Weather’s Impact on Wildlife

Winter is here, and with it comes extraordinary changes in both the weather and wildlife behavior. Check out the sneak peak above. We are working on something new and are very excited to share this rough cut with everyone.

Can’t listen right now?

Check out the transcript below. . .

Transcript

With the solstice upon us, I can finally say Winter is officially here.  

For so many across the Northern Hemisphere this season means a retreat indoors, attempting to drown in a cup of hot chocolate or, let’s be honest, for some of you, a hot toddy.

Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones and there’s snowflakes in the air and you will experience a white Christmas. Or maybe not. Maybe it will just be cold rain and howling winds.

But let’s not forget one very important thing this winter:

You are not a bear

So, don’t try to hibernate this season.

In fact, this is one of the best times of the year to be a wildlife photographer – if only we know how to take advantage of the season and all that comes with it.

And when we think of winter, when we think of this season, really what we think about is the weather.

That’s important to this conversation because of all the things to understand about wildlife behavior, weather is one of the most important   for photographers.

While weather is always a driving force in the daily lives of wild animals, dictating migration, breeding, movements across territories, how they hunt, how they feed, and how they live and die on planet Earth, it’s winter weather that is the great equalizer.

Every animal has its strategy for survival come winter; the ways in which it responds to daily changes such as barometric pressure, windstorms, rain, snow, warmups, and sudden drops in temperature.

And if we understand how animals respond to such things, how individual species react to the many variables and hardships of the season, we can increase our success rates as photographers exponentially.

If you’ve been reading my articles on wildlife photography for any amount of time, then you likely know I hold the perspective that all the technical know-how, the expensive equipment, the big glass, and the sophisticated autofocus systems amount to practically nothing if we can’t simply find animals to photograph.

This, more than anything else, is the biggest limiting factor in the game. It’s the secret sauce of wildlife photography. Put simply, if you can’t find the animals, if you can’t get close to them while keeping them at ease, then you are going to have a pretty difficult time being a wildlife photographer.

As the old saying goes, “if you want to make better photographs, find better opportunities to photograph.”

And this is where understanding the importance of weather comes into play because understanding it can dramatically increase your opportunities for better photographs.

For me, weather dictates just about everything with my photography and how I approach the day, week, or even month in the field.

Sure, I don’t want to be outside in the rain any more than an owl does, given owls traded weather proofing for silent flight. But this isn’t just about blue skies versus clouds. There is hard science, and biology, behind how and why even subtle changes in the weather can have dramatic impacts on wildlife behavior.

For the last few weeks, I have been sporting my camouflaged adult-sized onesie most days.

most would call this a pair of chest waders, of course, but whatever nomenclature you want to subscribe to, I have found myself in a marsh hanging out with a big lens and a whole lot of waterfowl.

To clear any confusion, Waterfowl is just a catchall term for ducks, geese, and swans.

These birds are migrating all across the Northern hemisphere right now and here along the mid-atlantic they are spilling into the estuaries and marshes by the millions. And since these birds have been the object of my desire for the better part of December, they are top of mind.

So, with waterfowl, if temperatures rise above 45 degrees Fahrenheit (around 7 degrees Celsius) they don’t actually have to feed during the day.

Instead, these birds can limit all their activity to the dark of night to conceal themselves – which is a solid strategy given that predators like bald eagles, snowy owls, and humans all have powerfully acute eyesight that’s dependent on available light.

But when those temperatures drop below 45 degrees during the day, waterfowl are literally forced to eat all day long just to keep that metabolic furnace burning to stay warm.

With this one simple fact, you can make an educated guess as to what your potential success will be for the day by simply looking at the temperature forecast.

Likewise, on a day that most of us would consider to be beautiful – blue skies and a lot of sun – waterfowl are the most weary and skittish. As I already mentioned, their predators are all diurnal species that need the sun to see. So, on these days, waterfowl are jumpy, they spook at shadows, silhouettes, and distant movement.

On these beautiful sunny days, especially when there is little wind, these birds tend to disperse and move out into wide open bodies of water where they can see long distances all around.

But let a low-pressure system come rolling in, and every changes.

Low pressure systems mean falling temperatures, wind, rain, maybe snow, possibly freezing bodies of water. Waterfowl respond to this by becoming much less skittish of potential predators as they are forced to turn their attention toward food.

As such, these birds move to smaller bodies of water, open pockets in swamps, potholes in marsh, and areas that are accessible to wildlife photographers.

Because of the falling temperatures and a falling barometric pressure, these birds have no idea if they will even be able to find food in the coming days with the possibility of heavy snow or shallow water freezing over.

So, they become preoccupied with eating like their lives depend upon it – because it does.

As a wildlife photographer, you can prepare for these situations by understanding where birds tend to congregate in your area during such weather events.  

For most species of ducks, thanks to their food being found in shallow water, ice is always a factor they must consider.

As a rule of thumb, mature ducks tend to always stay one step ahead of ice, migrating and moving only so far as to have access to open water. Meanwhiles juveniles and non-breeders will fly thousands of miles, and head straight to warmer locations. But for breeding adults, the first ones back to the nesting grounds get the best spots. So, they tend to remain as far north as possible.

Exactly how far north, or south, is dictated by cold fronts and temperatures, and it’s why places like Yellowstone National Park hold huge numbers of waterfowl in the winter, despite its elevation and latitude, thanks to geothermally heated waters that never freeze.

If I’m focusing my efforts on waterfowl in the winter – and to let you in on a little secret: good photographs of waterfowl are always in very high demand – then you better believe I’m studying the weather.

If temperatures plunge to the north, guaranteeing prime waterfowl habitat will freeze over, I shift my efforts accordingly to make sure I am just south of that when it happens.

If a big low-pressure system is on the horizon, then I clear my calendar and plan for several days of non-stop photography. But if temperatures warm to above 45 degrees, I find something else to do with myself.

Understanding how the lives of these birds is orchestrated by the weather this time of year can mean the difference between filling memory cards and being skunked.

Every animal is like this to some degree. From bobcats to bobwhites, from Eurasian eagle owls to ermine, weather, especially in the winter, governs all.

Each season holds its nuances, and I think it’s high time this was a topic we discussed because understanding this will completely change your success as a wildlife photographer.

Now if you want to learn more about the impact weather has on wildlife this time of year, make sure you check out the Winter 2023 issue of PhotoWILD Magazine where I wrote a feature article all about just that.