Tag Archives: trees

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Blackbirds in Winter Sky

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Blackbirds in Winter Sky
A murmuration of redwing blackbirds above winter wetlands.

Blackbirds in Winter Sky. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A murmuration of redwing blackbirds above winter wetlands.

When I got to these places in the winter to photograph birds — and to experience the wetland winter landscape — I’m usually looking for larger birds. The geese first attracted me, and then I became fascinated with cranes, herons, ibises, pelicans, and more. At first I probably more or less ignored these flocks of small back birds that seemed to be everywhere. More recently, I’ve come to look forward to seeing them.

They are blackbirds, most likely red-winged blackbirds, but also possibly tri-color blackbirds. To my eye the differences are subtle unless I get close enough to see the definite patch on the wings — red in one case, red and white in the other. (And, occasionally, apparently to confound me, I spot odd things such as yellow bands…) These are flocking birds, virtually always seen in groups, and they fly together, sometimes creating murmurations, flocks of closely-spaced birds that shift and reform in flight. Beyond their visual appearance, the sound they make seems utterly joyous, and there are few things quite like being next to a few hundred of them in full song.

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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Point Reyes, Clearing Fog

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Point Reyes, Clearing Fog
Morning fog clears aove the hills and bays of Point Reyes National Seashore.

Point Reyes, Clearing Fog. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning fog clears aove the hills and bays of Point Reyes National Seashore.

Living in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, the Point Reyes National Seashore is merely a longish day trip for me. I haven’t been there since the onset of the pandemic, but in more normal times I make up there during every season of the year — mostly to photograph, but also to see the elephant seals, to escape inland heat… and to stop for morning pasty and coffee at Point Reyes Station.

The park mostly wraps itself along and around Drakes Bay, with the “point” being the furthest terminus of a long peninsula extending into the Pacific Ocean. To make this photograph I stopped near the base of that peninsula and drove up a narrow road toward a high point on the ridge that runs roughly parallel to Tomales Bay. From here I could look across nearby tree-covered hills, past the lower rolling hills, over Drakes Estero, and toward Point Reyes, barely visible in the thinning morning fog.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Forest and Fog

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Forest and Fog
Sunlight begins to thin the morning fog in a Monterey Peninsula forest.

Forest and Fog. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunlight begins to thin the morning fog in a Monterey Peninsula forest.

Today we visit the California coast below the Monterey Peninsula, at the Point Lobos State Reserve. (That is the actual name, though many of us casually refer to it as a state “park.”) I have gone to this place for decades, since my parents took us there as kids. Back then the big attractions were the tide pools (the number one attraction!), the various sea mammals, and the surf. Those are still on my list when I go there, though now I’m more likely to go with the goal of making photographs. (The place, like so much of the Big Sur coast, has become almost impossibly popular, so I try to visit at odd, off-peak times.)

I had gone down there on this 2013 early spring day to make photographs. My typical routine is to arrive very early, before those crowds show up, and spend a few hours photographing in relative quiet. This time I headed to a location in the more northerly portion of the small preserve, where there are views back across the coastal forests and toward the low hills to the east. Because it was morning, the sun was coming over those hills just as the fog was starting to then, allowing a bit more light into the gaps between the trees.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Sun, Fog, Trees

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Winter Sun, Fog, Trees
Morning sun glows weakly through tule fog to silhouette a grove of winter cottonwood trees.

Winter Sun, Fog, Trees. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning sun glows weakly through tule fog to silhouette a grove of winter cottonwood trees.

This New Year’s Day my photography was supposed to focus on migratory birds, but somehow I ended up with a bunch of landscape photographs! This is a bit ironic, since I go to these places to photograph birds — but perhaps it isn’t too surprising given that it is hard to photograph birds when the fog is so thick that it obscures things more than 100 feet away.

Before I made this photograph I had tried to photograph cranes. I could hear them nearby, but I could not see a single one through the fog aside from a few that occasionally flew directly overhead. I finally decided to look elsewhere, and before long I passed these familiar trees. In the fog they took on a new and mysterious aspect, so I stopped and set myself up in landscape photographer mode — off came the really long lens and out came the tripod. As I worked the fog changed from moment to moment, and at the instant of this exposure the sun was barely visible through the fog.

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.