Tag Archives: mnwr

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

Geese, Sunset Sky

December 4, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Geese settle in for the evening as dusk sky comes to the San Joaquin Valley

The approach of winter in California’s Great Central Valley reminds me of a number of great seasonal cycles — the days shorten, temperatures drop, mornings are again often foggy, and the monumental migration of birds brings geese and cranes and more back to the state. This area, which can be less than compelling in the visual sense during the summer (though it has its attractions then, too) becomes one of the most special places in California if you know when and where to look. Yesterday I made this season’s first trip back to this landscape.

We can make some predictions about things like the birds and the weather in this place, but there will still be many surprises. Yesterday’s visit brought two such wonderful surprises. I had been watching weather forecast, hoping for tule fog, but had been consistently disappointed to see nothing but predictions of clear weather. But as I left the last small town before my destination the fog appeared, and by the time I arrived it was so thick that driving was a challenge and the rising sun was invisible. Then, late in the day, I felt that my photographic opportunities were ending, and I stopped at an out-of-the-way corner to just watch the sky after sunset. Suddenly a huge flock of geese rose noisily into the air far across the ponds, circled for a moment… and then suddenly landed directly in front of me in the fading light!

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 Rain

November 7, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A group of sandhill cranes stands in a wetland pond during a rain storm

As fall arrives I look forward to many interesting photographic opportunities: the storms and surf along the California coast, the dramatic effects of fog and clouds on the landscape, the return of migratory birds to the state, especially in the Great Central Valley. The bird photographer really doesn’t begin in earnest until perhaps late November or December, with some of the best opportunities coming even a bit later, but that doesn’t stop me from testing the waters earlier if I hear that birds have arrived.

In fact, I had heard reports that sandhill cranes have been showing up in the valley for weeks, and a late-October visit to the Sierra provided me with an opportunity to do a bit of reconnaissance. On my way across the valley to the mountains I paused at a wetland area to see what I could find. It turned out that the main thing I found was rain! It wasn’t raining when I arrived, but soon a front moved through and absolutely poured on me, to the point that I was only able to make a few photographs. One of them was this photograph of a somewhat forlorn group of sandhill cranes, hunkered down in a pond,facing into the wind, and waiting out the storm.

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

Wetlands Dawn, Arriving Birds

April 6, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of geese prepares to land on a foggy wetlands pond at dawn

Another California winter day and another trip to visit the Central Valley and search out migratory birds and fog and atmospheric light! Back in early February the bird action was beginning to pick up, and we would consistently find at last some geese (and often many more and other birds, too) when we arrived. Fog is one variable. I love thick fog, especially in these locations, and we often got precisely that. But on this morning the fog was thinner and earlier to dissipate, here already thin enough before dawn to let us see the winter sky.

As we watched the fog drift and thin and the sky begin to get lighter, groups of birds (mostly Ross’ geese) began to arrive, circling a bit and then landing on the ponds. The arcing curve of this flock’s flight, descending towards the right and then beginning to circle back, is visible in this photograph if you look closely. A few earlier arrivals float on the pond in an area lit by reflected sky.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Fog, Water, Island

April 2, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter fog obscures the view of a wetland island

This is one of a pair of similar photographs I made in this spot on a lovely dense fog morning out in the winter Central Valley. (The other is simpler and doesn’t include the foreground plants.) We had arrived quite a bit earlier and had already done a circuit of the gravel road that encircles the location, and we were now on our second loop. Believe it or not, the fog had become a lot less thick by the time I made the photograph!

Imagine that everything is still, but that the sounds of birds are everywhere — a combination of visual stillness but audio tumult in every direction. As I watched this little island the fog continued to thin and thicken, and at times it almost became invisible. Shortly after I made the photograph the clearing began in earnest and the beaks began to develop in the shallow tule fog.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: mnwr

Geese, Sunset Sky

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Cranes in Rain

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Winter Fog, Water, Island

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.