Two Cranes, Fog

Two Cranes, Fog
Two sandhill cranes on a foggy winter morning in a Central Valley field.

Two Cranes, Fog. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Two sandhill cranes on a foggy winter morning in a Central Valley field.

Sandhill cranes have become my favorite migratory birds in California’s Central Valley and other locations in the state. Each year they arrive in the early fall and then depart around the time spring arrives. They are very large birds, and while their numbers don’t compete with those of some of the biggest geese flocks, they sometimes assemble in large groups.

I photographed this pair close to the end of the season, on a morning when surprising fog swept in after sunrise, muting the details of the landscape and softening the light. They were in a field where corn had been knocked down to provide them with food.


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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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