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Immature cormorant

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, canon 50, cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Lake Cook, Phalacrocorax auritus, Tamron 150-600mm on February 11, 2017| Leave a Comment »

The plumage of the Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) is pretty drab, but it helps to make its beautiful orange bill and spectacular blue eyes stand out even more. I spotted this immature cormorant—adults have darker-colored breast feathers—yesterday afternoon at Lake Cook in Alexandria, Virginia. The cormorant was standing still in shallow water and seemed to be trying to absorb some warmth from the intermittent sun on a cold and windy day, with temperatures just above freezing.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Indigo Cone-headed duck

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Aythya collaris, Canon 50D, Indigo Cone-headed duck, Kingstowne, Ring-necked duck, Tamron 150-600mm on February 9, 2017| 7 Comments »

Experienced birders know that this is not an Indigo Cone-headed duck. In fact, there is no such bird—I simply made up the name because I was not really satisfied with calling this bird a Ring-necked duck (Aythya collaris). It is definitely a cool-looking bird, but where is the ring around its neck?

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology explained this conundrum with these words:

“This bird’s common name (and its scientific name “collaris,” too) refer to the Ring-necked Duck’s hard-to-see chestnut collar on its black neck. It’s not a good field mark to use for identifying the bird, but it jumped out to the nineteenth century biologists that described the species using dead specimens.”

I’m in favor of having practical names that are descriptive of live specimens that I might encounter. If Indigo Cone-headed duck doesn’t work for you, how about Ring-billed duck? I’d enjoying hearing any creative ideas you might have about renaming this handsome little duck.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Redhead duck

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Aythya americana, Canon 50D, Kingstowne, redhead, Redhead duck, Tamron 150-600mm on February 8, 2017| 4 Comments »

As I looked across the pond at a group of ducks, I spotted a flash of red amidst the dark blue heads of the male Ring-necked ducks. Initially I was confused. The only bird that I had previously seen with a red head was a Red-headed woodpecker and I was pretty sure that a woodpecker was not swimming around in the water.

I maneuvered my way around the small pond and was able to capture some images of this odd duck. Imagine my shock when I checked my bird identification guide and learned that this duck is actually called a Redhead duck (Aythya americana). Frequent readers of this blog know that I sometimes complain about the seemingly inappropriate names that have been given to birds and insects, but in this case the name is simple and straightforward and fits.

As far as I can tell this Redhead is alone—I couldn’t spot any other male or female Redheads at the pond. He seems to like hanging out with a group of male Ring-necked ducks who also seem to be bachelors.

I don’t know how long this guy will stay at this location, but I am definitely going back soon to try to get some more shots of this spectacularly handsome Redhead.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hoodie close-up

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Kingstowne, Lophodytes cucullatus, male Hooded Merganser, Tamron 150-600mm on February 7, 2017| 10 Comments »

Normally Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) like to stay in deep water and it’s tough to get close-up photos. Yesterday, however, I came upon this male near the shore of a small pond and I managed to snap off a couple of shots before he turned his back and swam away.

These little ducks have an amazing amount of personality, especially when seen up close.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Diving ducks

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Kingstowne, Lophodytes cucullatus, Tamron 150-600mm on February 6, 2017| 1 Comment »

Have you ever watched a Hooded Merganser duck dive? They will be swimming along and then suddenly they will arch their bodies and thrust slightly upwards before disappearing into the water.

As I watched a group of Hooded Megansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) diving in the deep water of a small pond, I decided to see if I could catch them mid-dive. It proved to be more difficult to accomplish than I realized and I ended up with lots of frames of tails sticking out of the water. Here’s the best shot of a female that I managed to capture as she prepared to go under the water. Her body position reminds me of a dolphin, though I have never seen a dolphin with that kind of a hairstyle.

I was not quite as successful with the male ducks, but I did capture a fun two-image sequence. The male Hooded Merganser did not seem to come out of the water as much as the female did. As a result, he created a much bigger splash—if this had been an Olympic diving competition, he would certainly have lost points for his sloppy entry into the water.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Osprey in early February

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Lake Cook, Osprey, Osprey with fish, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm on February 5, 2017| 3 Comments »

A loud smack in the water yesterday afternoon at Lake Cook in Alexandria, Virginia caused me to turn my head and I was shocked when I saw an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) pull a fish out of the water—I though that all of the osprey had gone south for the winter months ago.

This encounter was a real test of my ability to react quickly. I had been watching some small birds in the bushes at the edge of the water when I heard the osprey’s impact with the water. My brain went into overdrive as I tried to figure out what had caused the sound, but simultaneously I was raising my camera to my eye and pointing it in the direction from which the sound had come. I didn’t have time to change the settings on the camera and was fortunate that they were more or less ok. My focus was set for single shot and not continuous focus, so many of my shots were not in focus and my shutter speed ended up at 1/500 sec, a bit too slow to freeze the action. Still, I am thrilled that I got a couple of decent shots out of the encounter.

After I posted a photo in a birding forum in Facebook, several local birders noted that osprey often return to the area in mid-February, so this osprey is only a bit of an early bird.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Winter grebe

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Grebe, Kingstowne, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Tamron 150-600mm on February 4, 2017| 1 Comment »

One of the most unusual-looking water birds that I occasionally see is the Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), like this one that I spotted in a small, man-made pond yesterday in Kingstowne, a suburban community near where I like in Northern Virginia.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology the Latin genus name for “grebe” means “feet at the buttocks.” And I thought “grebe” sounded funny just by itself—imagine having that Latin name as part of your name.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Winter kingfisher

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Belted Kingfisher, Canon 50D, kingfisher, Lake Cook, male Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon, Tamron 150-600mm on February 3, 2017| 11 Comments »

With stealth and patience I can get relatively close to some birds, but Belted Kingfishers (Megaceryle alcyon) remain elusive, skittish, and difficult to capture. I was fortunate to get some long distance shots of a handsome male kingfisher (males have no chestnut-colored stripe on their chests) last weekend in the trees overlooking Lake Cook in Alexandria, Virginia.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hybrid goose

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anser albifrons, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Canon 50D, Greater White-fronted Goose, hybrid goose, Lake Cook, Tamron 150-600mm on February 2, 2017| Leave a Comment »

One of the first games that children often learn to play is called “one of these is not like the others” and I felt like I was playing that game this past weekend. As I surveyed the geese that dotted the surface of Lake Cook, a small, pond-sized body of water not far from where I live, it became clear that one of them was different, very different from the others. It had a pinkish bill and a white stripe on its head and pinkish orange legs and feet.

All of the other geese at the lake were Canada Geese (Branta canadensis). Was this possibly a French-speaking separatist Canada Goose? When I looked through my bird identification book, there was no such variant of the Canada Goose.

In fact, there were not very many geese from which to choose. “My” goose sort of looked like the images of the Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons), but not exactly. In an effort to get some help, I posted some photos to a Facebook birding page and received a range of responses. Most folks seemed to agree that this was a hybrid Canada Goose of some sort, but there was disagreement about the other part of the goose’s genetic makeup. Some thought there might have been a pairing of a Canada Goose with a domesticated goose, while others thought it might have been a Canada Goose and a Greater White-fronted Goose. I tend to be in the latter camp.

When I did a Google search on goose hybrids, I found there are an incredible number of hybrid variations. When it comes to bird identifications, I suppose I am going to have to be content with making my best guess—I refuse to take the next logical step of doing DNA testing of all of my subjects.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Flashback to the 1960’s

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, wildlife, tagged 1960's, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Chubby Checker, female Hooded Merganser, Hooded, Hooded Merganser, Lake Cook, Lophodytes cucullatus, Tamron, The Twist on February 1, 2017| 13 Comments »

The hairstyle of this female Hooded Merganser duck (Lophodytes cucullatus) and the electric blue of the sky reflected on the water somehow brought back my memories of growing up in the 1960’s.

Imagine my surprise a bit later when I learned that another one of the female Hooded Mergansers was a huge fan of Chubby Checker and she demonstrated for me her own version of The Twist.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Snowy wren

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Carolina Wren, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm, Thryothorus ludovicianus, wren on January 31, 2017| 7 Comments »

I had hopes of capturing lots of images of birds perched on snow-flocked branches at Huntley Meadows Park yesterday morning, but this happy little Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) was the only bird that cooperated. About an inch of light fluffy snow had fallen overnight and covered the trees and cars, but the streets were totally clear—it was what some local meteorologists like to call “conversation snow.” Traffic snarls easily in Northern Virginia, but fortunately this dusting of snow did not seem to create any serious problems on the road.

So far this winter, snow has been uncommon here, but I am sure we will be blasted before long and, conditions permitting, I’ll be out again trying to capture the snowy images that I have in my mind.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Zooming Hoodie

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Canon 50D, female Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Lake Cook, Lophodytes cucullatus, Tamron 150-600mm on January 30, 2017| 6 Comments »

As I was focusing on a bird across the water, I detected some motion out of the corner of my eye—a small bird was zooming fast and low over the surface of the water in a flight path parallel to the bank on which I was standing.

I reacted as quickly as I could to track the bird and fire off a few shots and was surprised that I managed to capture some relatively sharp images of a female Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus). Although female Hoodies often have puffy hairstyles, this one had a more aerodynamic look while she was flying.

The angle at which I was shooting made the water the primary background for the images and somehow the water ended up looking like it had been painted by Monet. Luck and skill combined to help me capture these fun images.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Protracted takeoff

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, corm, cormorant, Lake Cook, Phalacrocorax auritus, Tamron 150-600mm on January 29, 2017| 4 Comments »

I captured this image of a Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) as it lumbered across the water before taking to the air yesterday at Lake Cook in Alexandria, Virginia. Cormorants are so big and heavy that they have to build up a good deal of momentum to get airborne. As a consequence, cormorants tend to bounce across the water for a little while before they actually are able to take off.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Spread your wings and dry

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Lake Cook, Phalacrocorax auritus, Tamron 150-600mm on January 29, 2017| 3 Comments »

On a visit yesterday to Lake Cook, a tiny body of water not far from where I live in Northern Virginia, I was thrilled to spot an immature Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus). These prehistoric-looking water birds have feathers that are not completely waterproof, so periodically they have to extend their impressively large wings to dry them out.

Most of the cormorants that I have seen in the past have been on the much larger Potomac River, but this solitary one seemed content to paddle about among the geese and ducks that had congregated on this small pond. It was nice finally to have a day with some sunshine and I spent a pretty long time observing the cormorant. One of the coolest things for me about these birds is their spectacular blue eyes, which you can just make out in the image below, especially if you double click it to view it at a higher resolution.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Immature blackbird

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, immature male red-winged blackbird, male Red-winged Blackbird, red-winged blackbird, Tamron 150-600mm on January 28, 2017| 2 Comments »

When I took this shot yesterday morning at Huntley Meadows Park, I assumed it was a female Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), because of its color and the pattern of the feathers. At home, though, it became clear that it was an image an immature male who is just starting to gain some of the markings of an adult male—you can just make out the beginnings of the colorful shoulder patch.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Early morning mood

Posted in Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas acuta, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Pintail, pintail duck, Tamron 150-600mm on January 27, 2017| 2 Comments »

I love the mood of the early morning—there is such a sense of tranquility. Here is what what things looked like this morning at Huntley Meadows Park. The most obvious subject was a male Northern Pintail duck (Anas acuta), but I love the way that you can see other ducks and geese in the background.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Goofy grin

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas clypeata, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Shoveler, Tamron 150-600mm on January 26, 2017| 1 Comment »

Does your appearance affect your attitude? Do you act differently when you are dressed formally than when dressed casually?

During the winter, I sometimes put on an utterly ridiculous looking bright red trapper hat with long floppy ears. No matter how I am feeling, I can’t help but smile when I am wearing the hat in public.

I wonder if a Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) feels the same way about its oversize bill. No matter when I see one, it always seems to have a goofy grin on its face. Now I admit that bills are pretty inflexible and probably don’t allow for much variation in the shoveler’s facial expressions, but the grin is contagious. In the same way that people smile back at me when I have on a goofy grin on my face when my red hat is on my head, I always smile back at the Northern Shovelers.

Wear a goofy grin today and see how other people react!

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Out on a limb

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Red-headed Woodpecker, Tamron 150-600mm on January 24, 2017| 2 Comments »

I could hear the call of Red-headed woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) all around my head on Saturday at Huntley Meadows Park, but they remained hidden in the trees. Finally one of them stepped out of its comfort zone and went out on a limb, and I was able to capture this image.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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A touch of color

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, down, Downy Woodpecker, Huntley Meadows Park, Picoides pubescens, Tamron 150-600mm, woodpecker on January 23, 2017| 5 Comments »

When the lighting was as dim as it was Saturday morning at Huntley Meadows Park, it felt like I was shooting in black and white. Fortunately there was a bit of color in the head and eyes of the little male Downy Woodpecker that I spotted high in the trees, framed wonderfully by the surrounding branches.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Golden-crowned Kinglet

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Huntley Meadows Park, kinglet, Regulus satrapa, Tamron 150-600mm on January 21, 2017| 1 Comment »

It was so dark and gray this morning that I initially couldn’t even see what was fluttering about in the underbrush not far from where I was standing. Finally it perched and eventually I was able identify it as a Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa), one of the few birds that I have encountered that is even smaller than a chickadee—a bit over three inches (8 cm) in length and a weight of .2 ounces (6 g).

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Tangled

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas clypeata, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, male Northern Shoveler, Northern Shoveler, Tamron 150-600mm on January 19, 2017| 1 Comment »

It’s hard to read the expression in a bird’s eyes, but this male Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) at Huntley Meadows Park did not seem too thrilled that its large bill had gotten tangled in the weeds.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cooperative cardinal

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, Huntley Meadows Park, male Northern Cardinal, Northern cardinal, Tamron 150-600mm on January 18, 2017| 7 Comments »

A bright red male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) was buried in the bushes on Monday at Huntley Meadows Park. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get an unobstructed shot. I attempted to will the cardinal to move to a new spot and amazingly it flew to a perch on the upper railing of the observation deck and posed for me.

Maybe telepathy works!

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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View from the top

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Melanerpes carolinus, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tamron 150-600mm, woodpecker on January 17, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Every creature enjoys a brief moment at the top, even this humble little Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) yesterday at Huntley Meadows Park. After working diligently at the lower levels of the tree, the woodpecker climbed to the top to enjoy the scenery and to rest for a short while.

All too quickly it was time to go back to work for this tireless and energetic little bird.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Shy shoveler

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas clypeata, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Shoveler, Tamron 150-600mm on January 16, 2017| 1 Comment »

The Northern Shovelers (Anas clypeata) at Huntley Meadows Park seemed shy and skittish today. This one male, however, turned his head for one last lingering look before swimming slowly away.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Distant flicker

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Colaptes auratus, flicker, Fort Washington Park, Maryland, Northern Flicker, Tamron 150-600mm on January 14, 2017| 1 Comment »

As I was looking over some images from a few weeks ago searching for one to share, I came upon this shot of a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) that really highlights its beautiful colors and patterns, even from a distance.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Sticking your neck out

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas acuta, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, male Northern Pintail, Northern Pintail, Tamron 150-600mm on January 6, 2017| 3 Comments »

Northern Pintail ducks (Anas acuta) are remarkably illusive—they never seem to come close to the shore and most often are partially hidden by vegetation. This past weekend at Huntley Meadows Park, I was able to capture some of the beautiful details of this male pintail that was out in open, albeit at a pretty good distance. I think he was initially just waking up and stretching out his long, elegant neck before settling into a more “normal” pose.

It certainly was handy to have a long telephoto zoom lens.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Beautiful sparrow

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, beautiful sparrow, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm, white-throated sparrow, yellow stripe, Zonotrichia albicollis on January 5, 2017| 4 Comments »

I love it when I am able to get in close enough to capture the bold yellow stripe above the eye of the White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). Often they bury themselves in the bushes and undergrowth, but this one seemed to be posing for me this past weekend at Huntley Meadows Park.

“Beautiful sparrow”—it’s definitely not an oxymoron.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Color therapy

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Cardinalis cardinalis, Huntley Meadows Park, male Northern Cardinal, Northern car, Tamron 150-600mm on January 4, 2017| 3 Comments »

As winter days become increasingly drab and colorless, I particularly love seeing the bright colors of the male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), like this one that I spotted high in a tree at Huntley Meadows Park this past weekend. Many birds blend in so well with their surroundings that they are difficult to spot—that is certainly not the case for the bold male cardinal. Throughout the winter the cardinal is with us, helping to keep our world from becoming completely monochromatic.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Small packages

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis, Tamron 150-600mm, white-breasted nuthatch on January 3, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Although it is exciting to capture images of hawks and eagles, I am just as happy to be able to photograph the smaller everyday birds that often move about unnoticed in the trees, like this little White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) that I spotted this past weekend at Huntley Meadows Park.

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Looking up in 2017

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Downy Woodpecker, Huntley Meadows Park, New Year 2017, Picoides pubescens, Tamron 150-600mm on January 2, 2017| 3 Comments »

I hope that things are looking up for you as you begin 2017. I photographed this male Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) in the morning of the last day of 2016 at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, Virginia.

I’ve always admired the intense focus of these little woodpeckers. Perhaps I can look to them for inspiration as I consider my goals for this new year.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Merlin in flight

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Falco columbarius, Huntley Meadows Park, Merlin, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 31, 2016| 18 Comments »

When I first caught sight of this bird in the distance, I thought it might be a Red-shouldered Hawk, but I may have gotten lucky and captured some shots of a Merlin (Falco columbarius) this morning at Huntley Meadows Park. The past few months there have been repeated sightings of a pair of these falcons, but I personally have seen one of them on only two occasions. After so many recent days of cloud-filled skies, it was nice to have some sunshine and blue skies today, though the temperature was right around the freezing mark when I set out in the pre-dawn darkness.

UPDATE: One of my Facebook viewers has suggested that this looks to him to be an immature Red-tailed Hawk. As you can see, bird identification is not one of my strengths.

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