I raised my lens for was a cute Pied-billed Grebe taking a New Year’s Day bath. It splashed water all over the place and then settled down to preen.<\/p>\n

\"CanadaCanada Goose portrait on New Year’s Day 2018
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2018 the first bird I photographed was another Canada Goose. The goose was so close to me that I opted to take portraits of it.<\/p>\n

I see a trend of corvids for the first bird seen for the year and waterbirds as the first photographed.<\/p>\n

I still don’t know what the first bird is that I will see and what the first bird is that I will photograph in 2021 because it is still dark outside or what birds I will photograph throughout this year. I do know that the birds I will see this year will amaze, delight and enchant me because that is what birds do for me. Every day of the year.<\/p>\n

Happy New Year. May it be ever so much better than 2020 was.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is a chilly 29\u00b0F where I live in northern Utah on New Year’s Day 2021 and from my living room window I can see that it is foggy outside.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,28,135,709,26],"tags":[4004,4373,32,4774,10791,4052,4122,4175,713,4775,877,707,156,6924,10792,4009,4166,1984,10793,2688,5758,4076,8018,3996,2063,373],"class_list":["post-76941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-canada-geese","category-pied-billed-grebes","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bathing","tag-branta-canadensis","tag-canada-geese","tag-first-bird","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-fog","tag-geese","tag-goose","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-low-light-2","tag-new-years-day","tag-photographed","tag-pied-billed-grebe","tag-podilymbus-podiceps","tag-pond","tag-seen","tag-splashing","tag-sunny","tag-trees","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t