Tag Archives: wildlife

Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Two Sandhill Cranes In Flight

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Two Sandhill Cranes In Flight
Two sandhill cranes take to the air on a foggy morning

Two Sandhill Cranes in Flight. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two sandhill cranes take to the air on a foggy morning.

Most often when I see these birds in flight they are in somewhat larger groups, especially during the daily fly-in and fly-out events. Then they may fly in long lines, either side by side or beak to tail. By comparison to some of the other birds of similar size, they usually have a fairly smooth and steady sort of flight — with the exception of absolutely manic moves that they sometimes make when they arrive in the evening, with some birds seemingly dropping suddenly out of the sky and skidding off in odd directions.

This pair was almost heading straight toward me, and at a fairly low altitude. This is a bit unusual, as that groups that are about to fly over me typically divert at the last minute and pass to one side or the other. (I’d guess that out of all the groups that look like they will fly right over me, no more than one our of twenty actually do.) One thing I enjoy about this photograph is that you can see the birds in two different ways — either as a pair of separate individuals or as a striking combined x-shaped pattern.

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 and Amazon.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Wild Horses

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Wild Horses
A herd of feral horses in high desert hill country east of the Sierra Nevada

Wild Horses. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A herd of feral horses in high desert hill country east of the Sierra Nevada.

Those of us whose orientation to the Sierra Nevada and points east comes mainly from visits as outsiders can overlook aspects of the culture and history of the area that we weren’t looking for. As someone who came to these mountains, starting many decades ago, as a camper and backpacker (and, at times skier, climber, and photographer) my orientation held that the range was mainly a place about wilderness. It is that, in many ways, but that’s not all it is. Over time I learned and accepted that there are other threads: prospecting and mining, fishing (I tried, but little luck!), ranching, and more.

This herd of feral horses is probably a remnant of some of those “other” threads. Over decades a number of horses managed to get free, and they also managed to survive rather well in some of the areas east of the Sierra. (I first saw them decades ago way out in Nevada.) I ran into this herd on an exploration into less-visited areas roughly east of Yosemite a few years back. I had rumors, but wasn’t necessarily expecting to see them — but was thrilled when I came over a low saddle and spotted them up ahead. (It might seem surprising to some that I’ve put this photograph in the “wildlife” category, but these horses are no longer domesticated critters.)

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 and Amazon.

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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: Wildlife

Geese, Twilight Flight

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Geese, Twilight Flight
A large flock of geese takes to the air at twilight.

Geese, Twilight Flight. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A large flock of geese takes to the air at twilight.

For many of us, one of the most exciting events when photographing birds is the eruption of many thousands of them into flight, a scene usually accompanied by wild sounds — the cries of the birds and a loud rustle (not sure how else to describe it) of thousands of pairs of wings. We often like to speculate about the cause of such take-offs — is there an eagle nearby, or did a plane fly over? — but often it takes place without a clear trigger. It may begin in one portion of the flock, within what seems like little more than a second the launch spreads across the flock.

Compositionally there isn’t a lot to this photograph, but it does have a few things that attract me — both to the shot itself and speaking more generally about these birds. Especially if you haven’t seen such things yourself quite a few times, the sheer density of the cloud of birds is striking. There are some many that it takes some effort to pick out individuals. In addition, there was special light on this evening — a gentle haze had developed and the western sky produced a luminous and colorful glow. Finally, there is a light subtlety here that I have learned to appreciate: The birds are between me and that sunset sky, but the light above the birds and behind my position is the much bluer and darker light of twilight. The birds themselves, while set against that colorful background, are themselves lit from the front by the soft yet intense blue 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 and Amazon.

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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: Wildlife

Cranes, Dawn Clouds

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Cranes, Dawn Clouds
A flock of sandhill cranes flies beneath dawn clouds

Cranes, Dawn Clouds. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of sandhill cranes flies beneath dawn clouds.

When I began photographing (mostly) migratory birds in the Western United States I was largely ignorant about what I was seeing. One of my first bird photography forays was essentially an accident. I happened to run into a friend in a coffee stand line one morning and she (who is a true “birder”) happened to say, more or less, “I think you might like to go visit this place I know of.” Given the way I sometimes work, that serendipitous nudge was sufficient to get me to drive a few hours before dawn the following weekend to visit this place I’d never heard of before. I arrived. There were tons of birds. (And I discovered the power of the sound of the birds, too!) I had no idea what I was seeing, but I liked it and I made photographs. I was hooked.

As I started to edge over toward an active compulsion to photograph birds more seriously I began to recall a earlier hints about this world that I had ignored. One was all the way back in a college “natural science” short course, where the prof (who seemed a bit “odd” to me then) went on about snowy egrets (which I mostly ignored) and made us read Aldo Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac.” I didn’t fully “get” Leopold’s book at the time, but it planted a seed. (Re-reading it years later I understood more fully the power of Leopold’s vision and his writing, and I recommend the book.) One thing that I DID retain from reading that book was an idea that there was something special about sandhill cranes, which were among the birds that I finally discovered in the real world on that first morning when I acted on my friend’s coffee line suggestion. The birds in this photograph are sandhill cranes, which seem to me increasingly to be magical birds. In fact it is their characteristic cry that is my strongest audio association with the places where wild birds are found. I photographed this group very early in the morning as their trajectory took them below the edge of dawn-tinged clouds.

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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