Tag Archives: sandhill

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Two Sandhill Cranes in Flight

Image August 31, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two sandhill cranes in synchonized flight against blue sky

Photographing birds in flight can be rewarding in a number of ways. Careful attention to the birds may reveal a species you haven’t seen before or an interesting variation on a familiar bird. I have developed a greater awareness of the infinite variations of wing position and motion and the relative positioning of birds in groups. And, to be honest, there is the technical challenge of trying to keep the critters in the viewfinder, get focus, and produce a decent image.

Other than the fact that they tend to not come as close as I might like, sandhill cranes aren’t among the most difficult birds to photograph in flight. There are the usual issues of light (it tends to leave the bottom of the birds in shadow except early and late in the day) and distractions from extraneous subjects. But they move fairly slowly and steadily. The pair flew above me, uncharacteristically close to my position, and I made the photograph as their wings were almost perfectly synchronized.

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

Toward Morning Light

Image August 18, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of sandhill cranes flies toward the morning light

This group of sandhill cranes was flying almost into the early morning sun — it was actually just enough to one side to illuminate the side of the birds that was facing me. As the cranes came toward my position I was ready, and I tracked them as they crossed from left to right, repositioning themselves as they passed by.

Sandhill cranes hold a special place for me, and they did even before I had seen or heard them. Many years ago as college student, an enlightened science professor assigned us to read sections of Aldo Leopold’s “Sand County Almanac.” Leopold was completely new to me at the time — my vocabulary of “nature” writers was more orientated to the Sierra Nevada. But his descriptions of the cranes and the experience of seeing them stuck with me, and perhaps made the experience more magical when I finally saw them many years later.

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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, Photographs: Wildlife

Cranes in Morning Sky

Image August 10, 2018 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Sandhill cranes aloft in winter morning sky

Photography of migratory birds is often done at the edges of the day, starting before dawn and continuing well into the twilight hours. The birds are often there all day, but the light isn’t. (There are exceptions — for example, day-long tule fog or spectacular clouds.) So I spend a lot of time driving too and from locations in the darkness, and I usually arrive before dawn when there is perhaps just a hint of light in the sky.

While getting up at 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning for a long drive in the dark probably doesn’t sound that appealing — and, honestly, it isn’t! — there are certain compensations. Dawn is one of them, especially dawn experienced with the sounds of perhaps tens of thousands of birds awakening and getting ready to burst into the sky. One one of those mornings a flock of sandhill cranes flew overhead and crossed from cloudy skies to clear eastern pre-dawn sky.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Cranes, Fog, Morning Light

June 6, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock, of sandhill cranes on the ground in foggy early morning light

I’ve been sitting on this photograph for some time, a photograph from another time when a group of cranes lined up in the thin sunlight on a foggy morning, with empty fields leading into the distance and finally disappearing in the fog.

It is a bit unusual — though not entirely unique — to find a group of this many cranes standing in a row like this. Often they are in the distance, in smaller groups, airborne, or standing in strange positions and arrangements. Although the lighting is unusual, it is part of what attracted me to this scene.

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G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: sandhill

Two Sandhill Cranes in Flight

Toward Morning Light

Cranes in Morning Sky

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