Tag Archives: pond. nature

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

White Pelicans and Geese

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White Pelicans and Geese
White pelicans and geese in the winter landscape of California’s Central Valley.

White Pelicans and Geese. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

White pelicans and geese in the winter landscape of California’s Central Valley.

This flock of white pelicans almost seems like family now — since the beginning of this season they have been hanging out in almost this exact spot every time I have visited. It used to be that I’d catch them in flight in the morning, but more recently they seem to stay right there almost the entire day. While the opportunities to photograph them flying over my position have been limited, this spot is close enough that I can photograph them on the ground… or, more accurately, on the muddy spot where they hang out in the middle of this pond.

The more distant birds are geese, almost certainly snow geese, though it is a bit difficult to make a 100% certain identification from this distance. Large groups of them were on the ground beyond the middle distance levee, and they were periodically taking off or being joined by new arrivals on this mostly-sunny morning.

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: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Dancing Cranes, Fog

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Dancing Cranes, Fog
Two lesser sandhill cranes raise their wings to greet the dawn on a foggy morning

Dancing Cranes, Fog. San Joaquin Valley, California. December 3, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two lesser sandhill cranes raise their wings to greet the dawn on a foggy morning

I arrived here, a location familiar to me, before dawn and in thickening fog. Although the place is familiar, each return brings the sudden shock of getting out of my vehicle after a long drive and hearing the wild sounds of thousands of migratory birds spread out across the acreage of this place. It is a sound like no other, especially in pre-dawn fog when the birds are not yet visible, and it always brings a smile to my face.

I headed toward an area where I anticipate finding several familiar kinds of birds: stilts in ponds next to the levee road, a rugged individualist egret or two (or perhaps a small group of cattle egrets), a pond surrounded by brush with roosting night herons (the pond was dry this time), geese almost anywhere, and off in the distance perhaps some cranes or white pelicans. The latter two kinds of birds were barely visible through the fog, but this pair was a bit closer. As the first very faint sunlight began to arrive they spread their wings and stretched.

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.