Clearing Fog, Late-Winter Grasslands. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Morning fog thins above late-winter Central Valley grassland and floodplain.
Before I write about today’s photograph, I want to make a brief comment about “carrying on” in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, and why I continue to share photographs and stories. We need reminders of how the world was before this started… and how it will be again afterwards. And we certainly need distraction from the constant news. I hope that some of you will find a bit of joy, solace, distraction in these posts.
It was less than a week ago when I made what may be my last long photography excursion for a while. With the winter migratory bird season coming to an end in California, I wanted to make one more visit to a wildlife refuge where I often photograph. So I headed toward the Central Valley before dawn, arriving before sunrise, and spending most of the day on the prowl for birds at this peaceful and quiet place.
I believe I arrived for the very end of this season’s migratory bird photography. The large groups of sandhill cranes, Ross’s geese, and snow geese of a week ago were gone, and only a few stragglers remained. There were still white-fronted geese, ibises, egrets, and a few others. Because of the smaller number of birds, I left the refuge and the surrounding agricultural area. I stopped along a raised roadway where a river flows through oak/grassland floodplain country where early spring plants were coming to life, and I made a few photographs as the fog thinned and a few flocks of birds 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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