Category Archives: Photographs: Birds

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

Sunset Perch

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Sunset Perch
A bird perches atop a snag at winter sunset in wetlands.

Sunset Perch. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A bird perches atop a snag at winter sunset in wetlands.

Ah, to be in a place like this on a morning like this one right now! Unfortunately, that is not to be — and not just because long distance travel is still out of the question except in essential situations, but because it is no longer winter! I made the photograph on an early January day spent out in California’s Great Central Valley, searching after bird and landscape subjects. Now that I think of it, one might even say that this bird is… social distancing! Though, to be more accurate, it is other birds and smaller critters that are distancing from this hunter.

Doing photography — at least the kinds that I do — is a challenging proposition in the current situation. I do get out to walk in our urban/suburban neighborhood, and I carry a camera with me when I go. But I prefer to do my urban photography in busier and perhaps ab it grittier locations. For now, virtually all of my landscape subjects are off-limits, as they require travel over distances that are beyond what seems responsible right now. In the meantime, it turns out that among the tens of thousands of images in my raw file archive there are quite a few that seem worth revisiting!

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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Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature

Flock of Cranes Taking Flight

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Flock of Cranes Taking Flight
A flock of cranes takes to the air early on a hazy winter morning.

Flock of Cranes Taking Flight. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of cranes takes to the air early on a hazy winter morning.

Most of the migratory geese have now left their California winter homes and are on their way back to the arctic shores for the summer. I was fortunate to be able to make a few trips out to see them before we were all locked down by the coronavirus pandemic. On the final visit, several weeks ago now, most of them had already departed.

I made this photograph near the beginning of March. (Remember those innocent days when we were just beginning to think about how our lives might change, but not yet registering the full impact?) This morning featured thin fog — enough of it to mute the light and the features of the landscape, nor to block that glow of dawn light on the bird as they took off toward the rising sun.

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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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

Cranes Before Dawn

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Cranes Before Dawn
A flock of sandhill cranes reflected in a shallow pond before sunrise.

Cranes Before Dawn. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of sandhill cranes reflected in a shallow pond before sunrise.

A few winters ago I mainly went to places like this to photograph the geese that arrive in flocks of thousands. Distracted by the geese, I paid less attention to other birds at first. Surprisingly, the sound of the cranes that brought them to my attention.(That, and a magical evening when thousands of them showed up unexpectedly after sunset.) When I arrived in these places before dawn after a long drive and got out of my car I was immediately taken by the call of cranes. Even though at first I did not recognize it, it is the first thing I look for now.

The behavioral patterns of the migratory birds evolve as the season progresses. The cranes seem to land in remote places early in the season, but later I can get closer to them. In early March many of them were in ponds where I could use a long lens to photograph groups. This group was part of a much larger flock in this wetland pond when I photographed them against the reflection of the pre-dawn pink sky.

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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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

Unruly Flock

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Unruly Flock
A somewhat disorganized flock of lesser sandhill cranes in flight.

Unruly Flock. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A somewhat disorganized flock of lesser sandhill cranes in flight.

Over the time that I’ve photographed birds I have gradually become more aware of the personalities of different species and even different subgroups. For example, the sound of one goose may be lower in pitch than another, one sort of egret is less tolerant of humans than another, the way cranes flock is quite different from geese, and so on. Learning about these differences — and I’m still far from being an expert! — is both fascinating and useful. For example, I can more accurately recognize types of birds based on how a flock behaves, an so on.

Sandhill cranes have idiomatic behaviors that differentiate them from other flocking birds such as geese and ibises. The group size is one element — I’ve never seen them airborne in numbers approaching those of big flocks of geese. The organization of flocks in flight is much “looser” than that of geese. There is usually no traditional “V” pattern, and they sometimes give the appearance of coming close to colliding with one another. They also look around a lot in flight — somewhere I have a photograph that includes one with it head twisted around to look straight up! They don’t like flying directly over photographers, and will usually divert to one side or the other.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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