Tag Archives: bird

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

Red-tailed Hawk

August 3, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A red-tailed hawk sits in the branches of a tree above a San Joaquin Valley marsh

While photographing migratory birds in the San Joaquin Valley, I often see these raptors. Occasionally they will fly overhead, sometimes disturbing the flocks of winter migratory geese and setting off quite a commotion among the flock. More often I see them perched in trees, seemingly doing nothing at all, but perhaps actually watching for prey from their high perches.

I have never had a good, close, and clear view of one in the wild, despite running into them regularly. Those in flight are often not only in motion but also too far away to see details or to capture an effective photograph. Many other times when I’ve seen them in trees they have also been too far off, or else they were perched where the branches hid the details of their form. This specimen was a bit more cooperative, perching on a tree alongside a levee road as I drove by, and then remaining there patiently as I quietly exited my car and made a few photographs.

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

Seven Sandhill Cranes

March 31, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Seven sandhill cranes in shallow water, San Joaquin Valley

This was an interesting and varied day out in the Central Valley wetlands, chasing birds, fog, and various landscape subjects. We started, as is pretty much the rule, before dawn. Actually, the drive to this place started way before dawn and in the darkness, so that we could arrive and be ready to photograph before the sun rose. Meeting up with friends who came with the same ideas, we began our watching and searching and photographing in pre-dawn light and thick, low fog. As the morning wore on the ground fog dissipated, leaving behind the common Central Valley haze and some thin high clouds.

We continued to “work” this area, moving from place to place looking for the best bird photography opportunities. To me, “bird photography” does not just mean birds, but also includes effects of light and atmosphere and the background landscape. You never know for sure what you’ll find out here, but on this mid-February day the birds seems, to me at least, to be surprisingly active. Sometimes you’ll mostly get action very early and very late in the day, but this time it seemed like there was almost always something going on. Large flocks of various sorts of geese would arrive and depart, often collecting in large groups on fallow fields. There was a large number of cranes, and this time they often showed up in places that were relatively accessible to us. Several times we found fairly large groups of them not far from the gravel road that we were on, sometimes in fields and, as in this photograph, standing in shallow ponds. This group was close enough that I could photograph from the vehicle, using it as a blind, and by using a long lens get close enough to focus on this group standing together and—for the moment at least—facing in the same direction.

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

Sandhill Cranes, Pond

March 24, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

A flock of sandhill cranes stands in the shallow water of a San Joaquin Valley marsh

The sandhill cranes are among my favorite of the seasonal birds found in California’s Central Valley. Their call is almost replacing that of the geese as my favorite sonic image of winter in the valley, especially when it comes in thick fog and heralds the approach of birds that I cannot see. Their manner of flight is also special. Rather than wheeling wildly, as geese will do, they often seem to be headed somewhere, traveling in a mostly straight line and frequently at a low level. When they take off they remind me, in a way, of heavily laden passenger airliners that must ascend slowly. They may travel in groups of a dozen or more, but they may also be seen flying over in smaller groups of two or so.

Most often I cannot get very close to them. At one place where I frequently photograph I have gotten accustomed to seeing them take off just after dawn from a location that is just a bit too far away for good photographs. But on this mid-February day they seemed to be a little more willing to stick around as we came closer. On several occasions earlier in the day they stuck around as we drove slowly past. This group stood almost still in shallow water not far from our position (“hidden” in our vehicle on a nearby access road) and only gradually began to leave a bit later. I no longer recall what it was, but something to my left must have been very fascinating to cranes!

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

White-Faced Ibis

March 4, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

White-Faced Ibis feeding in San Joaquin Valley wetlands

As I have pointed out in the past, I’m no bird expert – but I do like to photograph them! For some reason the white-faced ibis has intrigued me for some time. The first time I photographed them it was an accident. I was photographing birds flying overhead on one winter morning when the sky was filled with birds – so many that I mostly just photographed without paying too much attention to the specifics of what I was seeing. Sometime later when I got home and looked at the files I saw that one large group of birds flying in a long row, silhouetted against the brighter sky, had the interesting curved bills that characterize the ibises.

More recently I have learned to look for them, and in some of the places I photograph I now know where to find them, down to the acre in a few cases. In mid-February I went to one of these locations and ended up at a spot where I have seen many of them in the past, often feeding in groups. But this time I saw exactly two. One was behind some reeds and did not make a good photographic subject, but this one was feeding alongside a gravel road right at the edge of the water. I stopped my car – which often serves as an effective blind – and opened a window and waited (somewhat) patiently as the bird worked its way along in the shallow water. The trick is to think of this almost as a portrait – I watch for the bird to turn into the best light, to stand in an interesting position, to face the camera, and to be in a spot that avoids distracting or interfering objects. The egret tends to spend a lot of its time with its beak deep in the water as it looks for food – not a very attractive photographic pose! But it periodically lifts the beak and every so often it briefly stands up straight as seen here. The plumage of this bird is very interesting. It can look just plain dull and almost black in some light. But if it turns its body toward the sun, the feathers become iridescent and have tints of green and red.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: bird

Red-tailed Hawk

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Seven Sandhill Cranes

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White-Faced Ibis

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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.