As 2023 winds down, I’ve been looking at older photos taken at the end of previous years. This 2019 image of Canada Geese in a snowstorm stood out to me.

Urban Canada Geese in snowstorm, Salt Lake County, UtahUrban Canada Geese in snowstorm – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 640, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

One of the reasons this image of the Canada Geese in a snowstorm stood out to me is because I like this high-key kind of photo. Weather and light conditions have to be just right for this style of image, and it takes skill for photos like this one to work.

Even though I like the geese in this photo, any bird or animal in a high-key image excites me.

I also like this photo because I took it close to home, at an urban pond near where I currently live. It only takes me a few minutes to get to the pond, and I can usually get there no matter how snowy the weather might be.

Last year, I spent a lot of time photographing birds at my local pond because it snowed so much last winter. Those snowstorms kept me busy blowing, shoveling, and scraping snow, and they also provided me with plenty of opportunities for photographing high-key snowy scenes and birds in sunny but snowy conditions.

Today

We are extremely close to the end of 2023, and here in northern Utah, down in Salt Lake City, we have had very little snow. It is nearly the end of December and yesterday the daytime high reached nearly 50ºF. That’s too warm. It will be about that warm again today.

Last winter’s record-breaking snowfall amounts were unusual.

The lack of snow so far this winter?

It ought to scare the crap out of every thinking Utahn.

You are seeing your climate-changed future in real time, and your legislators up there on Capitol Hill are more focused on destroying habitat, the environment, and killing the Great Salt Lake with inland ports than they are the fact that the “Greatest Snow On Earth” is being depleted.

The majority of Utah’s lawmakers don’t freaking care; they are more concerned with their fat wallets than snow.

That is one more reason why this Canada Geese in a snowstorm image stood out for me. It made me think about the lack of snow today.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Canada Geese photos plus facts and information about this species.