Tag Archives: flock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

White Pelicans

December 26, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of white pelicans wheels overhead

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a late-comer to the whole bird thing — and I’m still more of a bird appreciator and photographer than an actual “birder,” in the sense of being able to precisely identify many birds or of building a life list. I have long been aware of the brown pelicans that are found along our California coastline, and I’ve watched and photographed them for years. However, until just a few years ago I was unaware that we had white pelicans right here in California. I first “discovered” them on one of my Central Valley goose photography forays when I spotted some large white birds with big bills off in the distance. It was a late discovery for me, but I’m glad I found them.

Each of the birds that I know from the Valley has its own mode of behavior and of flight. The geese generally fly fast, make a lot of noise, can frequently be approached fairly closely, and tend to flap a lot when flying. Ibises, to me at least, somehow have a mosquito-like appearance in flight. Cranes seem purposeful, often flying in low, straight lines, but swerving so as to avoid flying directly above people. The white pelicans often have a very smooth mode of flight, seeming to coast in without a lot of wing action — much like their brown cousins along the coastline. They do flock, but in much smaller numbers here, generally measured in dozens rather than hundreds or thousands. And when they land they typically seem to keep their distance from humans and their traces. This group, however, put on quite a close-up show. The arrived from out across the ponds, but then began to circle above and around my position, where they remained in flight for quite some time. A bit of backlight shining through their wing feathers compensates for the usual difficulty of photographing the undersides of birds against the bright sky.

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: Wildlife

Snow Geese, Sunset Light

December 24, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A group of snow geese fly into sunset light

I made this photograph on my second visit to the San Joaquin Valley migratory birds this season, on a day that features some very beautiful light near the end of the day. As always, I arrived before dawn, at first photographing in very thin fog. (Overall, this year so far seems have produced a lot less fog than usual and much less than last year.) I photographed all morning, finally took my midday break, then returned in the mid-afternoon.

This group of birds managed to pose quite nicely for me. There are many challenges when it comes to getting a group of birds together in one photograph. There are the usual issues — the birds need to fly past within camera distance, they must be oriented so that they are decently lit, there must be enough light to allow a fast enough shutter speed in order to minimize motion blur. While “decent” light can work, better light is, well, better. In this case the group of birds cooperated and flew toward the low angle light source of the sun, with just enough side light to enhance their features. Another challenge is taking advantage of opportunities when the birds line up in interesting and photogenic ways. Here they are all (well, almost all) headed the same direction. Wings are mostly in interesting and dynamic positions. There is barely any overlap among the birds, and the one small overlap has the head of the closer bird visible.

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

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

Geese Rising

December 18, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of geese takes to the air above San Joaquin Valley wetlands

Sometimes bad light turns out to be good light. Late in the day I made one last circuit of this location, hoping to find some birds to photograph in sunset light. However, the light was obscured by the clouds of an incoming weather system and much of the light at this location became rather flat and gray. (The light to the west was another story, and another photograph made within moments of this one includes a rather spectacular sky in the distance.) It was cloudy enough that most of the light had faded before sunset, and there wasn’t much left after that at all.

Yet… the flat light has its advantages. One of the challenges of photographing airborne birds is that when they rise against the sky they are often lit from above, and it can be difficult to get a photograph that isn’t simply a silhouette. But the soft light fills those shadows, and here there was also a bit of gentle light coming from the western sky through sunset clouds that had picked up a bit of color. As I stood around watching a large group of geese (mostly snow geese) settled in a pond, the suddenly erupted into flight en masse, in the typical wild show of fluttering wings and loud vocalization. The turned and passed right in front of me before continuing on to some unknown place far to the west.

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

Dawn Flight of White Pelicans

December 10, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A dawn flight of white pelicans above San Joaquin Valley wetlands

I’m going with a bit of mystery and mood in this photograph — I could probably lighten things if I wanted to, but I prefer the darker rendition. I made the photograph very early on a late-fall morning, when thin fog had settled above the wetlands and high clouds partially obscured the sky above the summit of the Sierra Nevada far to my east. As soon as there is any light the birds begin to take to the air. These very early moments are probably my favorite of almost any day in these wetlands.

This photograph and the series like it posed some interesting technical and aesthetic challenges. The general light level was quite low, especially with the thin fog, and because I was handholding a long lens I had to keep my ISO somewhat high. As the birds passed from left to right in front of me they passed from near obscurity in dark sky and fog through brilliant light as they crossed in front of clouds lit by the first light of the sun. I panned with the birds as I kept watch for landscape elements that might give some definition to a composition and kept an eye on the birds, waiting for a group to stretch out in a beautiful line and to pass in just the right area of illuminated sky.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: flock

Geese Rising

Dawn Flight of White Pelicans

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