Tag Archives: feathers

Pelican Above Water

Pelican Above Water
Pelican Above Water

Pelican Above Water. California coast. May 15, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solo pelican coasts above the surface of the Pacific Ocean near the central California coast.

There is not too much to say about this one – since I posted a companion pelican photograph yesterday! This one is also “from the archives” – a photograph from last May that I found as I looked through last year’s raw files one last time.

(For those who are reading this in the archives, a bit more information. I frequently photograph pelicans along the California Pacific Ocean shoreline. This photograph was made from a location where I can access the top of a coastal bluff that drops almost immediately straight down to the water. The pelicans seem to make a habit of cruising up and down the tops of these bluffs on the updrafts that are created by the onshore breeze, and they fly very close to the bluff edges where I can photograph them close up.)

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Pelican in Flight

Pelican in Flight
Pelican in Flight

Pelican in Flight. California coastline. May, 15, 2010.© Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solo pelican in flight about the Pacific Ocean coast of California.

Last May I made one of my spontaneous drives over to the Pacific coast – a 30-45 minute drive from my location in Silicon Valley – and ended up engaging in my idea of sport, “hunting” pelicans with my camera and a long lens. I know a few places where the “pelican highway” passes along a high coastal bluff where I presume that the birds can coast on updrafts caused by onshore winds rising from the water. In one or two spots I can consistently find the birds passing very close to the edge of the bluffs, and it is often just a matter of waiting a while to see them fly past at very close distances. This bird came by a bit lower than some and instead of presenting itself against the more typical backdrop of the horizon and sky, this one gave me an overhead view with the surface of the Pacific as the background.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Egret with Wings Unfolding, Whalers Cove

Egret with Wings Unfolding, Whalers Cove

Egret with Wings Unfolding, Whalers Cove. Point Lobos, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An egret hunting for fish in the kelp beda at Whalers Cover unfolds its wins, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

OK, I think I’m coming almost to the end of this series – there is one more egret photograph after this one if I’m correct. :-)

keywords: egret, bird, wildlife, animal, wings, feathers, beak, beak, bill, water, cove, bay, pacific, ocean, kelp, bed, point lobos, state, reserve, park, california, usa, flight, carmel, big sur, monterey, peninsula, stock, nature, g dan mitchell, gdanmitchell

Egret with Fish, Whalers Cove

Egret with Fish, Whalers Cove

Egret with Fish, Whalers Cove. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 30, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An egret raises its wings after catching a fish in the kelp beds at Whalers Cove, Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

Another in the egret series from Whalers Cover at Point Lobos. This bird had just caught the fish you see in its beak and was making a quick move across the kelp in which it had been fishing before swallowing the fish.

keywords: egret, wings, beak, bill, fish, catch, food, wildlife, kelp, bed, feathers, tail, water, bay, pacific, ocean, cove, whalers, point lobos, state, reserve, park, california, usa, monterey, peninsula, carmel, big sur, coast, shore, nature, stock