{"id":95701,"date":"2021-09-27T05:38:48","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T11:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=95701"},"modified":"2021-09-27T05:44:04","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T11:44:04","slug":"thoughts-on-our-drought-douglas-firs-and-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/09\/27\/thoughts-on-our-drought-douglas-firs-and-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on Our Drought, Douglas Firs, And Birds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DroughtDrought stressed Douglas Fir cones \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week while out in the sky island mountains of the West Desert I was paying attention to more than just the birds I found. I paid particular attention to the trees and shrubs I saw. I noticed that the Red Osier Dogwoods<\/span><\/a> produced less berries this year than last which means less food for migrating birds. That was most likely caused by our exceptional drought here in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

I also looked over the Douglas Fir trees I see up in those mountains and while there were plenty of cones on the trees the cones themselves are shorter than they were last year. The cones don’t seem to be ripening in the same way that I have noticed in previous autumns.<\/p>\n

Drought stressed Douglas Fir trees will produce what is called a “stress crop<\/span><\/a>” of cones which is what I believe is happening to the firs in this location. Higher up the slopes in places that can only be gotten to on foot I can see Douglas Firs that have lost their needles and some that are dead. The death of these large fir trees from drought doesn’t happen rapidly but observant people notice it.<\/p>\n

According to the latest forecasts our drought may go from bad to worse because of the La Ni\u00f1a<\/span><\/a>. It is already horribly dry here in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Nuthatch clinging to a fir cone \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Many bird species depend on the seeds produced by Douglas Firs including Red-breasted Nuthatches. One of the reasons I pay close attention to the cones is because when the seeds are ripe I know I can count on seeing and photographing Red-breasted Nuthatches and other birds eating and caching the seeds.<\/p>\n

What about the other trees that are stressed from this drought? Oaks produce acorns that deer and other mammals feed on. Our legislators will put a $50.00 bounty on coyotes to protect the deer population but will ignore science to do the same.<\/p>\n

How much longer can these Douglas Firs survive in extreme drought conditions? When they are gone what will the birds that depend on their seeds to survive do?<\/p>\n

Time will tell. With the combination of the mega drought plus lower water levels in the Great Salt Lake which means less lake effect snow falls I know that there is trouble ahead where I currently live. I am 100% certain of that.<\/p>\n

If trees screamed out loud when they were dying or stressed would our climate change denying lawmakers in Utah listen or would they just stuff plugs in their ears? Knowing them I would say they would use the earplugs.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red-breasted Nuthatch photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos.<\/p>\n

Major Migratory Bird Habitat Is in Danger – North America\u2019s Great Basin is getting warmer, drier and saltier<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drought stressed Douglas Fir trees will produce what is called a “stress crop” of cones which is what I believe is happening to the firs in this location.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95695,"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":[27,3700,358,5345,26,1314],"tags":[4004,970,4897,195,7708,6879,4098,12327,6877,3681,12326,12325,4620,6909,4069,4927,4928,6878,7707,3701,7706,3702,10452,4427],"class_list":["post-95701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-red-breasted-nuthatches","category-tooele-county","category-trees","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-branch","tag-canyons","tag-cone","tag-cones","tag-desert","tag-desert-mountains","tag-douglas-fir","tag-drought","tag-drought-stressed","tag-exceptional-drought","tag-fall","tag-firs","tag-mountains","tag-nuthatch","tag-nuthatches","tag-pseudotsuga-menziesii","tag-pseudotsuga-menziesii-var-glauca","tag-red-breasted-nuthatch","tag-rocky-mountain-douglas-fir","tag-sitta-canadensis","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-tree"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-breasted-nuthatch-adult-mountains-mia-mcpherson-2998.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-oTz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":97106,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/07\/drought-stricken-douglas-firs\/","url_meta":{"origin":95701,"position":0},"title":"Drought-stricken Douglas Firs – How It Is Affecting The Birds That Eat The Seeds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was out in the sky island mountains of the West Desert of Utah a few days ago I was again met with virtual silence in and around the Douglas Firs that are there.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Douglas Fir cones November 5, 2021, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/douglas-fir-cones-close-up-mia-mcpherson-3223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/douglas-fir-cones-close-up-mia-mcpherson-3223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60228,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/15\/douglas-firs-bird-food-grown-stored-and-served-in-handy-cones\/","url_meta":{"origin":95701,"position":2},"title":"Douglas Firs – Bird Food Grown, Stored And Served in Handy Cones","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The cones of Douglas Firs provide food for birds and mammals and the trees provide shelter and nesting areas too. I've been paying attention to the Douglas Firs we have here for several years because of the birds I know I can find eating the seeds of the trees from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Douglas Fir cone in morning light, Stansbury Mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/douglas-fir-cone-mia-mcpherson-7231.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/douglas-fir-cone-mia-mcpherson-7231.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/douglas-fir-cone-mia-mcpherson-7231.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/douglas-fir-cone-mia-mcpherson-7231.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":161892,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/10\/28\/red-breasted-nuthatch-memories\/","url_meta":{"origin":95701,"position":3},"title":"Red-breasted Nuthatch Memories","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The weather has kept me out of the field lately, so today I wanted to share a few Red-breasted Nuthatch memories since I\u2019ve been seeing and hearing them recently.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch foraging in the Stansbury Mountains of Utah, West Desert, Tooele County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7928.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7928.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7928.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7928.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75197,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/08\/the-winds-of-change-affect-my-access-to-some-mountain-canyons\/","url_meta":{"origin":95701,"position":4},"title":"The Winds Of Change Affect My Access To Some Mountain Canyons","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I always feel a sense of sadness when I can't get to those mountain canyons and the birds that live there all year long when they close those gates for the winter.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Upside down Red-breasted Nuthatch clinging to a fir cone, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-in-mountains-mia-mcpherson-6787.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-in-mountains-mia-mcpherson-6787.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-in-mountains-mia-mcpherson-6787.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-in-mountains-mia-mcpherson-6787.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60958,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/21\/red-breasted-nuthatch-contrasting-light-and-shadows\/","url_meta":{"origin":95701,"position":5},"title":"Red-breasted Nuthatch – Contrasting Light and Shadows","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"What I like about this male Red-breasted Nuthatch photo is the contrast of light and shadows. While I can't see all the fine feather details in the shaded part of the nuthatch what I can see is simply enough.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Red-breasted Nuthatch in a Douglas Fir, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-mia-mcpherson-7060.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-mia-mcpherson-7060.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-mia-mcpherson-7060.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-mia-mcpherson-7060.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}