Tag Archives: wildlife

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

Pelicans and Surf

June 26, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Black and white photograph of a flock of pelicans in flight just above Pacific Ocean surf at Waddell Creek Beach, Big Basin State Park, California.

Every five or ten minutes another flock of northbound pelicans descended to the water just offshore at Waddell Creek Beach at Big Basin State Park along the California coast just north of the town of Davenport. It was late and the light was diffused and subdued by high clouds and the incoming fog bank a this flock skimmed just above the surf.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Pelicans Turn Toward the Horizon

June 25, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of low flying pelicans above the Pacific Ocean turns toward the horizon at Waddell Creek Beach, Big Basin State Park, California.

As I spend more time along this section of the California coast I have started to understand the “pelican highway” that these birds follow as they fly along the coastline. Just south of Waddell Creek Beach they fly along the edge of coastal bluffs (or sometimes skim along the water’s surface not far from the shoreline) before they pull in for a rest stop at this beach. Sometimes they seem to come down along the freshwater creek that arrives here from the Santa Cruz Mountains and Big Basin Redwoods State Park. On this June evening they seemed to be making only a quick stop. Several flocks came north along the waterline and when they arrived at my position they briefly stopped in the water just offshore before taking off once again and continuing north along the coast.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Wildlife, Photographs: Yosemite

Crouching Marmot

June 17, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Oh, no, not another marmot! Yes. Another marmot. And I think I have at least one more to post before I’m done. Once again, this critter was hanging out in the rocks at Olmsted Point when I visited on my way across Tioga Pass on June 5, 2010.

I’d love to be able to say that I had to carefully stalk this marmot across the alpine tundra of the high Sierra, but that wouldn’t be true. First, it is really hard to closely approach marmots that are not accustomed to humans, and the back-country marmots tend to be fairly skittish. Second, I would not be carrying the lens that I used for this shot on back-country pack trips. The truth is that this critter is one of the many that hang out at Olmsted Point along Tioga Pass Road. These marmots won’t – fortunately! – eat out of your hand or anything like that, and they do retain some caution… but they will come relatively close to you. I was there because it was the day that the pass was frst opened for the season. The marmots almost seemed a bit amused by all of the humans who showed up that day, and they also seemed to be enjoying a bit of late spring sun.

My approach to photographing them was pretty simple. I put a long lens on my camera – a 400mm telephoto – and found a comfortable spot below the rocks where they hang out. I waited quietly, and when they began to “come out to play,” I was able to photograph them from a decent distance and avoid spooking them.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Wildlife, Photographs: Yosemite

Marmot and Rocks

June 16, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A marmot with a quizzical expression emerges from rocks at Olmsted Point, Yosemite National Park, California.

Since it is a busy week and I have this photo sitting here on the computer, I have declared it another “furry mammal photograph day.” This is the third, and perhaps the last for now, of the marmot photographs I made at Olmsted Point on my early June trip over Tioga Pass Road. The marmots at Olmsted are quite used to human presence – and they better be since they live in rocks right below a very popular overlook and parking area. Although it wasn’t that busy on this day when the road first opened for the season, a month or two from now this will be a very popular place with Yosemite tourists.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 400mm
ISO 200, f/8, 1/125 second

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