Tag Archives: pond

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Stretching The Wings

May 29, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A Ross’s goose raises its wings in a San Joaquin Valley wetland pond

This weekend here in the San Francisco Bay Area it finally truly felt like the start of the summer season — even though the actual start of summer is still a few weeks away. It is hot! The sky is cloudless blue here, unless you head to the coast in the mornings. It is time to go outside in sunlight early in the morning. And by now these geese are somewhere above the Arctic Circle, collected in their remote breeding areas.

I photographed these last winter. I often don’t get this close, but I was already settled into a spot when the flock came to me! A large group landed very close. I remained quiet and still and they came even closer, where I was able to observe them as interacting individuals and not just as the totality of the flock.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Avocet, Sunset Reflection

April 3, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An avocet feeds in shallow water reflecting sunset light

I remember, many years ago, taking a college class that included a section on birds in the San Francisco Bay Area. The birding gene didn’t initially take for me — that came many years later — but I remember what must have been a very effective presentation on differences among shore birds. The birds found along the edges of bodies of water vary greatly in size and shape, from very small to quite large, and their leg and bill sizes vary, too. What I recall is the obvious point, that I hadn’t thought of before, that each bird, with its long or short legs and its long or short bill, is adapted to a different niche in this environment, and even to differing depths of water.

The avocet is a striking bird in many ways. This one, like most that I’ve seen, was an almost solitary specimen. If another was nearby I did not see it. The bird has long legs, which it puts to use by wading in a few inches of water as it feeds. The long, curved beak allows it to reach down and pluck edibles out of the water. This one was feeding close to the shoreline and moving toward water that reflects the sunset sky, so I held still and waited for it to move into just the right position, where the colors of reflected sky were most strongly reflected in the water.

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

Great Egret, Reflection

March 14, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A great egret and its reflection in a wetland pond

While I don’t know the full extent of their (likely huge) range, these birds are ubiquitous in California. I remember when I first noticed them, many years ago when I was a dedicated cyclist. In those days I commuted to work by bicycle, covering between 30 and 55 miles a day, and portions of my ride always passed creeks and drainage canals. You might miss them speeding past in a car, but on a bicycle I frequently looked into these waterways and spotted these impressively large and nearly pure white birds. As time went on I found them all over the place — they can be found in many agricultural areas, for example, and I have photographed them feeding in kelp beds along the Pacific Ocean shoreline.

In flight they alternate between ungainliness and beauty. They can seem a bit gangly and awkward at times — their take-off can be somewhat awkward, for example. On the other hand they flare their wings beautifully upon landing. I don’t usually go out specifically to photograph the egrets, but sometimes it seems unavoidable since they turn up in so many places. They seem to have somewhat clearly defined boundaries when it comes to human presence. They more or less ignore us until we get too close (though this boundary changes depending upon whether they are feeding or not), but get a bit too close and you can see them “tighten up” and prepare for a sudden take-off, at which point you most often have only the opportunity to photograph them from the back as they depart. This bird had been hunting and seemed a bit more willing than most to let me photograph.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Killdeer

February 14, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A killdeer along the edge of a pond

I’m increasingly interested in little birds like this killdeer, even though they may not seem so “special” due to their small size and appearance almost anywhere you might go. Heck, you could photograph a lot of birds like this one by going no further than your own backyard or a nearby park.

What they lack in “spectacular-ness,” they (sometimes more than) make up for in personality, not to mention that it is often possible to get quite close to them and observe them for a long time. This killdeer was content to go about its business less than ten feet from me as I quietly photographed from a position that partially hid me. It hopped, it fed, it flew a short distance, it turned around — all in all, it was quite adept at posing. It also is a rather attractive bird once you watch it a bit, especially with those interesting stripes of black and white on the head and neck, plus that subtle margin of striking red around the deep black eyes.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: pond

Stretching The Wings

Avocet, Sunset Reflection

Great Egret, Reflection

Killdeer

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