Tag Archives: bird

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

Quintet of Cranes

January 30, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Five sandhill cranes in San Joaquin pasture land on a foggy winter day

Many years ago in college I read a book that mentioned the sandhill cranes and which spoke of them almost reverentially. At that time I was largely uninterested in things like birds (with the possible exception of egrets) and even less interested in flatland things — my interests were in the mountains and the higher the better. But somehow the existence of these birds stuck in my mind, even though I really had no idea what they were. Then, not all that many years ago, when chance led me to go see the migratory birds of California’s Central Valley, it was the cranes that were my object — a friend had told me about a crane refuge, and that was the sum total of my knowledge of the birds, so that’s where I went. The cranes were, in a sense, my gateway drug to developing a serious interest in all of the birds that show up in California in the winter.

In the last few years I have photographed the birds extensively, and I’m becoming more fond of the cranes with their unusual and striking call (often heard while the birds are unseen), their low and level flight, propelled by slowing flapping wings, the striking difference between their beautifully graceful forms in flight and their rather ungainly appearance on the ground. This winter there have been a larger number of cranes at the location where I often photograph, and on this visit the numbers were quite impressive. As I came around the far end of the place, there were several small groups of them right on the gravel road I was traveling on. I slowed, got my camera ready, and knew that they would soon take off, probably providing an opportunity to photograph them in flight. They did fly, but not far, and I stopped and photographed this group against the green of the pasture, and the slightly fog muted light on the trees of this flat landscape.

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

Dancing Cranes

January 20, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A group of sandhill cranes perform a courtship “dance.”

The sandhill cranes hold a special place for me in the list of San Joaquin Valley birds. Many years ago, I recall reading the work of the great American conservationist Aldo Leopold in a college class. As a young “Sierra Guy” I registered that this was supposed to be important, but my passions were with Muir and the Sierra and I was skeptical that some guy writing about some birds I had never seen could have much of interest to say about such things. To be honest, most of it didn’t sink in at the time — but as so often happens with college experiences, the seed was planted and it finally took root and grew much later. A second story: I was not at all interested in photographing birds until a chance encounter with a colleague while waiting in the espresso stand line one morning at the college. While we were standing there chatting, my friend Pauline mentioned her passion for birding and described a place further north in the Central Valley. I was going to photograph that weekend but didn’t have specific plans, so I more or less figured, “what the heck, might as well go check out this bird place.” The embarrassing fact is that I had lived decades in California with (almost) no idea of the astonishing numbers of migratory birds that make their homes here. One visit to this place my friend mentioned and I was hooked.

While the geese are my primary excuse to go photograph birds, over time I’ve become more and more fascinated by the cranes. There is nothing like arriving before dawn where they hang out and hearing their haunting cry carrying over the wetlands, unless it is the sight of a nearly perfect line of them, wings moving slowly, as they follow their level trajectories above the landscape, especially when it is a bit foggy. During the day they often seem to collect in groups, quietly feeding on pasture land. In the evening (and occasionally during the day) vast numbers of them coast in to land. And then there is “the dance.” Among a seemingly quiet group of cranes, mayhem erupts as small groups collect together and take turns jumping into the air in what I understand to be a courtship ritual.

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

Tule Fog, Marsh

January 19, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Thick tule fog obscures the view of a central California marsh

These conditions are among my favorites out in the Central California wetlands — silent except for the calls of birds, almost nothing moving, fog so thick that details quickly disappear, and a gentle glow from sun above the shallow fog layer. Mornings like this one remind me that the photography is about something deeper than getting a clear shot of another bird — it is about somehow trying for that merging of capturing and evoking the mood of such a place, and about personally experiencing the thing.

Subtle and uncontrollable things come into play. I have to slow down a lot and look for compositions in place that are not at all obvious, and the subjects from which I can select are limited to those that are very close. Some elements of the composition exist almost on the very edge of visibility — in this photograph there is a further extent of the tules that is barely visible at all. Focus isn’t easy, and I may choose to “go with the softness,” as I did here. And the bird, suddenly appearing at the lower left, turns out to be utterly unpredictable yet important to the overall effect of the image.

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

Egret on the Hunt

January 18, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An egret hunts in marshland grasses, San Joaquin Valley, California

On this foggy late-December morning I was in this spot mostly looking to photograph sandhill cranes. It seems that the cranes are often a bit shy in the early morning and I often am not able to get too close to them — I try, but they tend to be a bit off in the distance except when they are in flight, and then they typically diverge a bit when they see me. There were lots of cranes on this morning, but they were by the ponds near the more distant trees in this photograph. (If you look closely you can probably spot a few of them.)

Egrets, on the other hand, are often not that far from my route. Out here they tend to be found along creeks and ditches or out in grassy areas where they can hunt, which is what this one was doing. While the egrets are spectacular in flight — with their slow, swooping trajectories and huge wingspans — they may actually be more interesting to watch when they are hunting. They seem to be very careful and very patient hunters, often sneaking up on their prey slowly. Along the way they may stop in some awkward pose, perhaps standing almost still aside from a bit of neck “rocking” or the slow movement of a foot. Then the neck stretches a bit and suddenly the bird stabs its small prey. This bird was hunting in grasses very close to a gravel road, so I remained in my vehicle to photograph it as it looked for its breakfast.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: bird

Quintet of Cranes

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Tule Fog, Marsh

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Egret on the Hunt

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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.