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Archive for September, 2013

Milkweed bug nymphs

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , on September 14, 2013| 3 Comments »

I continue to be fascinated by the metamorphosis of bugs and was happy to spot these familiar bright red milkweed bug nymphs recently at my local marshland.

Last year, I closely followed the development of Large Milkweed Bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus) and documented my observations in a posting called Life Phases of the Large Milkweed Bug. I was a bit surprised when that posting turned out to be my fourth most visited posting of the year (it was since slipped to number six on the charts), because it was as much an educational posting as one to highlight my photos.

When I spotted these bugs, there were several clusters of them and the individuals seemed to be gradually separating as they sought out food. The bugs go through five phases (instars) as nymphs before they become adults and these look to be in one of the middle phases of development, judging from the size of the “wings.”

In case someone is not familiar with these bugs, I am attaching a photo from last year of adult milkweed bugs to give an idea of what these nymphs will eventually become.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Green Heron reflections

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on September 13, 2013| 8 Comments »

Recently I had the chance to observe a Green Heron (Butorides virescens), one of my favorite birds, as it waded into the water at the edge of a small pond and focused its attention on catching a meal.

It was fascinating to watch the heron’s movements—it moved so with such care and stealth that it almost seemed to be moving in slow motion. At times, the heron would lean forward, as in the first photo, perhaps when a potential prey caught its attention.

The water in the pond was very still and I was happy to capture some nice reflections of the heron. They presented a minor dilemma for me in deciding how to crop the shot. Was it better to crop tighter and emphasize the main subject, as I did in the first shot, or to show the entire reflection, as in the third shot, which is the same image cropped differently? What do you think?

In many ways, the second shot is my favorite one. The heron had started to slowly move away and then turned its head back and opened its mouth a little. That little gesture seemed to give the heron more personality and it looks almost like it is smiling.

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Another fuzzy white caterpillar

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on September 12, 2013| 6 Comments »

I continue to see these white fuzzy caterpillars and have concluded that they may be Virginia Tiger Moth caterpillars (Spilosoma virginica), also known as Yellow Wooly Bear caterpillars.

I have seen some mating white moths in the same area that look like Virginia Tiger Moths and my photos of these caterpillars resemble some of the ones I find on-line for the Yellow Wooly Bear caterpillars.

In any case, I really like the way that the light fell on this caterpillar and illuminated the long white hairs of its body, giving it a halo-like effect.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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September bee

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , on September 11, 2013| 11 Comments »

One of the advantages to living in a relatively southern state is that summer lingers on for a bit longer and flowers continue to bloom. As long as there are flowers blooming, bees continue in their efforts to gather pollen,

I am not sure what flower this is, but it was blooming in the garden of one of my neighbors, Cindy Dyer, a fellow photographer and blogger. She plants her garden with an eye toward plants that will photograph well and when I have a few minutes to spare, I enjoy making a quick trip to her garden to see what is blooming.

When I first spotted it, I had this mental picture of the bee working in the center of the flower, surrounded by a protective little fence.  I tried to frame the shot with that picture in mind and chose an angle that emphasized the “fence.”

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Bronze grasshopper

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged , , , , , on September 10, 2013| 7 Comments »

Who knew that grasshoppers come in so many different sizes and colors?

I used to think that all grasshoppers were the same, but this year I have started to look at them more closely and have already seen their amazing diversity. I definitely do not know enough yet, though, to distinguish among the different species.

Two things really stood out for me in this image of a grasshopper—its coloration and its feet.  The metallic sheen of its body makes it almost look like it is wearing a suit of bronze armor.  I’ve never before noticed the cool little hooks at the end of the grasshopper’s feet, but you can see them easily in this shot.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Brown praying mantis

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , on September 10, 2013| 10 Comments »

I feel lucky whenever I spot a praying mantis, because they are usually so well camouflaged that they are virtually invisible when motionless.

I was a little surprised to see a brown one recently (all the other ones that I have seen have been green), but I can’t help but note that the brown head makes those green compound eye really stand out. I really felt like the praying mantis was looking right at me as I tried to photograph it.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Eastern Comma

Posted in Art, Butterflies, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on September 9, 2013| 6 Comments »

It’s rare that I actually welcome an insect landing on me, which is usually a prelude to it biting me, but I was really happy when this Eastern Comma butterfly (Polygonia comma) decided it like the way that I tasted.

It initially landed right on my chest and began to lick my shirt and then moved over to the messenger bag in which I carry my camera gear. I carefully removed the bag and was able to get these shots while the Eastern Comma kept busy licking away my accumulated sweat (my apologies to those with delicate sensibilities, but these butterflies don’t land on pretty flowers and instead generally feed on the less photogenic sap, rotting fruit, and dung).

Normally this butterfly blends in well with its environment and is hard to see, but I guess that we would all agree that a blue Adidas bag is not its natural environment. It was also surprisingly easy to identify the butterfly. Last year I agonized in trying to decide if a butterfly I had photographed was a Question Mark or a Comma—the difference is in the shape of the white marking. Yes, those are actually the names of the butterflies. Who makes up these names? It’s the kind of job that I would enjoy.

I haven’t found any other insects named for punctuation marks, but won’t be surprised to find that there is an Asterisk caterpillar or an Ampersand beetle.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Great Blue Skimmer

Posted in Art, Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , on September 8, 2013| 7 Comments »

Do you ever take shots and find that you like the way that the background turned out even more than the way the subject looked?  That was the case with this image of a male Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula vibrans) that I photographed this past weekend.

The lighting was a bit harsh and the pose is pretty ordinary, but I love the two-tone background, caused in part by the use of my 135-400mm telephoto zoom at its full extension.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Sleeping tree frog

Posted in Amphibians, Art, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 8, 2013| 14 Comments »

This little Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea) was almost hidden in the cattails, comfortably napping at midday with its legs tucked under its body. It’s nice to know that I am not the only one who enjoys a little afternoon siesta.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Blowing bubbles

Posted in Humor, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , on September 7, 2013| 2 Comments »

Do Northern Water Snakes (Nerodia sipedon) blow bubbles in the water for fun, like I used to do as a child? Does it help them to attract prey? Are the bubbles simply a result of the snake remaining semi-submerged in the shallow marsh water as it waits for its next victim?

Whatever the reason for the bubbles, I spent some time yesterday observing this snake, hoping that I might see a successful hunt. In the end, I came up empy-handed, as the snake’s patience outlasted mine.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Another screaming hawk

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 7, 2013| 12 Comments »

I have not seen any hawks at my local marsh for quite some time, so yesterday I was really happy when I heard the unmistakable sound of screaming Red-shouldered hawks (Buteo lineatus). (Check out the sound file on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website if you have never heard the cry of these magnificent birds.)

From the sound of the loud screaming, I could tell that the hawks were not far away and eventually I spotted two of them soaring above the trees. After a few minutes, one of them flew silently into view and landed in a tree across the beaver pond from where I was standing. I suspected that he would not remain very long, so I decided to try to get some shots with the lens that I happened to have on my camera at the time, my Tamron 180mm macro lens, rather than take the time to set up my tripod and change to a longer lens.

Before long, I heard the cries of the other hawk and the one that I was watching took to the air and joined in the screaming. I was a little surprise to see that it flew laterally and downward, but I was able to track it pretty well and got the in-flight shot that you see below.

I was pleased to see that the lens was able to capture a pretty good amount of contrast and detail, even in heavily-cropped images like the two that I am posting. I enjoy the challenge of attempting to capture any birds in flight and look forward to more attempts as we move out of insect season, when my macro lens is use most of the time, into bird season, when I switch to a telephoto lens.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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I only have eyes for you

Posted in Arachnids, Art, Flowers, Gardening, Humor, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, tagged , , , , , , on September 6, 2013| 11 Comments »

Earlier this week I came across this little Jumping spider, patiently waiting for a prey to come by.  I never fail to be amazed by those eyes that seemed to be staring right at me.

Transfixed, I can’t take my eyes off of you, tiny spider, and your eyes seem to follow me. I don’t want to seem paranoid, but when I am with you, I always feel like somebody is watching me.

Somehow I thought I heard the spider humming, “I only have eyes for you,” but it was just my imagination, running away with me.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Not hovering

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, tagged , , , , , , on September 6, 2013| 4 Comments »

Hoverflies normally are as busy as bees, in constant motion as they move from flower to flower. From time to time, though, I guess that they need to rest. Earlier this week, I captured this image of  a hoverfly relaxing on the dried out leaf of a cattail at my local marshland park.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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September spider

Posted in Arachnids, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on September 5, 2013| 11 Comments »

Finally I am starting to see some of the Yellow Garden Orbweaver spiders (Argiope aurantia) that fascinated me so much last summer. These spiders are big and colorful and have awesome webs with a distinctive zigzag section. I will be keeping an eye on the spiders to see if I can observe them catching prey and wrapping it up in silk.

Stay tuned for more spiders., most likely coming pretty soon to the blog—this spider is just the first fall installment.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Pittsburgh Steelers caterpillar—a second year

Posted in Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Sports, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 5, 2013| 10 Comments »

This past weekend I came across a type of caterpillar that I first encountered last fall.  Its black, yellow, and white markings once again made me think of the Pittsburgh Steelers National Footbal League team that wears those same colors.

The sports pages of the newspaper currently are saturated with articles on football, so it’s only natural that I think in those terms (and I apologize to the rest of the world for any confusion caused by the fact that we Americans use the word “football” to refer to a game that doesn’t use feet much at all and use “soccer” to refer to the other “football” game).

I enjoy referring to this caterpillar as the Steelers caterpillar, though, of course, it has a “real” name, which I think is a Smartweed caterpillar (Acronicta oblinita). Some US states have state insects, so I wonder if the Steelers would welcome a fuzzy new mascot. This could be the start of a trend and a marketing opportunity—there are more than enough caterpillar types around for each team to adopt its own.

black_and_yellow_blog© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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You just keep me hanging on

Posted in Amphibians, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on September 4, 2013| 10 Comments »

Unlike most of the tree frogs that I have encountered, this Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea) was alert and moved about a bit when I tried to take its photo—the others were resting motionless on cattail plants and seemed half-asleep.

The frog initially hid behind the cattail leaf and then tentatively poked its head out, giving me the chance to get this shot. I really like the pose that I was able to capture and the really cool details that you can see of the pads on its toes, which help it to seemingly defy gravity. (Click on the image to see a higher resolution view.)

I too would love to be able to defy gravity.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Glory bee

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , on September 3, 2013| 10 Comments »

Although it is already September and signs of autumn are starting to appear, bees continue to be as busy as ever. The blooming morning glory flowers in my neighbors’ garden attracted a bee’s attention early yesterday morning and I got these shots as it tried to figure out the optimal strategy for gathering pollen.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Gray Hairstreak buterfly

Posted in Art, Butterflies, Flowers, Gardening, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, tagged , , , , , , on September 2, 2013| 15 Comments »

Small butterflies have a special, delicate beauty all their own, like this Gray Hairstreak butterfly (Strymon melinus) that I photographed in mid-August at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, Virginia.

BugGuide states that this is the most common hairstreak in North American, but this is only the second time that I have seen one. Based on my limited observation of American women, I would assert that the blond hairstreak is the most common one, though, as a bald guy, I realize that hair is not my area of expertise.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Impressive wingspan

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 1, 2013| 8 Comments »

Coming in for a landing, this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) stretched out his wings to their full extent and the sight was mighty impressive. The wings stretched out so wide, in fact, that I couldn’t fit them entirely into the frame. As he reached the ground, the heron gradually pulled in his wings and I was able to get a couple of additional shots of the impressive wingspan.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Framed frog

Posted in Amphibians, Art, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , , on September 1, 2013| 8 Comments »

This small Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea) was swaying in the breeze, mostly obscured by the heavy growth in the marsh, when I first spotted it. I searched for an opening to get an unobstructed shot and finally found one, looking through a circularly bent dried leaf.

The different elements of the scene, however, were all in motion at different speeds.  I felt like I was playing a carnival game as I tried to aim and shoot at a target that would appear and disappear from view. Eventually I got a shot that was pretty close to the mental image that was my target and the frog was framed.

circle_frog_blog© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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