Tag Archives: ross’s

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

Migratory Geese, Wetlands

Image Leave a comment
“Migratory Geese, Wetlands”  Migratory geese (likely snow, Ross’s, and white-fronted) in Central California wetlands.

Our little band of photographers gathered once again on New Year’s Day to greet the new year together and photograph migratory birds and the often-foggy Central Valley landscape. This photograph holds what I think of as the main elements of this winter landscape: birds, a bit of fog, sky, trees, and grasses. (OK, cattle and crops are part of the scene, but not in this photograph.)

There are various natural cycles to observe when photographing these birds. The most obvious is annual — they return from the arctic every autumn and around the start of spring. There’s a cycle during that period, too. At first they are often harder to find, settling into remote areas of the valley and being more uneasy around humans. As the season goes on they seem to be a bit easier to locate as they collect in gigantic flocks, and the become extremely active in the final month before their departure for points north.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | BlueSky | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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

Winter Geese, Winter Pond

Image Leave a comment
Winter Geese, Winter Pond
“Winter Geese, Winter Pond” — Migratory geese (including Rosss, snow, and cackling geese) settle in a California Central Valley pond as a weather front approaches.

On the best winter days, migratory birds gather by the hundreds of thousands (millions?) up and down California’s Central Valley, especially where the winter wetland ponds form. I first became vaguely aware of this decades ago on a winter drive up the Sacramento Valley on my way to Washington, when for the first time I saw multitudes of birds in the winter sky. Later a chance comment by a friend led me to a location in the delta where birds gather by thousands. Since then, I’ve been addicted to experiencing and photographing this annual wonder.

I made this photograph on a cloudy morning. The cloud shield overhead extended to the edge of the Sierra, which meant we had a brief but brilliant sunrise above the mountains. Then everything went mostly gray and hazy, and the light turned soft. These geese — largely a mixture of Ross’s, snow, and white-fronted — settled into a pond where I paused.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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

Late Winter Flocks

Image Leave a comment
Late Winter Flocks
Huge numbers of sandhill cranes and several varieties of migratory geese in late winter.

Late Winter Flocks. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Huge numbers of sandhill cranes and several varieties of migratory geese in late winter.

Yes, another “sky full of birds” photograph! It may seem that I”m sharing a lot of them… but it is not anywhere near all of them. And that, of course, brings up one of the great “secrets” of photographing birds: for every good image that “works” there are dozens of others that never see the light of day. Landscapes don’t move (much), so they are more predictable. But most of the time birds are in motion — at least when they are doing interesting things — and it is impossible to control or predict everything that will happen. You can improve your odds over time… but there is still an element of chance..

These fields were full of late season birds — mostly various kinds of geese, but also lots of sandhill cranes and even a few egrets here and there. At this time of year — just before the long migration back to the north — they seem to become extremely active. At the least provocation huge numbers of birds will suddenly and noisily take to the air and circle before finally returning to the field for a while… and then repeating the process a bit later.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Geese in Dawn Sky

Image Leave a comment
Geese in Dawn Sky
A cloud of geese takes flight over wetlands in dawn light

Geese in Dawn Sky. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cloud of geese takes flight over wetlands in dawn light

Today’s post begins with a confession: I can’t resist raising the camera and photographing when these gigantic flocks of migratory geese take to the air above these wetland landscapes. I’ve seen this happen perhaps thousands of times now, but the visual and auditory tumult is remains irresistible. So I photograph. Even knowing that I have hundreds of photographs of similar events in my archives. What can I say?

If you are looking for something a bit out of the ordinary or special in this image, allow me to help. You may notice that not all the geese are white. In fact, I’m certain that at least four different types of migratory geese appear in this photograph. The white geese are likely mostly snow geese, but I think there are some Ross’s geese in the mix, too. The darker geese in the airborne flock appear to be Aleutian cackling geese – the subject of an amazing species recovery. Down on the water and difficult to make out are the ubiquitous white-fronted geese. (I imagine one of them looking over to a buddy, “Hey, what are those guys so upset about?” while floating placidly in the pond.) The light is a bit unusual. There was no thick fog here, but there were low clouds to the east, and they muted the light — though a bit of reddish sunrise light is coloring the white geese in the airborne flock.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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