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Archive for April, 2025

Perching Swamp Darner dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 29, 2025| 3 Comments »

Yesterday I decided to visit Occoquan Regional Park in nearby Lorton, Virginia to search for some dragonflies. Some of you know that the place that I visit most frequently is Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, so you may be a little confused, because they both have “Occoquan” in their names. The Wildlife Refuge is run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, whereas the Regional Park is run by Fairfax County.

The locations are only a few miles apart, but their habitats are different enough that I tend to see some different dragonfly species at each spot. I was hoping to see some Spiketail dragonflies, but came up empty-handed. As I was nearing the end of my adventure, however, a large dragonfly flew overhead. I did not get a very good look at it, but its size, shape, and flight profile suggested to me that it was from the Darner family.

A short while later, I spotted another large dragonfly (possibly the same one) flying around some vegetation and was thrilled when it landed. At the precise moment that it landed, my vision was partially blocked by some branches, but I had a good idea of where I hoped the dragonfly was perched. I moved a few steps slowly and silent to get an unobstructed view of the dragonfly.

I held my breath when I saw that it was a Swamp Darner (Epiaeschna heros), the largest dragonfly in my area at about 3.5 inches (89 mm) in length. Wow! Judging from its terminal appendages (the tip of the “tail”), I am pretty sure that this is a female. I took the second photo below initially, afraid to move closer for fear of spooking the dragonfly.

I then stepped a little closer and moved up and down as I tried to get a better shot. My options were limited, because the dragonfly was perched about 10 feet up (about 3 meters) and was surrounded by intertwined vines and branches. I think that the first shot below is a marginal improvement on my first shot and encourage you to click on it to get a better look at the Swamp Darners beautiful markings, including its spectacular eyes.

I suspect that this park will be in my regular rotation of places to visit as additional dragonfly species continue to emerge.

Swamp Darner

Swamp Darner

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Sunning water snake

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, snake, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 28, 2025| 5 Comments »

Last week I spotted this Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon) alongside a creek during a hike in Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia. Water Snakes are not venomous, but I remember reading that their saliva contains an anti-coagulant, so I am reluctant to get so close to one that I risk getting bitten.

Most of the Northern Water Snakes that I have previously seen have been a uniform dark color, but this snake has a beautiful striped pattern on its underside that is visible in this photo. This snake seemed to be simply sunning itself, absorbing the warmth of the spring sunshine.

Northern Water Snake

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Butterfly in the forest

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 27, 2025| 4 Comments »

This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) was sipping from a wet area at the edge of a forest creek (and maybe ingesting other nutrients) when I photographed it on 23 April at Prince William Forest Park in Triangle,Virginia. I used to associate this species of butterfly with gardens, because that is where I tended to spot them in the past. However, over the last few years, I have spent a lot of time in the spring in forested areas and have spotted Eastern Tiger Swallowtails regularly there, both individually and in small groups.
Check out my 2021 posting called “A Kaleidoscope of butterflies” to see a photograph of Eastern Tiger Swallowtails “puddling,” i.e. congregating together on wet sand and mud to drink water and extract minerals from puddles.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Baskettail in late April

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 26, 2025| 3 Comments »

I am not sure that I can say that dragonfly activity is at a peak yet, but I did see a whole lot more dragonflies this past Wednesday in Prince William County than in previous trips there earlier in April.  I was particularly delighted to spot some Common Baskettail dragonflies (Epitheca cynosura) that were perched—quite often I have seen them in the past only when they were flying.

The Common Baskettail in the first photo seems to be a mature male. I love the way that I was able to capture an image that shows the way that it hangs when perching and the distinctive terminal appendages that always remind me of the handles of some pliers that are wrapped in plastic.

The dragonfly in the second photo looks to be a recently emerged Common Baskettail. Its eyes are still pale and its wings are very clear and are probably not fully hardened yet.

I got a late start this year in finding spring dragonflies, but feel that I have more or less caught up as we near the end of April, though there are still some spring species that I have not yet seen.

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Stream Cruiser dragonflies

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 25, 2025| 1 Comment »

Dragonfly season has definitely begun. I spotted several Stream Cruiser dragonflies (Didymops transversa) on Wednesday this week while I was exploring several creeks in Prince William Park here in Virginia. Stream Cruisers are pretty easy to identify, with a single stripe on their thoraxes, pale-colored tips of their abdomens, and long, thin legs. They tend to perch at an angle or to hang vertically.

Stream Cruisers are one of the earliest dragonfly species to appear each spring and it was exciting to spot them. They tend to be habitat specialists and are generally found near forest streams with good flow and rocks.

Stream Cruiser

Stream Cruiser

Stream Cruiser

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Ashy Clubtails in April

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The weather has warmed up considerably and I have started to see many of the spring dragonflies and even some of those that will remain with us through the summer. Last Friday I spotted numerous Ashy Clubtail dragonflies (Phanogomphus lividus), many of which appeared to have emerged recently, judging from their very shiny wings and pale coloration, as you can see in the first photo. Getting shots of them was tough, because they perch on the ground in the vegetation, are only about 2 inches in length (50 mm), and are often very skittish.

Kevin Munroe described well the challenges of finding early spring dragonflies in his wonderful Dragonflies of Northern Virginia website, “Searching for dragonflies in spring is a wholly different endeavor than finding them in July and August. Most summer dragonflies spend their time at sunny ponds or open fields, and engage in showy displays and aerial battles – they are, in a word, visible. The majority belong to the showy and successful skimmer family, along with a few darners and emeralds. The spring dragonfly community is more diverse, and has a very different M.O. They are for the most part, habitat specialists, with low population numbers, secretive habits, and denizens of woodland streams, not sunny ponds. Spiketails, Petaltails, Clubtails, Darners and Emeralds are all out and about in spring. To find these species in April and May, one must spend many hours searching forest edges, woodland clearings, and the banks of springs, streams and creeks.”

In fact, I photographed these Ashy Clubtails in the vegetation near a creek in Prince William County and I can testify to the fact that I walked about for hours searching for them. I am pretty happy with the photos that I was able to take. I especially like the second photo that has some really cool shadows that seem to magnify the number of legs and wings of the dragonfly.

The final two photos were taken only a few seconds apart and show the wings in very different positions. The penultimate photo shows the wings in a typical outstretched pose, while the final photo shows the wings clasped together over the dragonfly’s body, similar to the way that damselflies hold their wings when perched. In my experience recently emerged dragonflies sometimes flex their wings this way as fluid is pumped into the wings and the wings are hardening.

Ashy Clubtail

Ashy Clubtail

Ashy Clubtail

Ashy Clubtail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Henry’s Elfin butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

When this little butterfly flew by me last Friday at Prince William Forest Park, it looked like a nondescript brown moth. Fortunately it landed on some nearby vegetation and I was able to zoom in on it. Wow—what an amazing variety of colors, textures, and markings on this tiny butterfly. I was able to determine that it was a Henry’s Elfin butterfly (Callophrys henrici).

I was pretty sure that I had never seen a butterfly like this until I searched my blog and discovered that I had seen one last spring on almost the same date. I don’t think that I’m losing my memory yet, but I keep filling my head with so much information that it is almost inevitable that I will forget some things.

There is something so whimsical about the word “elfin” that I can’t help but smile whenever I use it. I love the idea of magical creatures like elves and nymphs, drawn from the works of Shakespeare or perhaps from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.  These creatures blend in so well with their surroundings that you have to look carefully to spot them and I should warn you that you may become blissfully enchanted by them.

Henry's Elfin

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Uhler’s Sundragon at last

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 21, 2025| 4 Comments »

I was delighted to finally spot my first Uhler’s Sundragon (Helocordulia uhleri) of the year on 18 April near a small pond in Prince William County, Virginia. I went searching for these dragonflies, which are usually the first ones I see in the spring, on several occasions in late March and early April, but came up empty-handed. Uhler’s Sundragons are usually around for only about a month, soI was fearful that I might miss them this season.

I have a pretty good idea of the type of habitat that this early season dragonfly prefers and tend to begin my searches by returning to spots where I have photographed them in the past and then begin to widen my search. Quite often this means that I spend a lot of time walking and watching, trying to remain alert to any movement in the air or on the ground.

As you can see in the first photo, Uhler’s Sundragons often hang from a perch, rather than perch horizontally, which makes it a little easier to get a detailed shot. When the dragonfly perches low to the ground, as in the second photo when it hung from the stem of a fallen leaf, I end up doing some improvised acrobatics to capture an image.

Uhler's Sundragon

Uhler's Sundragon

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Happy Easter 2025

Posted in Butterflies, Easter, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 20, 2025| 13 Comments »

Happy Easter to friends and family who are celebrating today. This past week has been a whirlwind of activity and services for me at my church as we have commemorated Christ’s last days, beginning with his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, through his last supper, and finally his crucifixion and burial. Today we celebrate Jesus’s triumph over death with a joyous Easter service.

I photographed this beautiful little Pearl Crescent butterfly (Phyciodes tharos) during a recent visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Butterflies have always been special for me as symbols of the amazing transformations that can take place in this world, even when the situation seems hopeless and sad.

I offer my prayers for all of you, believers and non-believers alike, that your lives will be full of joy, hope, and peace.

Christ is risen!

Pearl Crescent

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Falcate Orangetip butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 19, 2025| 5 Comments »

I was delighted to spot this Falcate Orangetip butterfly (Anthocharis midea) on 15 April at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The butterfly is somewhat nondescript when its wings are closed, but spectacular when they open, revealing the orange tips for which the species is named.

I encourage you to click on the second image to get a closer look at the beautiful details of this tiny butterfly, including its speckled gray eyes and wonderfully marbled wings.

Falcate Orangetip butterfly

Falcate Orangetip butterfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue Corporal—first dragonfly of 2025

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 18, 2025| 5 Comments »

I am a little late in finding my first dragonflies of 2025, but on Wednesday (15 April) I finally spotted some Blue Corporals (Ladona deplanata) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. As an added bonus, the first image also shows a metallic-green Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata) that was crawling past the dragonfly.

Blue Corporals, one of the first dragonflies to emerge in the spring, are relatively easy to identify because they have two stripes of their shoulders—two stripes is the traditional marking for the rank of corporal in the armed forces. When they first emerge, males and females have similar colorations, but the males turn blue as they mature. Judging from the shape of their terminal appendages, I believe that the dragonflies in the first two images are females and the one in the final photo is an immature male.

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Ospreys seize the eagle nest

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 17, 2025| 5 Comments »

Earlier this season, it looked like a pair of Bald Eagles had occupied a large nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Each time that I visited the refuge, I would check the nesting site to look for indications that an eagle was sitting on eggs. Unfortunately, the nest is so deep and so high up that it is almost impossible to tell if an eagle is inside of the nest.

Last week, I watched a pair of Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) fly into the nest and seize it and captured this shot of them doing so. Generally ospreys use much smaller, thrown-together nests, but I guess that this pair decided to advantage of what I assume is a currently unoccupied eagle nest.

As I watched the two ospreys approach the nest with dangled legs, I couldn’t help but think of the scenes from the Wizard of Oz movie in which the flying monkeys seized Dorothy. The mind works in strange ways.

osprey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Bee Fly in April

Posted in Bees, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 15, 2025| 1 Comment »

Is it a bee? Is it a fly? Well, it has a fuzzy body like a bumblebee and has a long, rigid proboscis that looks like a stinger, but its patterned wings and long legs look more like those of a fly. In actuality, it is a Greater Bee Fly (Bombylius major), a parasitic bee mimic that is one of the earliest spring pollinators of wildflowers. I photographed this bee fly last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

I was quite happy to be able to capture so many of the details of this curious creature, including its long proboscis, spindly legs, patterned wings, and fuzzy body. In case you are curious, the body of one of these bee flies is about six-tenths of an inch (15mm) in length and its wing span is about one inch (25mm). I recommend that you double-click on the image to get a better look at the little details of this bee fly.

If you would like to learn more about these fascinating little bee flies, including their parasitic behavior, check out this article on the US Forest Service website by Beatriz Moisset entitled “A Pollinator with a Bad Reputation.”

Bee Fly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Zebra Swallowtail in April

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 14, 2025| 4 Comments »

I was absolutely thrilled last week to spot this Zebra Swallowtail butterfly (Eurytides marcellus) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Zebra Swallowtails overwinter winter in the chrysalis (cocoon) stage before emerging as adult butterflies in the spring. A second brood is born later in the year and they are the ones that lay the eggs that develop into the caterpillars that will enter into cocoons and hibernate throughout the winter.

I love the beautiful colors of this butterfly, with its zebra-like stripes and pops of red and blue—I often think of the Zebra Swallowtail as a “patriotic” butterfly, because of its red, white, and blur coloration..

Zebra Swallowtail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Yellow-throated Warbler in April

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, warbler, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »

This Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica) was pretty far away when I spotted its little patch of bright yellow feathers this past Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I doubted that I would be able to get a recognizable shot of it, but decided to take a chance, given that it was the first warbler that I had seen this spring. The resulting shot won’t win any contest, but I am happy that I was able to document my sighting.

Warblers pass through my area each spring at about the same time as the leaves begin to appear on the trees. It can be a bit frustrating for me to be able to hear some of these little birds without being able to see them when they are hidden in the foliage. It is a little game of hide-and-see that I play every year and this time I was able to capture a shot of one of my colorful fellow players.

Yellow-throated Warbler

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cabbage White and dandelion

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 11, 2025| 8 Comments »

I was surprised and delighted to spot this Cabbage White butterfly (Pieris rapae) as it was feeding on a newly sprouted dandelion on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I love chasing these elusive little butterflies that I used to think were moths.

Gardeners consider Cabbage Whites to be pests, because their caterpillars can do significant damage to plants, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and collard greens, but I find them to be beautiful. In that respect I guess I am a kind of dreamer who prefers to focus more on form than on function.

Cabbage White

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Swimming towards me

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, spring, turtle, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 10, 2025| 6 Comments »

Long telephoto lenses tend to distort your depth perception. On Tuesday I watched this North American Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) swimming about in a pond at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I was a bit creepy as the turtle got bigger and bigger in my viewfinder when it began to swim directly towards me. One part of my brain objectively knew that the turtle was still a long way off, but it was nonetheless a bit disconcerting when the snapping turtle’s dinosaur-like eyes appeared to be staring right at me.

Spring is here, though the weather has been cool recently and there were some local frost warnings last night, and all kinds of creatures are waking up. I’m still looking for my first dragonfly of the year and will probably continue my quest later today.

snapping turtle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Springtime Red-winged Blackbird

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 7, 2025| 1 Comment »

I have been hearing a lot of Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) during recent visits to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and was delighted to finally capture a shot of one last week that shows the distinctive yellow and red shoulder patch of the males of his species.

I was hoping that the blackbird would fly to some lower branches, but he seemed content to perch high above me in a tree. I was pleased, though, to be able to capture this fun little portrait—it is tough to convince birds to pose for me.

Red-winged Blackbird

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

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A Hike in the Forest

Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, spring, tagged , , , , on April 4, 2025| 5 Comments »

Most of the time when I am out in nature, I am focused on wildlife and often neglect to take landscape photos. Last week, though, was a notable exception when I went for a hike in Prince William Forest Park, an installation administered by the National Park Service located about 25 miles from where I live.

Most of the park is forested and hilly and there was not much wildlife to observe, so I enjoyed the natural beauty that surrounded me. My iPhone tracks the number of steps that I take and it shows that I walked about 12 thousand steps that day. That may not sound like a lot of steps, but the statistics also indicated that I climbed the equivalent of 37 flights of stairs.

One of the highlights of my hike was walking along Quantico Creek that runs through a portion of the park—I love the sound of rushing water. At several places along the creek there are dams, as you can see in several photos below, that tend to slow the flow of the water.

It was a wonderful way to spend the day and I left the park physically tired, but mentally refreshed and rejuvenated.

Prince William Forest Park

Prince William Forest Park

Prince William Forest Park

Prince William Forest Park

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Spring Beauty 2025

Posted in Flowers, Nature, Photography, spring, tagged , , , , , , on April 3, 2025| 4 Comments »

Spring is definitely here. I spotted my first Spring Beauty wildflower (Claytonia virginica) on 26 March during a hike at Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia. Before long I am sure that I will see large numbers of them in the forest, though they tend to be ephemeral and don’t bloom for very long.

The Spring Beauty plants have tiny underground tubers that Native Americans reportedly prepared and ate like potatoes, though I suspect that you would have to collect a lot of them to make a meal.

Spring Beauty

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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First Eastern Cricket Frog of spring

Posted in Amphibians, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 1, 2025| 3 Comments »

Last Wednesday I went on a hike in Prince William Forest Park, a National Park Service site in nearby Triangle, Virginia. Unlike the coastal plains and marshes where I spent a lot of my time in nature, Prince William Forest Park, as its name suggests, is a forested area that is full of hills and valleys with numerous creeks.

One of the highlights of my hike was seeing my first Eastern Cricket Frogs (Acris crepitans crepitans) of the season. Cricket frogs of the genus Acris are quite small (about one inch (25 mm) in length) and I often spot them at the edge of the creeks in the park. On this occasion I spotted the frog when it hopped right in front of me, though most often I hear the frogs before I see them. Cricket frogs have a distinctive call that sounds like two pebbles being clicked against each other—some scientist thought it sounded like a cricket, which accounts for the common name for the species .

Eastern Cricket Frog

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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