Tag Archives: cranes

Flock of Cranes

Flock of Cranes
“Flock of Cranes” — A flock of lesser sandhill cranes feeding in an agricultural field.

Unless and until I return to my old files to review them later on, this is likely this season’s last photograph of migratory birds. I photographed this group of lesser sandhill cranes in an old corn field on my final seasonal visit back in early March. By that date the departure of geese was perhaps a week away and the cranes would leave soon after that. This was nearly the last photograph of them I made this season.

There is a familiar arc to “migratory bird season,” as I think of the period between about November and March. Although the cranes arrive earlier, I usually make my first visit to photograph them in November. At that point they are fewer in number and likely to be off in some distant inaccessible area, and mostly I photograph them during the morning and evening fly-in/out. As the season continues they seem to become more comfortable in their surroundings, and I can often find them close enough to photograph in the middle of the day. But mid-February they and the geese become extremely active in the weeks before their northward migration.


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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Sunrise Trees

There are birds in this photograph, but it is really (mostly) about these sunrise trees. I went to this spot early this winter morning because it has been a reliable place to find sandhill cranes as they fly out in the morning. There were cranes, though not that many. But as I waited for them the nearby fog began to thin, and the light of the rising sun turning eastern clouds blood-red illuminated the trees with intensely colorful light.

This photograph is in a category that I sometimes think of as “unreal light” images. We all understand that photographs are not objectively accurate “recordings” of the real world. They are subjective, personal views of how the photographer sees things. An aspect of this is that we “work” the colors in photographs in pleasing ways… and sometimes they get worked to excess, producing unbelievable results. Against that background, when nature produces such intense and saturated light, it is easy to chalk it up to something the photographer did. Sometimes that’s the case — but not here!


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: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Sandhill Cranes, Wetland Pond

Sandhill cranes were the main reason that I went to the Central Valley on this winter morning. My plan was to be there before dawn — and I was! — so that I could photograph them taking flight in luminous fog at sunrise. But the fog over-achieved, and was so thick at sunrise that the birds weren’t visible at all. At that point the fog itself become my dawn subject.

As the morning wore on the fog thinned, and eventually the cranes and other birds became visible. I found a large group in a shallow pond where they had spent the night. One of the challenges of photographing groups of these birds is that much of the time their heads are down as they groom themselves or reach for the water. So I watch and wait, hoping for that instant when a few —or all! — of them raise their heads at once.


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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | PostEmail

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Two Cranes, Reflection

Sandhill cranes have the remarkable ability to look both comically clumsy (watch them land!) and remarkably graceful. This pair managed to produce the latter impression as they crossed paths in a shallow wetland pond. It helped that they were between me and the sun, placing their reflection in the water in front of them.

Sandhill cranes are remarkable birds and have become my favorites among the migratory birds I photograph . They are here between autumn and late winter in large numbers. Their characteristic cry is one of the defining features of my winter photography experience. One of the best moments comes when they return at dusk. I hear their cries before I see them, but soon hundreds arrive and land for the night.


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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | PostEmail

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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