Tag Archives: bird

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Bald Eagle in Flight

August 13, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A bald eagle flies past above the Sacramento Valley

This past winter was my initiation into photograph bald eagles. Generally speaking, photographing birds is relatively new passion for me, something I’ve now been doing seriously for only few seasons. It began with an accidental encounter with a friend who is a bird watcher of the classic sort — we ran into one another in a line at a coffee stand and she happened to mention a place she visits and for almost no particular reason I decided to go there a few days later. Despite living in California for decades I did not know (I’m now somewhat embarrassed to admit) about the astounding presences of huge numbers of migratory birds in the state every winter. I was hooked, and this has become a focus for my photography every season.

While photographing my favorite geese, herons, cranes, ibises, and so forth, my photography friends would often say things about eagles. When a flock of geese took off all at once, they might say, “an eagle must have scared them.” To be honest, I never saw the eagles, with exception of a few far off glimpses of birds that didn’t look quite like hawks. Then, this past winter, I headed further north, photographing in the Sacramento Valley and all the way up into southern Oregon. In these places I began to encounter bald eagles on a regular basis and I began to learn how to photograph them, a process that continues.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Bald Eagle Takes Flight

July 14, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A bald eagle leaves its treetop perch and takes to the air

I had not photographed bald eagles before this past winter season, believe it or not — my attention has been mostly focused elsewhere when I’ve been around bird photography opportunities. From my very limited experience it seems like there are perhaps three phases to photographing these beautiful birds. First, find one (or more) of them — something I’m getting better at now that I understand a bit more where and when to look. Second, find a photographing position and wait — perhaps making photographs while waiting if a clear view of the bird is possible and especially if it is doing something visually interesting. Meanwhile, be ready for the next step… Third, when the bird suddenly and almost without warning takes to the air, be prepared to try to track it while photographing it burst mode during the likely brief interval when it is visible.

That was pretty much the story with this eagle. I found it in nearby trees as I came around a perimeter road at a wildlife refuge, pretty much were you would expect to find such a bird. I pulled over and opened the skylight on my vehicle so that I could have a fairly clear line of sight lookup up toward the tree. I made a few photographs, sat, waited, and then… with virtually no warning the eagle launched itself from the perch, first falling and then quickly catching the air with its large wings before departing through trees for some more distant location.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Great Blue Heron

May 1, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A great blue heron stands next to a Sacramento Valley pond

As I prepare photographs to share via social media (in my continuing photo-a-day marathon, now perhaps the years old) I often have photographs lined up for posting days or weeks in the future. Occasionally one sits here on the computer for a long time before I finally share it. This photograph of a great blue heron is such a photograph — I made it almost four months ago, way back when we were in the middle of winter!

This past winter I decided to expand the range of my bird photography a bit. I’ve been photographing winter birds in Central California for the past few years, but mostly in a range from roughly Sacramento south. So it was time to connect a few dots on the map and travel out of that area a bit. One of the first extended visits took me a good distance up the Sacramento Valley on a cold winter day when snow topped the mountains to both the east and west. This specimen was hanging out along an irrigation ditch near the edge of a wildlife refuge, and it allowed me to get relatively close (“hidden” inside a vehicle) without taking flight.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Lesser Sandhill Crane

March 15, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A lesser sandhill crane in flight above California’s San Joaquin Valley

These beautiful birds have a big place among the Central Valley migratory birds. Although they appear in smaller numbers than the geese, at times you may see hundreds or thousands of them in one place at various locations up and down the valley. They have a striking cry that is instantly recognizable and very different from that of other Central Valley birds. With their size, their slower wing flapping, frequent coasting, and level flight from place to place they are also easy to recognize when they are airborne.

Tracking individual birds with a camera and long lens is a challenge, especially when the bird gets close enough to become large in the frame. (It takes practice to track them. The ideal is to eventually become quick and smooth, and to remain aware enough to think about the bird’s wing and head position and even about what it in the background.) On the day when I made this photograph there were many, many cranes about. I managed to position myself between two groups, and I waited there quietly for cranes to fly across my position.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: bird

Bald Eagle in Flight

Bald Eagle Takes Flight

Great Blue Heron

Lesser Sandhill Crane

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