{"id":96636,"date":"2021-10-24T06:17:31","date_gmt":"2021-10-24T12:17:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=96636"},"modified":"2021-10-24T06:45:41","modified_gmt":"2021-10-24T12:45:41","slug":"my-growing-concerns-over-this-years-crop-of-douglas-fir-seeds-because-of-our-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/24\/my-growing-concerns-over-this-years-crop-of-douglas-fir-seeds-because-of-our-drought\/","title":{"rendered":"My Growing Concerns Over This Years Crop Of Douglas Fir Seeds Because Of Our Drought"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DouglasDouglas Fir cones in a spot of sunlight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light,
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

My trip out into the sky island mountains of the West Desert last week caused my concerns about this years crop of Douglas Fir seeds to grow. On a previous trip out there earlier in the month I was concerned because I didn’t hear the calls of Red-breasted Nuthatches or Mountain Chickadees that should have been in the area feeding on and caching the seeds of the Douglas Firs. At that time I thought I might not be hearing the birds that feast on the seeds because the fir cone scales still hadn’t opened up enough for the birds to grasp the seeds. When I was up in the mountains last Thursday I could see that the cone scales had opened more.<\/p>\n

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Nuthatch checking out a Douglas Fir cone in autumn – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 800, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But I didn’t hear the call of a single Red-breasted Nuthatch or Mountain Chickadee last week. I also didn’t hear the calls of Pine Siskins which also eat the Douglas Fir seeds. The only bird calls I heard in the area of the fir trees were a few Dark-eyed Juncos and a Townsend’s Solitaire. There weren’t even any White-crowned Sparrows to be seen.<\/p>\n

It was strangely quiet for this time of the year. I hear Red-breasted Nuthatches year round in that location and honestly to not even hear one put me on edge. I should have heard plenty of bird calls and songs.<\/p>\n

\"DouglasDouglas Fir cones on October 21, 2021 – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I checked out several of the Douglas Fir trees and I could see that the scales of the cones had loosened enough for the nuthatches and chickadees to pull the seeds out but now I am wondering if the birds know that the seed production of this years crop of the Douglas Fir trees at this specific location have failed or somehow aren’t nutritious enough because of the exceptional drought conditions we have experienced this year in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

In hindsight I believe I should have picked a cone to bring home so I could examine the seeds.<\/p>\n

\"MountainMountain Chickadee eating a Douglas Fir seed – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 800, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What I do know is that it was strange that there weren’t any birds feeding on the seeds from the cones of these Douglas Firs<\/span><\/a> during a time period when the branches should be full of them flitting around eating and gathering seeds to cache and store for winter consumption. It felt eerie to me.<\/p>\n

I hope to go back out there sometime this week when the weather is better and the roads are drier to check on this puzzling situation and when I do I hope that I will find chickadees and nuthatches feeding on the seeds. It would certainly ease my concerns.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Douglas Fir trees in other areas of northern Utah may or may not have been affected by the drought as these have been. The cones of these opened weeks later than normal. The nuthatch and chickadees photos were taken in November of 2019.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos.\u00a0 Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red-breasted Nuthatch photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Mountain Chickadee photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My trip out into the sky island mountains of the West Desert last week caused my concerns about this years crop of Douglas Fir seeds to grow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96633,"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":[27,2782,3700,358,26,1314],"tags":[4004,6480,970,4897,6487,6273,6274,7708,6879,6877,4286,4620,4040,8009,12509,12510,6909,4136,12507,2780,4069,12508,4927,4928,2779,6878,7707,3701,7706,12511,7554,2135,3702,10452,7847,6326,4076],"class_list":["post-96636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-mountain-chickadees","category-red-breasted-nuthatches","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-adult","tag-alpine","tag-autumn","tag-branch","tag-checking-out","tag-chickadee","tag-chickadees","tag-cone","tag-cones","tag-douglas-fir","tag-eating","tag-fall","tag-feeding","tag-fir","tag-fir-tree","tag-fir-trees","tag-firs","tag-foraging","tag-mature","tag-mountain-chickadee","tag-mountains","tag-needles","tag-nuthatch","tag-nuthatches","tag-poecile-gambeli","tag-pseudotsuga-menziesii","tag-pseudotsuga-menziesii-var-glauca","tag-red-breasted-nuthatch","tag-rocky-mountain-douglas-fir","tag-scales","tag-seed","tag-seeds","tag-sitta-canadensis","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-spot","tag-sunlight","tag-trees"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-cone-mia-mpherson-9635.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-p8E","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":96636,"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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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, 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