Category Archives: Photographs: Birds

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

One of These Geese is Not Like The Others

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One of These Geese is Not Like The Others
A flock of airborne Aleutian cackling geese accompanied by a solitary interloper.

One of These Geese is Not Like The Others. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of airborne Aleutian cackling geese accompanied by a solitary interloper.

This post may (or may not…) be more about the birds than about the photography, but I’ll leave the final judgment to readers. Later in the migratory bird season (e.g. “winter”) in California the birds seem to become more active, and I see more of them in large, mixed groups. I’ve mentioned before that I once imagined that all the winter migrators were “geese,” only to eventually learn about others. Eventually it dawned on me that not all geese are just geese and that they come it a great variety. (Photographing with someone who know a lot about these critters helped me begin to learn these things.)

This is a flock of Aleutian cackling geese, a type that I identify by looking for their dark coloration, lack of a particular banding pattern on their chests (more on this in a moment), and the white areas under their “chins” and at the base of their black necks. There is a fascinating story about the recovery of this type of goose, whose total population was once down to a few hundred individuals but which now numbers in six figures. But look more closely and you may be able to spot one interloper here, a goose of a different sort. (Hint: one white-fronted goose has joined this aerial party.)

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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Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

White-Fronted Geese

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White-Fronted Geese
Three white-fronted geese in flight at sunset, Central Valley, California.

White-Fronted Geese. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three white-fronted geese in flight at sunset, Central Valley, California.

There’s a story I often tell on myself regarding my introduction to bird photography. I was never really a “birder” type, and I had not paid a lot of attention to birds in my photography or otherwise. One day a friend happened to suggest to me that I go visit a location where she had heard there were winter migratory birds, so I went, more or less on a whim, having no idea what to expect. There were birds. Lots of them. In a place that I had driven past for decades, completely unaware of them. On that day, knowing almost nothing about the birds, I think I identified all of them generically as “geese.” (Looking over my photographs from that day later on, I discovered that many of them were very much NOT geese.)

I’m still far from being a birder and I’m no expert on bird identification. But my understanding has steadily increased and I now even know that… not only are not all birds geese, but not all geese are the same kind! Amazing, I know! As I was learning about the varieties that can be found around here I heard of something called the white-fronted goose. I imagined a goose that was, well, white in front. But I never saw such a thing. Until one day someone pointed them out to me and I realized that it is the front of the head that is white. This group of white-fronted geese flew overhead in the last direct sunlight of a winter day.

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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Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Seen Any Geese?

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Seen Any Geese?
A gigantic flock of (mostly) snow geese over a wetland pond.

Seen Any Geese?. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A gigantic flock of (mostly) snow geese over a wetland pond.

That’s the question. Seen any geese? A few actually. A few thousand. Or perhaps a few ten-thousand. These are among the many birds that migrate south into the continental US in the winter — these travel from the arctic via the Pacific Flyway and then overwinter in various areas in California. I usually don’t photograph them in this sort of midday light, but I decided that I do find the overall blue-ness of this scene to be attractive.

How does a scene like this happen? Initially a large group of thousands of geese is on the ground or in a shallow pond. Not much seems to be going on until all of a sudden many or all of them suddenly take to the air with a tremendous sound of rushing wings. The instigation is not always clear, but it could be a predator flying over, and I’ve seen it happen in response to things like low-flying aircraft. After the initial take-off, the flock may wheel around in expanding circles and spread to cover the sky until they eventually find a new place to settle.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese, Evening Sky

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Geese, Evening Sky
The evening sky filled with snow geese.

Geese, Evening Sky. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The evening sky filled with snow geese.

One thing that you don’t understand about bird photography until you do it, is that in order to experience truly remarkable, memorable moments you will spend a lot of time at the opposite end of the spectrum of exciting experiences. The vast majority of your time will be spend watching a quiet landscape in which it seems, at least superficially, that nothing much is going on. Truth be told, there will be moments (sometimes long “moments”) of boredom. You might nap. (I do!) You may do some reading, check your phone for news. Or, best of all, simply immerse yourself in the quiet.

But if you are willing to pay this easy price, you almost certainly will experience a few moments that make it well worth the effort. I still cannot get a particular foggy February morning out of my mind, even though it was years ago when the sun began to break through tule fog as thousands upon thousands of geese and cranes wheeled through the sky in constant motion. That morning, on its own, has led to many 3:00AM wake-up calls and long drives in the. This photograph is from a different but similar moment recently, when many thousands of geese erupted almost continuously from cornfields and filled the sunset sky around me.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.