It was so cold yesterday morning at Huntley Meadows Park that the breath of a Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) was visible as he sang out from atop a cattail.
Spring is definitely in the air and potentially record high temperatures are forecast for later in the week. However, it was right about at the freezing level when I arrived at the local marshland park where I spent so much of my free time wandering with my camera in hand.
I’ve photographed Red-winged Blackbirds lots of times, but I rarely pass up an opportunity to shoot them again—I just never know when I may capture an unusual moment. The sun had risen and light was starting to reach the cattails. I turned toward the light when I heard a blackbird call out.
As I zoomed in on the bird, I was amazed to see that the blackbird’s breath was visible as he forcibly exhaled when singing. In the still morning air the visible breath swirled about and the bird looked like a smoker getting his early morning nicotine fix.
I was fascinated by the differing patterns of the condensation as the blackbird moved his head or body position and was thrilled to be able to capture several different views of the blackbird’s visible song.
As I went to bed last night, I noticed that the counter for my blog was right at a hundred thousand views. Thanks to so many of you for helping me to reach this milestone and for encouraging me and supporting me as I journey on into photography.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Beautiful shots!
If you’re interested, do check out my works too 🙂
Thanks so much. I really love interacting with creative people–it helps to rub off on me. 🙂
Wow! Never thought I would see that.
To be honest, Victor, I never saw I would see that either. When it unfolded in front of my eyes, I was shocked, but fortunately had the presence of mind to get some shots.
Spectacular shots Mike – excellent that you gave yourself the opportunity. When people tell me I got a good outdoor picture I always say the same thing – I was in the right place at the right time with the lens cap off. That’s normally all that’s involved with my best pictures. Thanks for posting these.
Your response, Jay, made me smile. Folks sometimes tell me how “lucky” I am to get some of the shots that I do. Yes, there is a certain amount of luck, but, as you so rightly pointed out, being there with my eyes wide open and the camera ready is much more important than luck.
Now that is really dufferent and unusual! Well done Mike.
Everybody else would be “lucky” if they spent a lot of time standing in a cold, wet marsh with their cameras! I put on your fb page that I once read that nature is one of those things where “you must be present to win.” That’s how we get “lucky”! Or, in the words of Woody Allen, “eighty percent of success is showing up.”
Glad you “showed up” and got lucky 🙂 what a great shot
Stunning photos Mike!
Thanks, Dan. I continue to be amazed by the things that I manage to see as I wander about in the marshland park where I take so many of my photos.
That photograph is incredible, Mike. Wow! What a magical moment and you’ve captured it perfectly. Cartier Bresson’s decisive moment applied to a bird. Love it. This leaps up the ranks to be one of my favourite photographs by you.
What a great capture! I love these images… I never thought about misty breath from our feathered friends on a cold morning – but, of course they do! Congrats!
Carol
Wow! Spectacular shot!
Incredible! I’ve never seen an image like this. The bird is stunning on its own but catching it’s song! Wow. I feel fortunate to see such wonder today. Thank you.
That’s a wonderful moment in time! I was going to make some remark about smoking but then I read further and saw that you had it covered. Congrats on all the views.
That is amazing!! Both the photos and the fact that it seems to be colder in VA than in MN.
Wonderful capture 😀
Wow, Mike!! What amazing photo’s! I never even thought about seeing a bird’s breath. I’m so glad you posted these. Since they’re so unusual, you could surely win a magazine photography contest with these.
Thanks, Ginny. Several folks made the suggestion that I enter the photo into some kind of contest–I’ll keep my eyes open for an opportunity.
It never has crossed my mind that a bird could “see its breath.” That’s just stunning. And now, we can see it, too. There’s nothing to add, really, to the discussion of “being there,” but it’s so true. I happened to catch an egret’s aerial display on Sunday. I’d never seen it before — didn’t even know what it was until I did some research — but I got the photos, and am glad for it. It’s not every day you see a blackbird’s breath, or watch an egret raise up like a helicopter!
One of the coolest things about photographing nature is that you never know what you will encounter. For that reason, I never get tired of going back to the same places over and over. The last week or so, we’ve had an osprey return to the marsh. I love watching them fly and am especially amazed at the way that they can hover.
Facebook brought me here. I think I will stick around for a while. What an amazing photograph. I used to go to Huntley Meadows several times a year until moving to Maryland. Your blog makes me want to go back again.
It is one of my favorite spots for photography–there is so much to see. A large number of the photos on this blog were taken at Huntley Meadows Park. Lots of dragonfly and butterfly shots from the summer and birds from the winter (with the occasional shot of a fox).
Such an unusual capture
I wanted to write another word than “wow” cuz thats what everyone else is using…Hmmm…here goes: holy moly, hot damn and far out!
Those are really amazing shots. I’ve never even seen photos of that happening before, much less in person.
Congratulations on hitting the 100,000 mark!
It’s going to be tough to replicate all of the conditions that came together for me to see and photograph that blackbird. I continue to be amazed at the things I see (and that you see).
Absolutely stunning shots, Mike! I’ve never seen a bird’s breath before, amazing!
Thanks, Camilla. I too had never seen a bird’s breath before and didn’t even think about whether it was possible to do so. Nature has a way of providing unexpected surprises like this.
Thanks for a new way of looking at the world. How much more so must our “breath” — the words that come out of our mouths — leave an imprint on our environment.
Beautiful response and I totally agree with the effect that our words can have.
[…] to original postings: Visible Song (8 March 2016); Fox on a frozen pond (31 January 2016); and Rescue of an injured Bald Eagle (4 […]
[…] you are curious to read my blog posting about the initial encounter, check out my 8 March 2016 blog posting entitled “Visible […]
[…] commentary about the circumstances under which they were captured. Links to original postings: Visible Song (8 March 2016) and Fox on a frozen pond (31 January […]