Departure. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Waves of geese lift off into foggy early morning winter sky
There are many ways in which geese may depart, and almost any time I watch them I think about when and how they will leave. They might leave one or two at a time, perhaps circling around and returning, or possibly simply flying a short distance to a more interesting spot nearby. They might begin a mass departure by leaving in small groups of perhaps a half-dozen or a few more. The geese in this photograph were leaving in what might be described as waves — groups of perhaps a dozen or two lifting off at once and forming into lines as they headed to the north. There is also that most spectacular event, when many thousands of them erupt into the air simultaneously, with a shocking sound of thousands of wings along with their cries.
On this winter morning we arrived before dawn, as always, and watched as ground fog formed over the wetlands. We did not find the spectacularly large flocks that we sometimes see but there were groups still settled into ponds. As the first light arrived they began to fly away, first a few, then larger groups, until very soon all of them had left.
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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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