Category Archives: Photographs: Birds

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

Wetlands, Winter Fog

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Wetlands, Winter Fog
Early morning winter tule fog rises from Central Valley wetland ponds as sandhill cranes take flight.

Wetlands, Winter Fog. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning winter tule fog rises from Central Valley wetland ponds as sandhill cranes take flight.

Winter transforms the arguably-mundane California Central Valley landscape. Much of the area is agricultural country, and while that can look bucolic when fields are green, most of the time they are not. During much of the year they are brown, and during the winter the place can be quite muddy. (Don’t regard this as suggesting I don’t like the Valley. I do!)

On a January morning such as the on the day I made this photograph, magic can occur as tule fog rises and drifts about wetlands and as the sky fills with birds. To make this photograph I stopped along an empty rural road next to flooded fields and waited for cranes to take wing along a levee.

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, Photographs: Wildlife

Swans, Sunrise Light

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Cranes, Sunrise Light
A flock of sandhill cranes catches the color of low angle sunrise light.

Swans, Sunrise Light. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of (tundra?) swans catches the color of low angle sunrise light.

About eight years back, on a beautiful January morning, I visited the place where I first photographed migratory birds. The location is south of Sacramento, in California’s Great Central Valley — in agricultural lowlands. (That could, of course, describe huge sections of the Valley.) During most of the year you probably would not regard the area as being exceptionally beautiful, but when the birds arrive everything changes.

And do they arrive! Just counting the large birds, there are sandhill cranes, egrets of several types, ibises, all sorts of geese, swans, and sandhill cranes. At dawn on the perfect mornings, the sky is filled with flocks, flying at different altitudes, crossing in different directions, and making the most impressive racket that I know of. I photographed this group of (tundra?) swans during the brief interval when the sun is low enough in the sky to illuminate their undersides.

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: 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.

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.

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.

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.