{"id":80046,"date":"2021-02-28T06:28:06","date_gmt":"2021-02-28T13:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=80046"},"modified":"2026-04-03T10:16:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T15:16:52","slug":"goodbye-february-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/28\/goodbye-february-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Goodbye February 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FebruaryFebruary 2021 – Weather Calendar<\/span><\/p>\n

I will not be sad to see February 2021 in the rear view mirror. It has been the second worst month for bird photography on record for me. Ever.<\/p>\n

February 2021 has been cloudy in the Salt Lake City area of Utah. Lots and lots of light sucking, joy destroying clouds.<\/p>\n

Given our severe drought conditions I wouldn’t have minded those clouds if<\/em> they had brought us enough moisture in the form of snow. Except for the record-breaking 11.7 inches of snow<\/span><\/a> that fell on February 17th the clouds we have had have only given us a trace of the moisture we truly need. The temps we had in February were mostly higher than our average too.<\/p>\n

During February 2021 I have only been out into the field eight<\/em> times. That ties with March of 2020 which is when the travel restrictions of the pandemic and earthquakes<\/span><\/a> hit all at the same time.<\/p>\n

May of 2020 was even worse with only 7 days out in the field but the year 2020 was hell on supersonic wheels of epic proportions for SO many reasons.<\/p>\n

I’m not normally a complainer. Typically I leave that to people who are more expert at it than I am. But yeah, I’m complaining today. February 2021 has been awful for me for bird photography.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Black-billed Magpie next to a puddle \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 640, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

On this last day of February I am excited about what March normally<\/em> brings. Mating birds. Nesting birds. Migratory birds. Birds on the wing. Birds that I haven’t seen since the fall.<\/p>\n

And hopefully I’ll see a few clear days each week of the month. March can still be snowy here in northern Utah and it is a good bet that I will hear my first thunderstorm of the year sometime in the next 31 days.<\/p>\n

I can deal with that as long as I have some days with good light and plenty of birds.<\/p>\n

Spring will arrive.<\/p>\n

Okay. My complaints are now completed.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good even when it seems like it isn’t.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

The Black-billed Magpie in the image above was photographed in March of 2019. I included this photo because it shows that the grass does start to green up next month.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Black-billed Magpie photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I will not be sad to see February 2021 in the rear view mirror. It has been the second worst month for bird photography on record for me. Ever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,245,1022,26],"tags":[4004,1813,8187,11978,6005,4842,4450,4167,5112,165,3996],"class_list":["post-80046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-black-billed-magpies","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-black-billed-magpie","tag-corvid","tag-desert-island","tag-magpie","tag-magpies","tag-nesting-season","tag-pica-hudsonia","tag-puddle","tag-spring","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/black-billed-magpie-adult-puddle-mia-mcpherson-3616.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-kP4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63432,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/27\/black-billed-magpie-portrait-in-whiteout-conditions\/","url_meta":{"origin":80046,"position":0},"title":"Black-billed Magpie Portrait In Whiteout Conditions","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I seem to be on a high key bird photo kick this month so I thought I would add one more of a Black-billed Magpie I photographed in a winter whiteout just a few days shy of four years ago.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-billed Magpie portrait in a winter whiteout, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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Sideways","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This Black-billed Magpie had been perched on the top of a leafless greasewood when it lifted off from it and flew almost directly towards me with its body and wings turned sideways in flight.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Black-billed Magpie on the wing, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-billed-magpie-flight-mia-mcpherson-4359.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-billed-magpie-flight-mia-mcpherson-4359.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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