Tag Archives: mnwr

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.

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

White-Fronted Geese in Flight

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White-Fronted Geese in Flight
A flock of white-fronted geese in fllight abainst a blue winter sky.

White-Fronted Geese in Flight. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A flock of white-fronted geese in fllight abainst a blue winter sky.

We were recently out photographing migratory (and other) birds in California’s Central Valley, squeezing a visit in between the series of recent and continuing winter storms. I describe these visits as being about “bird photography,” but the truth is that they often end up being as much about the landscape of the place — the sky, the water, the trees, the atmosphere — as about the birds. In order to restore some balance, here is a photograph of birds!

This is a flock of white-fronted geese, one of the several times you can find here in California during the winter months. On a spectrum from photographs that are “realistic” to those that are more subjective and atmospheric, I think this one is more of the former. But there are at least a few unusual things about it that bird photographers might recognize. It is really difficult to get a photograph of groups like this in which each bird is distinctly separate from the others. In addition, if you are interested in a single image that shows almost the whole range of in-flight positions of geese, you might want to spend some time looking at this one!

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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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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetlands Pond, Winter Sky

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Wetlands Pond, Winter Sky
Winter dawn clouds reflected in a California Central Valley wetlands pond.

Wetlands Pond, Winter Sky. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Winter dawn clouds reflected in a California Central Valley wetlands pond.

We were not sure quite what we would find this morning. We had been photographing in this area over the past couple of day, mostly in less-than-spectacular conditions. The first day was marked by the passage of an exceptional weather system, and the second was “pleasant” but less than striking. Hey, it happens! We know that another from was due in as we headed out before dawn, so we were excited to see colorful sky develop as the first light appeared.

Arriving at our destination, the pre-dawn sky was perhaps the most intensely red that I’ve seen in this location. I made a few photographs of that, but it was actually a bit difficult to see how to make a useful photograph of it. (Stay tuned, though…) A bit later, just as the sun was about to break the line of the horizon, the sky overhead had lost the most intense color, thus providing a bit more color variation as I photographed across a Central Valley wetlands pond.

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: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese, Dark Sky

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Geese, Dark Sky
Geese in flight against a dark autumn sky above California’s Central Valley.

Geese, Dark Sky. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Geese in flight against a dark autumn sky above California’s Central Valley.

What visit to the country of winter migratory birds would not be complete without at least one photograph simply of birds filling the sky? These are most likely Ross’s geese — though it is a little hard to say for sure at this distance. As they do numerous times each day, they lifted off en masse when something disturbed them, flew in ever-widening circles for a few minutes, found a new spot, and settle back down on the ground. During that time the sky was filled with a swirling mass of geese.

The conditions at this moment were just right for a darker sky than usual. It was a foggy morning. Earlier the fog had been thick enough to make driving dangerous and bird photography almost impossible. But now, a few hours later, the fog was lifting and opening up the visibility near the ground.

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.