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

Sandhill Cranes, Wetlands Marsh

July 30, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A group of sandhill cranes stands in a San Joaquin Valley wetlands marsh

This group of sandhill cranes was part of a bigger group that came much closer to us than I am used to. Most of the time when I see cranes they are either a good distance away if they are on the ground or they are in flight and passing quickly overhead. One of my strongest memories of cranes is from a morning of very dense fog, when I could hear their creaking, croaking cries from off somewhere in the distance, but could only catch a brief, half-visible view of them as they passed directly overhead and then disappeared again into the tule fog. But this group was hanging around in a shallow pond, near the dirt access road and even near to lots of other birds.

The cranes almost seem a bit aloof to me. While the geese whirl and turn overhead, and then erupt periodically into a honking riot when something disturbs them, the cranes seem to mostly stand quietly, occasionally walking a bit in the water or, even less often, on the land. The arrangement of this group caught my attention, with all standing together but each adopting its own unique pose.

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

The Fly-In

July 29, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Ross’s Geese settle into a wetland pond during the evening fly-in

Often the most active times of day for migratory geese in California’s Central Valley are the morning fly-out and the evening fly in. (In the right conditions, it is also possible to see very active birds at other times, too — even in the middle of the day.) If you happen to be in the right place in the early evening you may see hundreds or thousands of geese descending towards you to eventually settle in for the night. (At the opposite time of day, you may catch the birds suddenly taking to the air in large numbers to depart for destinations that only they seem to know.)

These wetlands ponds in the San Joaquin Valley stretch off into the distance, broken only be a few scattered trees and some levees. Many birds pass overhead, but eventually more and more of them come in to land on the water and form into various sorts of groups.

Commentary, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Thinking Aloud

Is It Ever Too Early To Dream of Aspen Color?

July 28, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Small stands of aspens with autumn leaves stand in front of a talus slope, eastern Sierra Nevada.

Is it ever too early to dream of aspen color? In a word, no.

Every summer around this time I start to think about fall color, and for me that primarily means eastern Sierra Nevada aspen color. I’m not quite sure what triggers the thoughts. Sometimes when I’m in the Sierra — and I am not there right now — it can be some nearly imperceptible changes in the light, the atmosphere, the patterns of annual growth, or even the sound of the wind. It might also be something as simple as my now innate “tuning in” to annual cycles, something that I think we are all more able to do than we might imagine.

On hot northern California days like this one, it certainly does not feel at all like autumn. Yet, I know that the first real signs of the seasonally change will appear high in the Sierra in barely 8 weeks, and the aspen color will arrive only a few weeks after that.

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

Birds, Dusk

July 28, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Birds in the fading light of winter dusk about the San Joaquin Valley

This is likely to at least partially a bird week as I continue to share photographs of migratory birds and their San Joaquin Valley environment from last winter. Certain responsibilities have kept me at home rather than in the field, so I’ve been trying to put the time to good use by reviewing photographs that I made during the past six month. As I move on to the next thing, I sometimes leave behind photographs which, at the time, interest me less than those newer ones, and coming back looking at them later on almost always leads to a few discoveries.

I made this photograph at the end of a long and productive day of (mostly) bird photography. We began in fog before dawn and shot through the morning as the sun came up and eventually the fog began to dissipate, leaving behind that hazy winter Central Valley atmosphere. After a midday break we returned in the late afternoon, and shot right on into the evening until the light was truly gone — perhaps just a bit past gone. After sunset as the dusk sky darkened I simply lengthened exposures to compensate and intentionally worked with the blur created by the birds and by camera motion. Even now, months later, I remember the sensations of the sky filling with what seemed like nervously active birds of many types.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Sandhill Cranes, Wetlands Marsh

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The Fly-In

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Is It Ever Too Early To Dream of Aspen Color?

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Birds, Dusk

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.