Ridgetop Oak Tree (monochrome). Calero Hills, California. March 18, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
This noble, though slightly tipsy, old oak lives on the top of a ridge I like to visit in the Calero Hills (Calero Park) south of San Jose, California.
Egret, Pond, and Fog. Calero Hills, California. January 20, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
The story: When I arrived at this pond at about 7:30 a.m. the egret flew up from behind some reeds and across the water before I could get my camera out. It settled for a moment on a nearby hillside and then flew off. Darn!
So I put my camera on the tripod and settled in for a long cold wait. Fortunately there were interesting foggy conditions to keep me occupied. Perhaps an hour later the egret came back and approached the pond as if to land. Spotting me, it made a quick circle and headed back the way it had come – but I managed to fire off about a half dozen shots as it looped in front of me.
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This bird was a bit of a surprise. Some large cottonwood trees packed full with a flock of tai-colored blackbirds caught my attention. I pulled over and got out the long lens and began to photograph dense groups of those birds. But as I looked through the telephoto I realized that not all of the birds were the same. Two in particular didn’t quite fit — this yellow-headed blackbird and a nearby European starling.
While the tri-colored blackbirds were clumped closely together in a wildly-singing flock, this bird perched just a bit to the side. It was close enough to initially look like part of the boisterous group, but just far enough away to make a case that “I’m not one of those loud birds!”
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
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