Tag Archives: perch

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Meadowlark Song

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Meadowlark Song
“Meadowlark Song” — A meadowlark perches on a post and sings a New Year’s Day song.

We spent New Year’s Day with friends in a natural area full of birds. Mostly we were looking for big flocks of migratory geese along with cranes and ibises, but there were lots of other interesting critters in the neighborhood, too. This little meadowlark took up residence on top of a sign post and sang its heart out… and let me photograph for quite a while without flying away.

I don’t usually say much about photographic equipment in these posts, but I’ll make an exception this time. I have been using Fujifilm APS-C x-trans cameras for my travel and street photography for about a decade. (This gear compliments the Canon full-frame system that I use for things like landscape photography.) Recently I decided to try using the Fujifilm gear for some new things such as bird photography, and this was one of my first outings with a suitable Fujifilm telephoto. I think it works pretty well!

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

Blackbirds in Trees, Sunrise

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Blackbirds in Trees, Sunrise
A flock of red-winged blackbirds perches in a bare winter tree at sunrise.

Blackbirds in Trees, Sunrise. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A flock of red-winged blackbirds perches in a bare winter tree at sunrise.

This photograph fits squarely into that hybrid genre that I refer to as “birdscapes.” A lot of bird photography focuses on somewhat tightly framed photograph of individuals or small groups. I make those photographs, too, but often I include more of the landscape than the birds. In other words, I tend to be interested in the place of the birds in their landscapes. As such, I often treat them as part of the larger place and less as individual specimens.

When I arrived here before dawn, my general plan — which often works pretty well — was to look around for an interesting flock of birds, probably cranes or geese. Then I would look for a camera position that put them in the best sunrise light, which might be some kind of sidelight with an interesting background or perhaps backlight if there is some haze or fog. Unfortunately, there were hardly any such flocks, and those I found took off before sunrise! So I looked for an alternative sunrise subject, and soon remembered this group of three trees.

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

Red-Winged Blackbird Territorial Display

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Red-Winged Blackbird Territorial Display
Red-Winged blackbird on its perch, late-winter territorial display.

Red-Winged Blackbird Territorial Display. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Red-Winged blackbird on its perch, late-winter territorial display.

One beneficial personal effect of my bird photography has been greater awareness of parts of the local natural world that I had not paid a lot of attention to. As I have mentioned previously, I not really a “birder” in the usual sense of the word, and while I’ve enjoyed observing birds in the wild I can’t claim to be an expert on them. But photographing them has encouraged me to ask questions about what I’m seeing and to learn more.

There are two similar types of small blackbirds where I photograph, the tricolored blackbird and the red-winged blackbird. Both seem to my untrained bird-watching eyes to be pretty darned similar, apart from the extra bands of color on the shoulders of the former. Both are common in grasslands and related agricultural areas. Some sources suggest that populations have declined due to climate change and the loss of habitat, and that their range has shrunk. Apparently the eye-catching display — puffed out feathers and “exhibit of the colorful shoulder patches — is, at least during the late-winter period when I made the photograph, used to mark territory prior to the breeding season.

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: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Red-Shouldered Hawk

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Red-Shouldered Hawk
A red-shouldered hawk perched in a wetland thicket.

Red-Shouldered Hawk. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Description

I had several opportunities to photograph what I believe was this same red-shouldered hawk on several days in early 2022. While visiting a location in the Central Valley on New Year’s Day I (and several friends) saw a hawk just like this one in almost this exact same spot. I made this photograph a few days later on a return visit. Is it the exact same bird? I can’t say. But it was perched very close to where the previous bird was and it was equally willing to allow me to be close enough to photograph it. (For those who wonder… I was photographing from the “mobile blind” of my vehicle and using a very long lens, both of which allow me to minimize any disruption to the bird.)

If you look closely at trees in places like this you’ll almost always spot some sort of predatory bird — hawk, owl, or similar — hanging out in the branches. In fact, there are a few trees I’ve gotten to know rather well over the years where I can pretty predict the specific branches on which such birds will be perched. Most of the leaves had fallen from this tree, making the bird easier to spot, and the filtered sunlight illuminated its features.

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 | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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