Category Archives: Photographs: Wildlife

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Sandhill Crane, Blue Sky

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Sandhill Crane, Blue Sky
A solitarty sandhill crane against blue California sky.

Sandhill Crane, Blue Sky. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solitary sandhill crane against blue California sky.

Those who photograph birds already know this, but the truth is that one typically makes a whole lot of bad photographs of birds along the path to getting some that work. Here I’m not thinking of “could have been better” bad, but rather of “that’s awful!” bad photographs — bird half out of the frame, bird out of focus, sky blown out, underside of the bird too dark, something other than the bird in focus, utility poles or cows in the frame, the list goes on. If I go out for a day of landscape photography the number of photographs I come back with may be in the double digits. With birds, a day’s worth of shooting is almost always over 1000 images… and most are not really great.

The issues are that birds don’t stand still, they don’t always pose against perfect light, the sometimes appear so suddenly that there’s no time to carefully think about things, the light can be challenging, and much more. Often you won’t know until after you make the photograph that it didn’t work… or that it did. The idea is to practice, become more attentive, to be there… and ultimately to increase the odds that you may catch something. Cranes most often keep clear of humans. I’ve watched them head toward me only to veer off to either side. But occasionally one sticks to its path and passed almost directly overhead… and I manage to track the thing and capture it in a pleasing instant of its flight.

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

Yellow-Headed Blackbird

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Yellow-Headed Blackbird
“Yellow-Headed Blackbird” — A yellow-headed blackbird perched on the branch of a Central Valley tree.

This bird was a bit of a surprise. Some large cottonwood trees packed full with a flock of tai-colored blackbirds caught my attention. I pulled over and got out the long lens and began to photograph dense groups of those birds. But as I looked through the telephoto I realized that not all of the birds were the same. Two in particular didn’t quite fit — this yellow-headed blackbird and a nearby European starling.

While the tri-colored blackbirds were clumped closely together in a wildly-singing flock, this bird perched just a bit to the side. It was close enough to initially look like part of the boisterous group, but just far enough away to make a case that “I’m not one of those loud birds!”

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.

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.