The Landing. San Joaquin Valley, California. January 25, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
A large flock of Ross’s geese lands following a mass take-off.
The day followed a familiar pattern, starting with a long, pre-dawn drive to a favorite location in the San Joaquin Valley, where we arrived in thick fog to meet friends. We began photographing before sunrise — though you would hardly know there was a sunrise in the thick fog — and continued to work the foggy landscape for several hours. A first pass through the area gave us a better idea of what we might see later. By late morning the light was becoming more flat, and we decided to take a side trip to a different spot, returning to where we had begun after lunch.
The locations and activities of the birds continued to evolve as the day wore on. By afternoon we had figured out where the many cranes and even more geese were congregating, and it was looking like a big group might turn up in a pasture where we often are able to photograph them. One more pass through the area brought a few of us to this pasture and, sure enough, a couple of very large flocks were beginning to assemble here. A couple of us settled in along the edge of this meadow, trying to find positions that would include an interesting backdrop of trees and the setting sun. As the geese moved, we moved, too, mostly backing up to the east as they moved the same direction. Periodically something would set them off and huge groups of thousands of them would take to the air at once, in a maelstrom of wings and calls. After circling for a few minutes, in groups that became more widely distributed, things would calm down and they would return to the pasture, picking some spot where hundreds would begin to land at once.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.
G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email
All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
Discover more from G Dan Mitchell Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.