Category Archives: Photographs: Birds

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Shall We Dance?

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Shall We Dance?
Two sandhill cranes begin their dance ritual.

Shall We Dance? © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two sandhill cranes begin their dance ritual.

From what I’ve read and observed, the striking “dancing” behavior of sandhill cranes is often (but not necessarily always?) part of a mating ritual. If you watch a large flock of the birds — or are lucky when viewing a smaller group, as I was here — you will quickly spot this behavior as it stands out from the other, largely passive behavior of the birds. (They mostly appear to either stand there, eat, or walk slowly.) A couple of birds approach one another, wings open up, and they hop straight up into the air.

When I photographed this group I was near a well-known crane observation location in California’s Central Valley. (Some of those are fine places to see these magnificent birds, especially if they are new to you.) However, I had moved away from that spot and was out looking for birds elsewhere when I came upon a group that was standing in the remnants of a field whose crops had been knocked down. I stopped, stood behind my car so as to be less likely to disturb the birds, and began watching and photographing.

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

Great Egret, Morning Light

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Great Egret, Morning Light
A great egret in California’s Central Valley

Great Egret, Morning Light. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A great egret in California’s Central Valley.

Way back when I was a college student I first “discovered” egrets. I was in a general education science course that consisted of a sequence of short seminars on various subjects, and the professor teaching one on ecology was obviously an egret fanatic. I don’t recall many specifics from the course, but I recall his passion for “snowy egrets.” Later on, as a dedicated cyclist, I often rode past creeks and canals in the Bay Area where I spotted great egrets (not the same critter as the snowy egret), often simply resting but sometimes in flight. At that time I regarded them as exotic birds, since they were still new to me.

Of course, I eventually learned that they are all over California, wherever there are wetlands — from the Pacific shoreline to the Central Valley. As I learned more about other birds — cranes, geese, herons, ibises — I came to regard the egret as a much less exotic bird. Yet, there is nothing quite like the flight of a great egret, with that long neck, the pure white plumage, and the gigantic wingspan. This one managed to stay put on the ground long enough for me to take its picture on a recent, first-of-the-season bird photography foray into the Central Valley.

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: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Cranes In Motion, Dawn

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Cranes In Motion, Dawn
A flock of sandhill cranes in motion in dawn light

Cranes In Motion, Dawn. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of sandhill cranes in motion in dawn light.

As autumn shifts towards winter, as daylight savings time ends, and as the nights get longer… the time of year I think of as migratory bird season begins. All over the northern hemisphere birds that breed in more northerly locations during the warm months head south to find more hospitable locations to spend the winter — places with food and relatively warmer temperatures. In many places the migration has started and — at least from the perspective of those of us who live in the migratory destinations — the birds have arrived and will continue to do so over the next month of so.

Earlier this week I headed towards on such location to drop of some prints at California’s Lodi Sandhill Crane Festival. (If you are thinking of going… it ends on Sunday, November 3 this year. If you missed it this year, visit the site and sign up for information about future events.) Since I was driving over there in the morning anyway, I decided to leave early enough to check out some sandhill crane locations at sunrise. This was one of the first crane photos of the new season, and as an unruly flock of the birds passed by I photographed them with a longer shutter speed, allowing motion blur to accentuate their motion, and over-exposing to produce a high-key interpretation.

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.

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

Great Egret, Reflection

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Great Egret, Reflection
A great egret and its reflection in a wetland pond

Great Egret, Reflection. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A great egret and its reflection in a wetland pond

While I don’t know the full extent of their (likely huge) range, these birds are ubiquitous in California. I remember when I first noticed them, many years ago when I was a dedicated cyclist. In those days I commuted to work by bicycle, covering between 30 and 55 miles a day, and portions of my ride always passed creeks and drainage canals. You might miss them speeding past in a car, but on a bicycle I frequently looked into these waterways and spotted these impressively large and nearly pure white birds. As time went on I found them all over the place — they can be found in many agricultural areas, for example, and I have photographed them feeding in kelp beds along the Pacific Ocean shoreline.

In flight they alternate between ungainliness and beauty. They can seem a bit gangly and awkward at times — their take-off can be somewhat awkward, for example. On the other hand they flare their wings beautifully upon landing. I don’t usually go out specifically to photograph the egrets, but sometimes it seems unavoidable since they turn up in so many places. They seem to have somewhat clearly defined boundaries when it comes to human presence. They more or less ignore us until we get too close (though this boundary changes depending upon whether they are feeding or not), but get a bit too close and you can see them “tighten up” and prepare for a sudden take-off, at which point you most often have only the opportunity to photograph them from the back as they depart. This bird had been hunting and seemed a bit more willing than most to let me photograph.

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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