This has been Utah’s warmest December on record and the last two weeks have been overcast and increasingly warm so I’ve been just staying home. But two days ago, when the clouds cleared out and it finally turned cold, I decided to head for the west desert where I haven’t been for months.
When I arrived on location at dawn the temp was 15° F. and the light was gorgeous so I had high hopes of finding birds – especially raptors who had migrated down from the north. But 2 1/2 hours later as I prepared to head for home I’d been thoroughly and completely skunked. All I had for my efforts was a few poor-quality documentary photos and a boat load of frustration. By the time I arrived home I’d been gone for nearly six hours and driven 256 miles with almost nothing to show for it.
And things were about to get worse. Notice that in the photo above, my windshield directly above my passenger’s side windshield wiper has no damage.
This is what my windshield looked like when I arrived home. Even though I’m almost neurotic about avoiding driving behind big trucks on the freeway for fear of windshield damage, a big orange Allied Van Lines truck spit out a big rock as I was passing it and this was the result.
I had a new windshield installed yesterday. Because of the advanced safety system electronics (such as collision avoidance), including cameras, embedded in the windshields of many newer vehicles, windshield replacement can cost as much as $2000. Mine would have cost me about $1500 (calibrating advanced safety systems to factory specs isn’t cheap), but thankfully I had my insurance set up with a $200 deductible for a new windshield, so that’s what it cost me.
A word to the wise about setting up your vehicle insurance. If you have the option, consider paying a little extra for a “low” deductible for glass damage.
Birds are so scarce around here it’ll be a while before I go on any more long birding trips. So yesterday I made two short trips down to the Jordan River near my home, mostly in search of the female Belted Kingfisher who hangs out down there.
She was there both times but she sure as hell wasn’t very cooperative. She insisted on fishing from perches that were blocked by twigs and branches that weren’t very close to me. This time my only hope was to get her in flight when she dived on a fish.
But the annoying twigs still put the kibosh on me.
I got some pretty good photos of her while she was fishing from this spot but what I wanted most were flight shots.
Those hopes were dashed when I didn’t get any light in her eye.
I’d have liked this shot pretty well if I’d only been a little closer.
That’s how it goes with bird photography. And with driving on the freeway at 75 mph with big trucks on the road.
Happy New Year to my blog followers. May your 2026 be significantly better than my last few days have been.
Ron
Happy New Year! The kingfisher almost looks like she’s glaring at you in that first photo. Maybe she was having a bad day too. Here’s hoping for better days the rest of the year!
I am late with my post, not sure you will see it, but dang Luck anyway. Hope the New Year will be kinder to all of us.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! I wish you good health, no break downs (of any kind) and good birding.
Thank You and Take Care,
Kaye
Spectacular photos.
2026 will be better.🫤
I sure hope you’re right, Susan.
Happy New Year, Ron. May the new year bring you renewed health (goodbye, bad back!) and birds and opportunity aplenty!
Best wishes!
Thanks, Quentin.
Happy New Year, Ron!
And thanks for ALWAYS brightening our days.
Thank you, Kathryn.
Love your shy kingfisher photos. I know you strive for perfection (of the kind that I’ll never get), and achieve that perfection often. Nevertheless, these photos are perfect for the likes of us. Your blog always brightens my day.
Happy New Year to you, Ron. May we all be surprised in the best ways possible.
“Your blog always brightens my day.”
And that part of your comment brightened my day, Nina. Thanks for that.
Thanks again for all the effort you put into taking and sharing these wonderful photos. Happy New Year Ron !!!
Much appreciated, Travis.
What a long, strange trip it’s been. 2025, I mean.
Sorry about your windshield and failure of birds to materialize in great numbers on this foray — but thanks be to the little Queenfisher for showing up, anyway, even if not in the best spot for your purposes.
Wishing you and the entire flock in FP-dom a better year ahead, with more birds and more appropriate and reliable weather. (Hoping for less angst, as well, but that’s a long-shot, I fear.)
“Hoping for less angst, as well, but that’s a long-shot, I fear.”
I fear the same, Chris.
Despite some of her habits, I’ve become very fond of this little lady kingfisher. I’m convinced that she recognizes, and to some extent tolerates, my truck. She now lets me get closer to her than she used to. Still not “close enough” though…
Happy New Year Ron. Hope you find great subjects for your pictures.
Thanks, Tony.
Happy New Year, Ronnie. Sorry about the windshield, but I suppose there are worse things that might happen, right? My hope for 2026 is at a pretty low point right now; I mainly hope it will surprise me.
Let’s both be surprised, Suzie. Pleasantly.
Happy New Year Ron!
Thanks, Laurie.
Happy New Year to you Ron! Hopefully no more rocks in the windshield but remember, they can get you when you & the rock thrower are going opposite directions. Great shots of the juvenile delinquent female at least she wasn’t fighting with parents & siblings!
“they can get you when you & the rock thrower are going opposite directions.”
They sure can, Shirley but usually not when you’re on a freeway.
Love the polka-dotted tail!
Make that polka-dotted!
I did just that, Sallie.
Happy new year Ron ! Wishing you good luck with reluctant , uncooperative birds this year . We do enjoy seeing them .
Thanks, Laurel.
I hate driving near large trucks; mainly because I can’t see what the traffic is doing beyond them, but also because of said windshield issues. I’m sorry you had to deal with that extra hassle and expense. (Lost my windshield once in the school parking lot to an errant softball — hit by one of my own students. 😂 She brought homemade cookies as an apology which was very nice of her.)
Sorry you got skunked too, although I hope the scenery and getting away from it all gave you a little peace. Glad to see that the lovely Lady Kingfisher (Queenfisher?) is still out and about. 💕
Hoping that some of this week’s SoCal storm will make it up your way. 2025 was NOT a good year for too many people, not to mention the planet as a whole. I’m trying to work my way up to being cautiously optimistic about 2026, but I’m not quite there yet.
“I hate driving near large trucks;”
I cuss those big trucks all the time, Marty. Not that it accomplishes anything, but it does seem to relieve some of my stress.
Happy new year to you, Ron! Always fun to see Feathered Photography in my email. So glad that you didn’t fully retire this year. Take care and stick with it, please. Cheers!
“stick with it, please.”
I’m trying, Ellen. it takes birds though…
In spite of all your trials – I thought the pix of the bird were great. Hope for a better new year. We need, NEED the moisture!
Take care of yourself.:))
Thanks, Judy. Glad you like them.
Very scary there were no birds where there should have been. My yard also is empty except for some house sparrows and a few juncos, has been for months. Miss Kingfisher is beautiful, even being recalcitrant.
When you buy a new vehicle, do they tell you about all the fancy embedded items that will drive up the price of replacement? Whew, who knew!
Let’s hope 2026 is better – Happy New Year to you and all your FP friends!
“When you buy a new vehicle, do they tell you about all the fancy embedded items that will drive up the price of replacement?”
Carolyn, they brag about most of them. But they sure don’t tell you about the downsides.
Happy (?) New Year to you and all who visit here! 🙂 Not amusing to have crappy weather and no birds not to mention the windshield…. Our weather has been it’s usual yo-yo between cold, some snow, warm, wind, more fog than we usually have and then the freezing rain one day! Being retired is helpful that way…;) We’re pretty dry as what snow has fallen has been removed by warm temps and wind. A few hawks are lingering as well as large flocks of Canada Geese.
“Being retired is helpful that way.”
It sure is, Judy. I’ve been retired for more than 20 years and I still don’t take it for granted. Among other things, I despise driving at rush hour.
15° F, no birds, and a cracked windshield. One could hope for better than that. Had no idea that some windshields came with that high tech stuff. Thanks for the heads-up on the insurance.
Like that third photo of the perched Kingfisher.
Tomorrow is another day, and a New Year. Wishing you all good days in 2026.
Thanks, Michael. I was surprised by the cost too. Sure glad I had that low(er) deductible.
You can’t win with insurance. All you can do is lose a little less.
So thanks to Everett, now we know that all the birds flew to Prescott.
There certainly aren’t any around Cedar City– haven’t been any for
many months– even the seed in the feeder goes begging ! I’m sorry
about your windshield; when I hear about costs like that, it makes me grateful to be driving a 16 year-old “beater” without any bells and
whistles ( but she still gets over 35 miles per gallon ). A better New
Year is coming– it just HAS TO BE BETTER than 2025……
“A better New Year is coming– it just HAS TO BE BETTER than 2025”
I hope you’re right, Kris. It sounds like you have more confidence about it than I do.
My feeder seed continues to disappear quickly but I’m feeding mostly House Sparrows. And Bandito occasionally. A reliable Downy Woodpecker has been the only bright spot with feathers lately. That along with the occasional appearance of a young Cooper’s Hawk looking to reduce the number of sparrows…
Happy New Year Ron!
Same to you, Mark.
Sounds like a trip to Hell and back Ron. Nice Kingfisher shots, but probably not worth your efforts and cost of the trip. Wishing you
a very Happy New Year 2026. Best wishes to you and all your
Feathered followers. Lots of birds here.
“Lots of birds here.”
I’m glad there are lots of birds somewhere! Thanks, Everett.