Tag Archives: reflection

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

Snow Geese, Wetland Pond

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Snow Geese, Wetland Pond
A row of migratory snow geese at rest in a Central Valley wetland pond.

Snow Geese, Wetland Pond. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A row of migratory snow geese at rest in a Central Valley wetland pond.

Coming across this little line of snow geese was good fortune. One thing is clear when photographing wildlife, and even more clear when photographing birds: the photographer has little control over the scene and must make the best of what turns up. (OK, there are ways to improve your chances, but geese are notoriously bad at taking stage directions.) It isn’t unusual to find small groups of geese, but finding a group lined up this was was serendipitous.

This is one of the photographs that I think of as “birdscapes” — while they are wildlife photographs, they are more about the place of the wildlife in their surroundings. A closer look shows that there’s a lot more here than the geese. Just beyond the edge of the water there is a row of sandhill cranes, whose darker colors make them a bit harder to see at first. There are trees on the horizon, but also indicators of this being agricultural country and not at all “wilderness,” In the far distance geese fill the sky, and the bands of clouds beyond them are above the faint outline of the crest of the Sierra Nevada.

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

Winter Geese, Wetlands Dawn

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Winter Geese, Wetlands Dawn
Snow geese take to the air before sunrise above Central Valley wetlands.

Winter Geese, Wetlands Dawn. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Snow geese take to the air before sunrise above Central Valley wetlands.

The “fly-out” is one of the most impressive features of migratory goose behavior. At some point around dawn the birds leave their overnight nesting places and take to the sky in huge, dramatic groups that sometimes include many thousands of birds. It is hard to know precisely when it will happen, so you arrive early, find a likely spot, and wait for it.

On this morning I thought I had arrived in plenty of time, but a recalcitrant automated gate at the entrance to the area delayed my final arrival by perhaps ten minutes. Due to this slightly late start, I had little time to get into position before the fly-out occurred. Originally I had a plant to head to a particular location, but once I realized that the delay would make that improbable I stopped where I was — at the first pond full of geese — and assembled my gear… just barely in time to make this photograph.

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

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

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

Cranes, Dawn Light

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Cranes, Dawn Light
A flock of lesser sandhill cranes in dawn light, reflected in a wetland pool on a late-winter morning.

Cranes, Dawn Light. © Copyright 2022.G Dan Mitchell.

A flock of lesser sandhill cranes in dawn light, reflected in a wetland pool on a late-winter morning.

By the time most of you see this photograph, there is a very good chance that these birds will have departed for the season. Every autumn, all sorts of wonderful migratory birds arrive in California from points north. Among my favorites are the geese, especially Ross’s and snow geese, and the sandhill cranes. They come to many places around the state, in particular in locations in California’s Great Central Valley. But, like typical tourists, they don’t stay all year, and before spring arrives they depart for locations as distant as the arctic shoreline.

I photographed these cranes on a late-February morning just as the first sunlight arrived. The sky was still red with dawn light, and for a few moments that color infused the entire landscape. A bit of valley fog softened the light just a bit. The birds stood in the shallow wetland pond for a bit and soon began flying out in small groups.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Wetlands

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Winter Wetlands
Flooded winter wetlands with broken-down tules .

Winter Wetlands. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Flooded winter wetlands with broken-down tules .

Places like this fascinate me. The location is in California’s Great Central Valley, a 400+ mile long feature running up and down the state, separating the coastal mountain ranges from the Sierra Nevada. Most people are probably familiar with it from driving through or across it on their way to some other place. It is largely agricultural, though these days population centers are expanding rapidly and parts of the valley are increasingly urban. Bottom line? It is hardly a place that most people would regard as a scenic attraction.

I get it. And most of my visits are more of the “passing through” than the “going there” sort — except in winter when I often make it my destination. Winter provides a relief from the valley’s generally hot and dry climate during most of the year, and wet areas appear when rain falls, especially where rivers meet and were old marshes once existed. The soft light and the expansive sky can be a relief from the urban experience. Here, wetland ponds are full from recent rains, and interesting tule islands stand where someone has chopped town the vegetation before the pond was flooded.

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