Tag Archives: valley

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

Dawn Geese, Sierra Silhouette

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Dawn Geese, Sierra Silhouette
“Dawn Geese, Sierra Silhouette” — Migratory geese fill the Central VAlley dawn sky above the silhouette of the Sierra Nevada.

Surprisingly, for those of us who love winter, spring can evoke some of the same bittersweet feelings that autumn evokes. The season of interesting weather, dramatic skies, and migratory birds is passing. With that in mind I made one more visit to the Central Valley to see if the birds had departed. Some had — I saw no sandhill cranes at all. But I was treated to a stupendous dawn fly-out of geese.

I half expected that snow geese and Ross’s geese would have left already. In the past they were there at the beginning of the month but gone before the Ides of March. I arrived before sunrise and saw no geese at all, but a few minutes later I heard a few in the distance. I headed that way, and soon tremendous fly-outs began all over the surrounding wetlands. Thousands of geese took off into the colorful cloudy sky above the distant Sierra Nevada during the next half hour. And then they were gone.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Ross’s Geese in Flight

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Ross's Geese in Flight
“Ross’s Geese in Flight” — Ross’s geese descend toward a wetland pond.

On our return trip from Death Valley in late February we took a short detour in California’s Central Valley to look for migratory geese. Their winter visit to the state is soon coming to an end, so I wanted to see them again this season. It was a quick stop, but we found our geese, and I made this photograph of a small flock of Ross’s geese descending toward a wetland pond.

when I first started photographing birds a couple of decades ago I had little idea what I was doing, but I did know that I wanted to photograph “snow geese.” (Ross’s geese aren’t snow geese, but they are very similar.) The photograph illustrates how much pictures of flocks of birds rely on luck. Note the two geese at lower right, positioned so that one does not obscure the view of the other’s head. Look at the positions of the two more distant geese behind the bird at lower left. And then note the the other four birds are also all positioned so that their heads are visible. You would almost think that they posed for me…

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Three Trees And A Valley

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Three Trees And A Valley
“Three Trees And A Valley” — Three autumn trees and Yosemite Valley cliffs.

This photograph has been in the queue for months as I worked on other subjects, and before that it languished in my raw file archive for a couple of years. I rediscovered it during a review of past season’s fall color photographs last year. There is a bit of fall color in the leaves of these trees, but it may be subtle.

After photographing in Yosemite Valley for decades, I am less inclined to re-photograph the big icons. I’ll do so in exceptional conditions, but I’m more interested in poking around odd corners of the valley and looking for new perspectives. This location is a bit tricky — several years ago it was identified as being an area prone to rockfall — but I’m attracted to several features of this view. The foreground trees don’t quite block the view, and beyond them a large meadow allows plentiful light. Across the valley are steep cliffs, in including some with cascades and small waterfalls.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Plants, Fog, and Bird

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Winter Plants, fog, and Bird
“Winter Plants, Fog, and Bird” — A solitary bird perches in wetland plants on foggy winter morning.

Winter is the time of fog and migratory birds in California’s Central Valley. But once again and all too soon, we are approaching the end of that season. Orchards are blooming and temperatures are rising, and in a week or two the migratory geese will be on their way north again. The thick tule fogs will give way to the clearer skies of spring.

This photograph comes from a visit to the Valley back in January, on a day I chose precisely because it was going to be foggy. It turns out that I got too much of what I was looking for — the fog never cleared, and in the murk I could not find many of the birds I came for. Instead, I photographed the quiet and mysterious landscape.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.