Tag Archives: flock

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

Cranes, Sunrise, Winter Sky

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Cranes, Sunrise, Winter Sky
Sandhill cranes fly in winter sky as sun rises above the Sierra Nevada.

Cranes, Sunrise, Winter Sky. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Sandhill cranes fly in winter sky as sun rises above the Sierra Nevada.

For weeks I have been thinking about how little time remains before many of our migratory birds depart. I have been eyeing my schedule and the weather conditions looking for the right time to go look for the birds. Ideally I want fog, but that has been missing, first due to a string of very warm days and more recently to unusually cold and wet weather. So I stopped waiting for the perfect conditions that might not arrive, and I headed out to the Central Valley before the cold arrived.

I never know precisely what conditions I’ll encounter. On this visit I knew that forecasts predicted an incoming weather system. Fortunately the early clouds only improved the visual conditions. (Later it clouded up, but then it cleared well before sunset — sometimes I get lucky!) It is easy to point the camera at the rising sun out here, but usually that isn’t so productive since the light overwhelms everything else. But on this morning the sun rose into clouds that muted its intensity. I made this photograph as a flock of sandhill cranes flew past.

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

Cranes in Silhouette

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Cranes in Silhouette
Sandhill cranes in flight, silhouetted against the sky and sunrise clouds.

Cranes in Silhouette. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Sandhill cranes in flight, silhouetted against the sky and sunrise clouds.

Sandhill cranes seem to be among the more wary birds in the locations where I usually do my bird photography this time of year. On occasion, geese will not be uncomfortable within a few dozen feet of humans, especially later in the season. But I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to cranes. They even avoid us when flying, and I’ve often watched a group heading straight toward my position only to divert to one side.

I photographed this small flock around sunrise on a day when various kinds of clouds were in the sky — high, thin clouds that had been brilliantly illuminated by pre-sunrise light, and these thinner, wispier clouds that glowed with more subtle colors. Since I wanted the cloud colors in the photograph, I exposed for them, letting the birds go nearly black.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Geese, Morning Clouds

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Geese, Morning Clouds
Early morning clouds and migratory geese above California’s Central Valley.

Geese, Morning Clouds. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Early morning clouds and migratory geese above California’s Central Valley.

The range of sky colors and the nature of their transitions never cease to amaze me. The previous photograph that I shared featured an intense, blood-red, pre-sunrise sky that is almost too saturated to be believable. This photograph comes from the same morning, only minutes later, and with the camera pointed in a different direction. Some of the reddish tones are still present here, but they are far more muted and balanced by the blue (and resultant purple) shades. Conveniently, a long line of geese flew across the scene at just the right moment.

This morning’s light continued to transition after I made this photograph. As I recall, when we arrived before sunrise and saw the wildly colorful sky, we quickly texted friends in the area to alert them. A few minutes later, at about the time I made this photograph, I started to feel badly that they were not going to see that earlier light. And by the time that the last of them got there… it had turned into a rather gray morning, under the influence of haze and incoming clouds.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

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

Cloudscape With Birds

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Cloudscape With Birds
Migratory birds fill the winter sky against a backdrop of clearing storm clouds.

Cloudscape With Birds. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Migratory birds fill the winter sky against a backdrop of clearing storm clouds.

Yes, it is a little bit difficult to see the birds in this photograph. (If you have the option, you may want to view it larger.) But in a way, that is kind of the point — to set the very small and very numerous birds against that grand scale of this California Central Valley winter cloudscape. When photographing birds I almost always wish I could get closer — but there’s also inevitably a moment when I am moved by the distant view a sky filled with thousands of birds.

I made this photograph on New Year’s morning, shortly after the first dawn of 2023. In order to arise before dawn I had to be in bed well before midnight. (I suppose that there was a time when I might have stayed up until midnight and gotten up before the sun!) As wonderful as it was to greet the new year in the company of thousands of migratory birds, it was even better to be in the company of a wonderful little band of photographers and friends who gather together on every New Year’s Day.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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