Tag Archives: sandhill

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

Sandhill Cranes, Morning Light

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Sandhill Cranes, Morning Light
A small flock of lesser sandhill cranes reflected in a wetlands pond.

Sandhill Cranes, Morning Light. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A small flock of lesser sandhill cranes reflected in a wetlands pond.

It was a relatively slow day of bird photography on my first foray to the Central Valley of the season. Not that this was a surprise — it was still early for the arrival of the big flocks of geese that I look forward to a bit later in the season. So sandhill cranes were my primary subject s— flying overhead or standing in shallow ponds like this one.

While the scene lookS tranquil, I knew that it would not last. Typically, at some point around sunrise or just a bit later, the cranes lift off from the ponds where they spend the night. This does not happen all at once, as it often does with geese. Instead, small groups suddenly take to the air, sometimes leaving their compatriots behind. I stopped to photograph this group because of the reflection, but also because I knew that they would soon fly out.

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

Crane Flock, Morning Light

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Crane Flock, Morning Light
A flock of lesser sandhill cranes in morning flight over the California Central Valley.

Crane Flock, Morning Light. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A flock of lesser sandhill cranes in morning flight over the California Central Valley.

The sound of cranes is the first thing I notice when I arrive before dawn to spend a day photographing birds in California’s Central Valley. I pull into a parking area, turn off the car, get out… and that sound greets me. I spend a moment listening, then try to gauge distance and directions, as that will inform by pre-sunrise plans. I head off to a likely spot, planning to arrive while the sun is still below the horizon so that I can be ready for the dawn show.

The cranes often start to become restless and take flight a bit before sunrise, but right around that time and for a little bit longer they gradually take the air in groups. At this point I consider several things. I want to be more or less under their likely flight path, and I want to be a bit off to one side so that the birds are in the morning sunlight as they pass. That all came together in this photograph of a flock passing nearly over my position in the colorful early morning light.

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 in Silhouette

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Cranes in Silhouette
A flock of lesser sandhill cranes in flight is silhouetted against clouds in the Central Valley autumn sky.

Cranes in Silhouette. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A flock of lesser sandhill cranes in flight is silhouetted against clouds in the Central Valley autumn sky.

This photograph comes from the morning of my first-of-the-season trip to photograph migratory birds in central California. This subject — including both the birds and their landscape — is a focus from November through the beginning of March. My subjects include geese, herons, ibises, egrets, raptors, “little brown birds,” and sandhill cranes. In this photograph a small group of cranes is silhouetted against an autumn morning sky filled with scattered clouds.

Because this visit was early in the season, there were few geese around. Later I’ll turn more of my attention to them — mainly the Ross’s and snow geese, but others, too. But the cranes had already arrived in great numbers, and they were pretty much the main attraction on this visit.

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 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: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Pas de Deux

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Pas de Deux
Two sandhill cranes in a winter field, California Central Valley.

Pas de Deux. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Two sandhill cranes in a winter field, California Central Valley.

It seems to me that sandhill cranes have more “personality” than some of the other flocking birds I photograph at this time of the year. Even their manner of flight is diverse. They can fly in semi-organized fashion, but you’ll also see individuals do very odd things — dive-bombing, craning their necks in odd directions, altering the tempo of their wings and more. And then, at times, they can be graceful.

At one far end of their behavioral range there is an occasional kind of gracefulness — often in the air but in this case, on the ground as these two cranes walk, one after the other, out towards a large field that was recently plowed.

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.

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