Three Cranes, Blue Sky. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Three sandhill cranes in flight against blue sky.
What I regard as “bird season,”the time of year when I start to focus on photographing migratory birds, began this year in early November. I had several prints in the Lodi Sandhill Crane Festival, so I took the opportunity to head that direction and look for birds to photograph during the weekend of the event.
On my way to drop of prints very early on the first morning of the festival I headed out early enough to reserve time for a visit to an area west of Lodi where these birds are fairly easy to find. Pulling in from a long drive in the dark, opening the car door, and hearing the bedlam of thousands of birds is always a magical moment for me, and this one was more special as it was the first of the year. I made a few photographs in this area at dawn and then moved off on a rural road that I know, looking for more cranes. Eventually I found them, in a place where they were following a flight path that took them across the roadway, so I found a spot where the early morning light would catch them as they flew past.
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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