Category Archives: Photographs: Wildlife

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Flock In Flight

Image December 18, 2019 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A large from of Snow Geese in flight. against late-fall foggy sky.

If you spend time around birds that live in flocks, especially very large flocks, you will frequently see (and hear!) events like this where many hundreds or thousands of birds take to the air at once. I’ve seen it with geese, to some extent with sandhill cranes (sometimes along with the geese), and even with starlings. It is always a remarkable experience, and the group behavior of flocks never fails to evoke wonder.

This time of year, up and down the western United States, the Pacific Flyway provides plenty of opportunities to experience this. I’ve seen it from Washington to California. And, believe it or not, I’ve also seen much bigger and denser flocks! I am pretty certain that these birds are snow geese.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

White Pelicans, Island

Image December 15, 2019 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A small flock ofwhite pelicans on a small wetlands island and reflected in the surface of a pond.

Growing up in California, early on pelicans were more or less mythical birds to me. I heard stories about them (“Its beak can hold more than its belly can”) but I don’t recall actually seeing them. That is somewhat odd, since my family frequently visited the California coast where the brown pelicans are often seen — flying past almost any coastal location or sometimes settling down on rocks, headlands, or even beaches. When I finally did “discover” pelicans, they were these brown pelicans. Much to my eventual surprise, these were not the only California pelicans, and the beautiful white pelicans are found all over the place, from coastal to inland locations. It was only in the past decade or sot that I made their acquaintance.

In my experience, the behavior of white pelicans is much different than what I’ve see among brown pelicans. My impression of the brown pelicans is that they are often (most of the time?) in flight, coasting along shoreline bluffs and not spending all that much time on the ground. On the other hand, most of the time when I’ve seen white pelicans they have been on the ground, as with this group. Often when I photograph them I spend a lot of time watching flocks on the ground like this one, waiting for them to eventually take to the air. Sometimes it is a long wait! This group posed on the small island for quite a while before they finally took to the air, made a swooping turn, and passed almost directly over me.

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Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Feeding Black-Necked Stilt

Image December 13, 2019 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A black-necked stilt feeding in a season wetland pond.

The black-necked stilt is a fascinating bird, even to someone like me whose knowledge of birds is somewhat limited. (I know a lot by osmosis and observation, but not much at all from formal learning.) I often seen them along the margins of wetland ponds, where the water is just about the right depth for their long legs. Sometimes I see one of them alone, but more often they are in small, loose group. They seem to spend a lot of time foraging, and much less flying about — though every so often they will quickly take off.

They are an interesting combination of gangly awkwardness and sleek beauty. Those long legs can almost give them a comic appearance at times, but they also allow them to wander about in water that is several inches deep. Their coloration is simple but striking — white on the bottom and black on top — and their round heads hold long narrow beaks. When you observe them you are bound to see them do some odd things with their legs — sometimes moving them with great deliberation, occasionally holding delicately balanced poses, sometimes bending awkwardly.

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Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Four Sandhilll Cranes Taking Flight

Image December 9, 2019 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Four sandhill cranes take to the air above California Central Valley fields.

Some folks are perpetual bird photographers, but I (mostly) photograph them on a seasonal basis. My serious interest began with migratory geese coming to California along the Pacific Flyway, and I got in the habit of heading into the field during their season. Along the way my interest expanded to include other birds I saw on my excursions: sandhill cranes, white pelicans, ibises, various herons, egrets, the occasional eagle, hawks, and more. Each year, about half way into the fall season, my attention turns back to the birds. I made this photograph back in early November on an early foray out into California’s Central Valley.

Sandhill cranes are marvelous birds in many ways. They flock but typically in much smaller groups than geese, so it is much more possible to photograph individual animals. (They do collect in larger numbers at times, too.) They are fairly large birds, and when they take to the air there is an initial interval when they can appear a bit awkward. They get a bit of forward motion, launch themselves upwards, and flap strongly to get altitude. In this photograph the four birds are nearly, but not quite, past that point in the take-off, and there is still a bit of what seems like flailing going on.

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