Tag Archives: big basin

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Pelicans Turn Toward the Horizon

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Pelicans Turn Toward the Horizon
Pelicans Turn Toward the Horizon

Pelicans Turn Toward the Horizon. Waddell Creek Beach, Big Basin State Park, California. June 22, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of low flying pelicans above the Pacific Ocean turns toward the horizon at Waddell Creek Beach, Big Basin State Park, California.

As I spend more time along this section of the California coast I have started to understand the “pelican highway” that these birds follow as they fly along the coastline. Just south of Waddell Creek Beach they fly along the edge of coastal bluffs (or sometimes skim along the water’s surface not far from the shoreline) before they pull in for a rest stop at this beach. Sometimes they seem to come down along the freshwater creek that arrives here from the Santa Cruz Mountains and Big Basin Redwoods State Park. On this June evening they seemed to be making only a quick stop. Several flocks came north along the waterline and when they arrived at my position they briefly stopped in the water just offshore before taking off once again and continuing north along the coast.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Solo Pelican in Flight

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Solo Pelican in Flight
Solo Pelican in Flight

Solo Pelican in Flight. North of Santa Cruz, California. May 15, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A pelican in flight next to a high bluff above the Pacific Ocean coastline north of Santa Cruz, California.

I can’t tell you how many shots of pelicans I have to make to get one that is this close and well-focused! This is another in the series shot in mid-May along the California coastline near the town of Davenport, a bit north of Santa Cruz – more accurately along a bluff just south of Waddell Creek Beach, part of the Big Basin State Park.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 400mm
ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/16000 second

keywords: pelican, pelagic, bird, animal, wildlife, nature, flight, fly, wing, sky, beak, bluff, coast, shore, pacific, ocean, highway, one, santa cruz, davenport, waddell, state, beach, park, big basin, california, usa, north america, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Three Pelicans In Low-Level Flight

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Three Pelicans In Low-Level Flight
Three Pelicans In Low-Level Flight

Three Pelicans In Low-Level Flight. Waddell Beach, California. December 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three Pelicans fly just above the beach and surf near Waddell Beach along the California Pacific Ocean coastline.

I hope you don’t mind if I indulge – yet again – in my pelican obsession! I’m endlessly fascinated by these wonderful birds found, among other places, along the California Pacific Ocean coastline. (Note: This morning I read the unfortunate news that the pelicans may be undergoing some sort of stress this winter and some fear one of the periodic pelican “die-offs.”)

I photographed these birds on a dark and cloudy early December day. A bit earlier I had spotted a first group of them descending from above bluffs to the south to land at the delta of Waddell Creek along this beach. Gradually a few more groups of them arrived until there were a good number collected in a group. After a few moments, and for no reason that I could discern, they all lifted off at the same moment and flew across the beach in front of me, at first mere inches off the surface of the sand, and then turning out to sea and rising above waves before disappearing.

Trust me, I can make sharp photographs of pelicans. But here I like the obvious blur from the camera motion and from the motion of the birds through the air as well as from their moving wings – to me this image more strongly suggest their nearly constant motion than the sharper photographs I’ve made of them.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: pacific, ocean, sea, coast, highway, one, coastal, california, usa, pelican, bird, wildlife, fly, flight, low, beach, sand, water, surf, wave, motion, blur, wing, beak, shadow, feather, nature, waddell, creek, beach, big basin, state, park, shore, shorline, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Gulls Taking Flight, Near Waddell Creek

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Gulls Taking Flight, Near Waddell Creek

Gulls Taking Flight, Near Waddell Creek. Pacific Ocean Coastline near Santa Cruz, California. December 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Flock of gulls takes flight over dark and cloudy Pacific Ocean near Waddell Creek.

This is a second photograph from the same location where I made the motion-blur pelican shot posted previously, the Waddell Creek Beach (part of Big Basin State Park) along the Pacific Ocean coastline on Highway 1 (the “coast highway”) north of Santa Cruz. When I shot this the light was truly dismal from a combination of ocean spray, foggy haze, and high clouds above.

Working quickly – fortunately my long lens was already on the camera – I pivoted and tracked this large group of gulls as they lifted off from the beach near the creek and headed north. Although I’m posting this small version of the photograph, it really is intended to be seen large – I’m thinking it might make an interesting print in a width of two to four feet.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: pacific, ocean, sea, coast, highway, one, coastal, california, usa, gulls, birds, flight, fly, flock, group, wing, surf, sea, ocean, shore, wave, foam, horizon, clouds, fog, mist, haze, dark, scenic, nature, wildlife, seascape, landscape, travel, stock, waddell, creek, big basin, state, park, beach, sand