Tag Archives: wetlands

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature

Autumn Wetland Color

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Autumn Wetland Color
A quiet morning under fog with autumn colors, Central Valley

Autumn Wetland Color. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A quiet morning under fog with autumn colors, Central Valley

Autumn, my favorite season, is a month-and-a-half away by the calendar — and in terms of California weather it is more like three months away. Here the transition is gradual, and the first month of solar autumn still feels more like summer on most days, with warm or even hot temperatures and no sign of changing colors, at least not in the areas closer to the coast. (By early October aspen color does come to the Eastern Sierra Nevada.) We may get teased by a few early weather fronts in October, but the actual rainy season doesn’t start until November — and perhaps later in our changing climate.

This photograph comes from an early December visit to the Great Central Valley, hardly what most people would regard as a great fall color destination. But these wetlands, many of which are preserved in wildlife refuges, attract me in late autumn and winter. Right around the fall/winter boundary there can actually be a fair amount of color out here if you know where to look for it. The main attraction is the migratory birds, but I’ve come to love the quiet landscapes of this region, too. Because I usually arrive very early — typically before sunrise — and on days when most people aren’t out here (I love fog!), I am often nearly the only person sharing these places with a few thousand of my bird friends.

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

Cranes in Flight, Morning

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Cranes in Flight, Morning
A group of sandhill cranes in flight in the early morning winter light above California’ s Central Valley.

Cranes in Flight, Morning. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of sandhill cranes in flight in the early morning winter light above California’ s Central Valley.

More birds! (Yes, there will always be more birds!) This small group of large birds, some sandhill cranes, was passing around my position on this winter morning just after sunrise — I still see a bit of the early morning warmth in the color of the light on the birds. The flight of cranes fascinates me. Perhaps because they are large birds, their take-offs tend to be near horizontal affairs, and they don’t get much height until they have covered quite a bit of distance. Compared to many other birds, they tend to beat their wings rather slowly, and they also coast whenever they can. However, I suspect they may have a sensor of humor, too, and every so often they will do some very strange things. I have one photograph of a group of them flying by in which one bird has twisted its head around and is looking straight up! When they return in the evening, I often see some of them fly erratically, almost looking like they are about to collide with nearby birds.

To address an obvious point, yes, there are a lot of photographs of these birds (and others) in my posts. With some subjects I can almost start to feel like I’ve gotten what there is to get, and I’ll mostly move on. (For example, you don’t see me going back to photograph Horsetail Fall any more.) But with birds the subject and the surroundings are so complex and change so quickly, that I can’t help but go back and see what else I can do with them. Beyond that, at some level photography of these birds may be, at least a bit, a fine excuse to to spend time in such places.

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: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Seen Any Geese?

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Seen Any Geese?
A gigantic flock of (mostly) snow geese over a wetland pond.

Seen Any Geese?. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A gigantic flock of (mostly) snow geese over a wetland pond.

That’s the question. Seen any geese? A few actually. A few thousand. Or perhaps a few ten-thousand. These are among the many birds that migrate south into the continental US in the winter — these travel from the arctic via the Pacific Flyway and then overwinter in various areas in California. I usually don’t photograph them in this sort of midday light, but I decided that I do find the overall blue-ness of this scene to be attractive.

How does a scene like this happen? Initially a large group of thousands of geese is on the ground or in a shallow pond. Not much seems to be going on until all of a sudden many or all of them suddenly take to the air with a tremendous sound of rushing wings. The instigation is not always clear, but it could be a predator flying over, and I’ve seen it happen in response to things like low-flying aircraft. After the initial take-off, the flock may wheel around in expanding circles and spread to cover the sky until they eventually find a new place to settle.

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: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Geese in Dawn Sky

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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.

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