Tag Archives: heron

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

Egret and Heron

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Egret and Heron
Egret and Heron

Egret and Heron. San Joaquin Valley, California. January 19, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A great egret and a blue heron in low-level flight

Recently I’ve been thinking about how to make my wildlife photography more efficient. Sometimes I return from a day of photographing birds and other fast-moving critters to find that I have many hundreds or even more than a thousand photographs to sort through. There is a limited supply of pixels in the world, and don’t want to be the one responsible of using them all up. Today it occurred to me that it is wasteful to photograph only a single species in each frame, so I’ve decided to double my efficiency as a photographer and strive to capture two in each shot.

Extracting tongue from cheek… on this trip to photograph San Joaquin Valley migratory birds and other subjects I encountered several of these odd pairings of a single egret and a single heron hanging out together. This was the first pair, and it was quite a surprise. We were creeping along a dirt levee road very slowly in our vehicle, keeping an eye out for interesting birds, and I half expected to see the egret. I had my camera sitting across my lap as I drove, and I probably would have stopped for a(nother) close who of an egret in flight. But right on the heels (tail feathers?) of the egret, a beautiful blue heron followed it across he road — and almost without thinking I quickly grabbed my camera and tracked the two of them as they flew to the left of the vehicle, managing to make a short string of exposures including the two of them together.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Great Blue Heron, Foggy Pasture

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Great Blue Heron, Foggy Pasture - A long great blue heron overlooks a pasture in clearing fog, Merced National Wildlife Refuge, California
A long great blue heron overlooks a pasture in clearing fog, Merced National Wildlife Refuge, California

Great Blue Heron, Foggy Pasture. San Joaquin Valley, California. November 25, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A lone great blue heron overlooks a pasture in clearing fog, San Joaquin Valley, California

I photographed this critter on my first bird photography trip of the season in the Central Valley of California, during which I visited several wildlife refuges in the Merced area. In typical Central Valley form, the day started out very foggy – tule fog hugged the valley floor and obscured the view in many places. By late morning most of the fog had dissipated, and hazy light came through the still-humid cool-season atmosphere.

When I first arrived at this refuge, the fog was so thick that it was more or less impossible to photograph the birds – though I tried! Eventually I reconsidered and did some landscape photography in the mysterious atmosphere of the thick fog. As it finally began to clear, I turned my attention back to the migratory birds. I found this solitary blue heron in a pasture at the far corner of the refuge, and I used my car as a “blind” to eventually pull almost parallel to it on the gravel access road, then stopping to make a series of telephoto shots with the foggy pasture as the backdrop.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Great Blue Heron Taking Flight

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Great Blue Heron Taking Flight - A great blue heron takes flight from a field at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge California
A great blue heron takes flight from a field at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge California

Great Blue Heron Taking Flight. Merced National Wildlife Refuge, California. November 25, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A great blue heron takes flight from a foggy field at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge California

To retell a story I’ve shared before, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that despite living in California for decades I had barely been aware of the astonishing winter migratory bird population of the state’s Central Valley until a chance encounter with a colleague led to a “wild goose chase” trip into an area south of Sacramento not so long ago. Now I’m now officially hooked! I’m certainly no expert on these birds – geese, herons, egrets, and more – but I’ve become very interested in seeing and photographing them.

While returning from another trip last month I saw a flock of geese over the Central Valley, and was reminded that this seasonal migration is again underway. I resolved to try to get out there earlier this year, and I made my first trip a few days after Thanksgiving. I drove over Pacheco Pass through Los Banos, entered the valley fog, and headed out to the Merced National Wildlife Refuge, a place I’m starting to know rather well. The fog was even thicker when I arrived at the refuge, and I could hear a lot more birds than I could really see, though I did catch a faint view of a flock of white Ross’s geese through the murk at one point. Eventually the fog began to thin a bit, and here and there muted sunlight began to shine through. As I circled the refuge I saw this lone great blue heron standing in a field in this transitional light. Using my car as a blind, I stopped a ways back and used my longest lens to make several photographs as the bird mostly stood there. Bit by bit, I was able to edge the car forward and continue to shoot from the driver’s seat, eventually being roughly parallel with the bird. I stopped and shut off the engine and continued to watch and make more photographs. Eventually, the heron apparently got bored with me and lifted off to find more interesting company, and I was able to get a couple of shots as this impressive bird took to the still-foggy air.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.