Tag Archives: mnwr

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

Toward Morning Light

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Toward Morning Light
A flock of sandhill cranes flies toward the morning light

Toward Morning Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of sandhill cranes flies toward the morning light

This group of sandhill cranes was flying almost into the early morning sun — it was actually just enough to one side to illuminate the side of the birds that was facing me. As the cranes came toward my position I was ready, and I tracked them as they crossed from left to right, repositioning themselves as they passed by.

Sandhill cranes hold a special place for me, and they did even before I had seen or heard them. Many years ago as  college student, an enlightened science professor assigned us to read sections of Aldo Leopold’s “Sand County Almanac.” Leopold was completely new to me at the time — my vocabulary of “nature” writers was more orientated to the Sierra Nevada. But his descriptions of the cranes and the experience of seeing them stuck with me, and perhaps made the experience more magical when I finally saw them many years later.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
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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, Photographs: Wildlife

Cranes in Morning Sky

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Cranes in Morning Sky
Sandhill cranes aloft in winter morning sky

Cranes in Morning Sky. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sandhill cranes aloft in winter morning sky

Photography of migratory birds is often done at the edges of the day, starting before dawn and continuing well into the twilight hours. The birds are often there all day, but the light isn’t. (There are exceptions — for example, day-long tule fog or spectacular clouds.) So I spend a lot of time driving too and from locations in the darkness, and I usually arrive before dawn when there is perhaps just a hint of light in the sky.

While getting up at 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning for a long drive in the dark probably doesn’t sound that appealing — and, honestly, it isn’t! — there are certain compensations. Dawn is one of them, especially dawn experienced with the sounds of perhaps tens of thousands of birds awakening and getting ready to burst into the sky. One one of those mornings a flock of sandhill cranes flew overhead and crossed from cloudy skies to clear eastern pre-dawn sky.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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

Morning Fly-Out

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Morning Fly-Out
Migratory geese take to the air in morning light and thin tule fog

Morning Fly-Out. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Migratory geese take to the air in morning light and thin tule fog

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am (finally!) going back and revisiting my 2017 (!) photographs. I usually review the previous year’s raw files each December as I come up with my annual favorites post. However, I didn’t do that post (yet) for 2017, and I therefore missed that all-important opportunity look through the year’s raw file archive. Why is that important? For various reasons, which could be the subject of an article at some point, I miss some interesting photographs right after I make them — perhaps I had to move on to other subjects, I may not yet have been able to “see” the images for what they are, etc.

This comes from the very beginning of 2017, in the middle of winter. In many parts of the country winter is when migratory birds show up, as they arrive in our relatively warmer climate from areas that may be literally frozen during this season. Geese are among the long-distance travelers, and every fall and winter I look forward to their return all up and down the California flyway. I photographed this group early in the morning as the sun arrived and the birds began to leave their overnight accommodations in wetland ponds.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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

Two White-Faced Ibises

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Two White-Faced Ibises
Two white-faced ibises interacting in a San Joaquin Valley wetland pond

Two White-Faced Ibises. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two white-faced ibises interacting in a San Joaquin Valley wetland pond

The white-faced ibises have intrigued me since before I knew what they were — in fact, I suppose I could say that I photographed them before I realized that they existed. Some years back, on my very first more or less accidental exposure to bird photography, I found myself “out there” on an early morning, with no more clue about what was going on than “someone told me I should go here and see the birds.”(That someone was a colleague where I taught.) I barely knew a goose from a swan, at least when they were flying quickly overhead, but I was amazed by the number and variety of birds that morning. I photographed like a madman, not really knowing at all what I was photographing. Later on, back home and looking at files, I recall finding a series of photographs of a line of birds overhead that had oddly long and curving beaks. I wondered what they were. It turns out they were ibises.

Ibises are not always the most common specimens. In addition to their unusual beaks, they have another particular visual characteristic. In many situations you would regard them as dark and fairly drab-looking birds. Photographing them in flight is often difficult, partly because they frequently just end up looking black against any lighter background. But catch them in the right light and the texture, patterns, and colors of their feathers begin to appear. On this morning I happened upon a group of ibises, perhaps a couple dozen, in shallow water. I stopped and watched quietly and was able to photograph a variety of behaviors, including this interaction between two of the birds.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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