Approaching Geese, Evening. Central Valley, California. December 11, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Ross’s geese approach their evening landing spot on a hazy late-autumn evening in California’s Central Valley.

This is yet another photograph of Ross’s geese from our December 2012 trek to the migratory bird areas of California’s Central Valley. We saw nearly all of the possible seasonal weather types on this day, save actual rain (that held off for another day) and clear, unfiltered sunlight. But other than that the day transitioned from so-thick-you-can-barely-drive tule fog, to clearing and drifting fog, to fog burning off, to brilliantly luminous winter haze, to dull and gray light as the first clouds of an incoming storm began to arrive, to the finale of a suddenly and unexpectedly colorful sunset.

After a mid-afternoon break to grab a bit to eat, we returned to this wildlife refuge in hopes of photographing the fly-in. Indeed, there were many thousands of Ross’s geese around, settled into pastures and occasionally lifting off to circle the area and then land again. But the light became increasingly dull as the first clouds of an approaching Pacific winter weather system arrived in the west. I made this photograph in what was, in many ways, rather gloomy light, though it is apparent that the sky is just beginning to pick up a hint of the pink that soon developed into a downright amazingly intense sunset. At this particular point in the evening I had positioned myself beyond the end of a large flock that stretched from nearly my position to the line of trees seen in the distance. It seemed that many of the geese were starting to move from the far end of the flock to closer to my position, so I was a in a good spot to photograph them straight on as they approached, and I had managed to position the slightly darker trees behind them, allowing their lighter bodies to stand out a bit. This group was just about to set down not far in front of me.

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.