Category Archives: Photographs: Birds

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Red-Winged Blackbirds

Image Leave a comment
Red-Winged Blackbirds
A group of male red-winged blackbirds on display in brush

Red-Winged Blackbirds. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of male red-winged blackbirds on display in brush.

When photographing the large and impressive migratory birds (cranes, geese, ibises) along with egrets and herons it is easy for me to overlook some of the smaller birds. To be honest, that is what I did when I first started photographing birds — my focus was virtually always on the larger specimens. But over time, and on days when the large birds aren’t around, I began to pay more attention to other no less deserving critters.

Red-winged blackbirds (and related variants) are found all over the place. In fact, I recently have a discussion with a Texas-based photographer friend in which he was extolling them. Where I go I typically spot them in groups in trees and among reeds, singing enthusiastically as the males show off their striking red patches. (There’s hardly a happier sound than a flock of these birds.) Sometimes they surprise me though — I’ll never forget one early wetlands morning when I saw veritable clouds of thousands of them arise at dawn.

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.

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

Geese, Fog, Rising Sun

Image Leave a comment
Geese, Fog, Rising Sun
A flock of geese flies through winter sky above tule fog and rising sun.

Geese, Fog, Rising Sun. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of geese flies through winter sky above tule fog and rising sun.

My favorite California winter conditions tend towards early mornings with thick tule fog that mutes light and sound — especially if it is cold, the surroundings are relatively natural, and birds are nearby. Every year as winter approaches I anticipate the first morning pre-dawn arrival at such a place, opening my car door, staring into the darkness, and hearing the sound of thousands of birds.

This was one of those mornings, and somewhat unexpectedly so. I watch weather forecasts in order to schedule visits when the fog appears. I had been watching for over a week, seeing endless reports of perfectly clear weather. (You may gather that such weather is what I least want.) But one evening when I checked again, a forecast now suggested the possibility of a couple of hours of early morning fog… and that was enough for me to change plans, get up hours before dawn, and give it a try. I made this photograph moments after sunrise, when the sun was barely visible though the low fog and birds flew overhead.

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.

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Sunrise, Fog, And Birds

Image Leave a comment
Sunrise, Fog, And Birds
Geese and cranes in a fog-filled sunrise winter sky above California’s Central Valley.

Sunrise, Fog, And Birds. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Geese and cranes in a fog-filled sunrise winter sky above California’s Central Valley.

Many places in California that were once quiet and lonely and even overlooked or forgotten have become, at times, busy and crowded. I write here not just about well-known and iconic locations along the coast, in the cities, at national parks, but about places that might seem like nothing special at all to most people at most times. The issue, of course, is that there are so many of us now. But I have learned that it is often possible to sneak in around the margins and still find solitude. In some places that means going on days when others won’t be there, arriving when most people are still asleep, picking conditions that keep lots of people away. Arriving before dawn in dense fog on a freezing morning at a distant place that isn’t scenic can do the trick.

This was one of those days and one of those places. You could find a scene like this at innumerable spots in the state on a foggy morning, but you might have to get up before 4:00AM, wear extra clothes, drive through that fog, and then understand that you’ll pay a price in less-than-astonishing conditions on many mornings… in order to earn one on which the sun rises through thick tule fog as thousands of birds wheel overhead.

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.

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Landing

Image Leave a comment
Landing
A group of snow geese landing on a wetlands pond on a foggy winter morning.

Landing. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of snow geese landing on a wetlands pond on a foggy winter morning.

These conditions are perhaps my favorite for photographing migratory birds — thick fog that is beginning to clear, allowing just a bit of directional light to illuminate my subjects at times, but still thick enough to to block out distant distractions. These are transitory conditions, like a sunset or skiable spring snow. You need to be there and ready, and get to work quickly when the right light happens — it won’t last long!

Here in California we can typically find these conditions this time of year in many, many places — at the coast, along the shores of bays and lakes, next to rivers, all up and down the state. This photograph comes from the Great Central Valley, that place we tend to regard mostly as agricultural country, stitching hundreds of miles from Southern California to just below Mount Shasta. I had gone on this day because I knew there would be fog — the birds are less of a certainty. As the fog thinned and the light increased I found this spot and worked it as the conditions changed.

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.