A female Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) paused for a moment to pose as she foraged for food in the cattails of Huntley Meadows Park earlier this month.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Archive for the ‘Birds’ Category
Foraging in the cattails
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, female Red-winged Blackbird, Huntley Meadows Park, red-winged blackbird, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on January 21, 2016| 5 Comments »
Northern Pintail female
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas acuta, Canon 50D, female Northern Pintail, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Pintail, Northern Pintail Duck, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on January 20, 2016| 5 Comments »
Male birds generally have brighter colors and more distinctive patterns than their female counterparts and therefore tend to get a lot more attention from photographers. The females, though, have a beauty and elegance that often equals or surpasses that of the males, like this female Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) that I spotted earlier this month at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, Virginia.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Foraging sparrows
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Melospiza melodia, song sparrow, sparrow on January 19, 2016| 9 Comments »
How do birds manage to survive when it is so cold outside? I asked myself that question early yesterday morning as I walked along the exposed boardwalk at Huntley Meadows Park. The wind was blowing hard and the temperature was about 20 degrees F (minus 7 degrees C).
The landscape was empty and desolate and seemed to have little to offer as potential sources of food. Suddenly I noticed a small group of sparrows. They would fly to a spot together and then individually forage among the dried out plants, including those sticking out of the ice. After a short period of frenetic activity, they would move on to another spot.
Initially, I knelt and tried to get some shots of the sparrows that were standing on the ice and reaching up into the vegetation. A bit later, I was able to capture some images of a sparrow perched on some plants in a more exposed position.
I am not really sure what kind of sparrows these are. Earlier in the day I saw some sparrows that I could identify as White-throated Sparrows, but these birds seem to have a different set of markings. After looking at my guidebooks, I have concluded that these may be Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) and would welcome comments from more experienced birders on the identification, especially if I have misidentified the birds.
How do these little birds survive during the winter? From what I can see, they do their part by working hard as they forage for food and God provides for their needs.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Sparrow on ice
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, ice, sparrow on January 18, 2016| 5 Comments »
Early this morning, it was really cold and windy and most of the birds and animals showed great common sense in staying in sheltered spots. This little sparrow, however, seemed to be having a good time hopping, skipping, and skating across the frozen pond.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Downy Woodpecker in action
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Downy Woodpecker, Huntley Meadows Park, male Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on January 10, 2016| 11 Comments »
If I were a woodpecker, I think that I would want to be a Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens). These energetic little birds will sometimes peck away at the relatively soft stalks of reeds and cattails, rather than at the harder tree trunks of full-sized trees.
I recently captured some shots of a Downy Woodpecker in action. I was amazed that it was able to peck away at the stalk on which it was perched without losing its balance or knocking itself off of the perch. Of course, its vigorous movements made it a bit difficult to photograph, but I was persistent and managed to get some decent shots.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Male Northern Pintail
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas acuta, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, male Northern Pintail, Northern Pintail, Northern Pintail Duck, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on January 7, 2016| 15 Comments »
One of my favorite winter ducks at Huntley Meadows Park is the male Northern Pintail (Anas acuta). Its elegant long neck and refined colors give it an almost aristocratic look.
The duck in the photo looks a little less dignified when grooming himself (don’t we all), but I really like the way that this image provides a glimpse of its personality. In the second image, you can get a sense of the length of the pintail’s neck and its startling brightness (and its regal posture). The final shot gives you an idea of the flexibility of that long neck—I think I have less than half of that range of motion in my neck.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Red-shouldered Hawk in January
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Buteo lineatus, Canon 50D, hawk, Huntley Meadows Park, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on January 5, 2016| 12 Comments »
I got excited yesterday morning when I spotted a hawk perched high in a tree at my favorite marshland park. The light was coming from a good direction and I was able to identify it as a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus).
Frequently the hawks I see will sit in the same position for a long, long time, but this one kept changing positions. Maybe the branch was not comfortable or maybe the wind was bothersome. Whatever the case, I was able to have a miniature portrait session with the hawk as I tried to capture its best side.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mockingbird in January
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, green spring gardens, Mimus polyglottos, mockingbird, Northern Mockingbird, Tamron 180mm macro lens on January 4, 2016| 17 Comments »
Yesterday I made a trip to Green Spring Gardens and found, not surprisingly, that not much was in bloom. I used to visit this county-run historical garden often, but it’s been a while since I was there last.
While I was there I spotted this beautiful little Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) perched inside of a bush. I am not sure what kind of a bush it is, but the bright red berries add a festive touch to the scene.
I’m still celebrating the twelve days of Christmas, culminating on January 6 with Three Kings Day (Epiphany). Radio stations, alas, seem to have moved on, so I have to sing Christmas carols a cappella when I am in the car (or even at home).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Focused on 2016
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Downy Woodpecker, Huntley Meadows Park, male Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on January 3, 2016| 4 Comments »
How focused are you as you begin 2016? This little male Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) seemed to be totally focused as he foraged for food yesterday in the vegetation of Huntley Meadows Park.
As for me, I’m easing my way into the new year and have not yet thought seriously about goals and plans and certainly have not made (or broken) any resolutions.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Some of my favorite photos from 2015
Posted in animals, Birds, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, Blue Dasher dragonfly, Canon 50D, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, Ebony Jewelwing damselfly, Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly, green heron, Halloween Pennant dragonfly, North American Beaver, Osprey, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, Tamron 180mm macro lens on January 1, 2016| 33 Comments »
WordPress tells me I posted 851 photos during 2015 in 395 blog posts. I’ve forgotten many of those photos, but I want to share ten of my favorites with you today as we start the new year.
I used a very unscientific approach in selecting them—I simply chose ones that I really liked without looking at numbers of likes or views or comments. So often I am focused on getting new shots that I sometimes forget how wide a spectrum of subjects I like to shoot. These images remind me of my varied approaches and techniques.
I didn’t include any of the fox photos or contest entries that I featured recently, figuring that you were already familiar with them. I should note that this selection of favorites is representative and not exhaustive—there are probably some awesome shots that I have neglected to include. I haven’t tried to put the images in any kind of rank order, but if forced to choose, my favorite image of the year is probably the first one, the Green Heron with a kind of Rembrandt lighting.
Thanks to all of you who have supported and encouraged me so much in 2015. Best wishes for a wonderful 2016.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Looking back, looking forward
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, female Red-winged Blackbird, Huntley Meadows Park, new year, red-winged blackbird, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 31, 2015| 8 Comments »
How do you celebrate the end of the year? Do you like to go out with a bang, with a big celebration and literal or figurative fireworks, or are you more pensive and reflective? I know that I am in the latter group.
My life this past year, both personally and as a photographer, has had some high points, but mostly it has been a year in which I have tried to find beauty and meaning in ordinary things. I have visited my favorite park over and over again, photographing some of the same species repeatedly. Patience and persistence have been my hallmarks and I have been rewarded with some wonderful photographic opportunities.
Somehow it seems appropriate that I end this year with a couple of images of this beautiful female Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) that I spotted in the cattails on Monday at Huntley Meadows Park. Red-winged Blackbirds are with us most of the year. They seem to come and go, but they are often there. The females are usually buried deep in the underbrush and are not seen as often as the more flashy and loud males. As you can see from these photos, however, the females are at least as beautiful as the males.
The blackbird’s body positions serve as a visual metaphors for my approach as I look forward to 2016—hanging on and occasionally looking back, but primarily looking forward with optimism to the future.
Best wishes to all for a wonderful 2016.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Final eagle of the year?
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Bald Eagle, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 28, 2015| 6 Comments »
Clouds can be a mixed blessing. Clouds can help diffuse the sunlight and eliminate harsh highlights. However, when the skies are as heavily overcast as they were for most of this past weekend, they can block so much light that details are hidden and contrast is really soft.
When I saw a bird with a large wingspan take flight in the distance, I readied myself. I wasn’t sure if it was a hawk, a vulture, or an eagle (or possibly even a heron), but I will generally try to get shots of any large bird I see in the sky. As I tracked the bird and took some shots, I still couldn’t positively identify the bird, but my hopes rose in anticipation that it might be a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).
Bald Eagles are one of the few species that I will try to photograph every single time that I manage to spot one. I did get some shots of what turned out in fact to be a Bald Eagle. They are recognizable, though the poor lighting conditions made it impossible to capture the details of its feathers. Usually I worry about blowing out the highlights of the eagle’s white head—that was not a problem this time.
I’ve had a pretty good year spotting eagles and suspect this might be the last one that I see in 2015, though I am heading out in a little while and am eternally hopeful that I will spot another one. As with many other photographic subjects, I hope in the coming year to get even better images of eagles, one of my favorite (and most challenging) subjects.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Christmas red
Posted in Birds, Christmas, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Cardinalis cardinalis, Christmas 2015, Huntley Meadows Park, male Northern Cardinal, Northern cardinal, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 25, 2015| 8 Comments »
It has been cloudy and rainy almost all of today and I feel a need for some bright colors. Here’s a shot from last December of a male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) decked out in Christmas red.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Which image is your favorite?
Posted in animals, Birds, Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Bald Eagle, Blue-faced Meadowhawk, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Eastern Bluebird, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Huntley Meadows Park, red fox, Sialia sialis, Sympetrum ambiguum, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, Tamron 180mm macro lens, Vulpes vulpes on December 24, 2015| 29 Comments »
As many of you know, I recently entered some photos in a local photo competition and was fortunate to be awarded second place for one of them. I was a little surprised by the one that was selected, because, quite frankly, it was not my favorite one of the group.
The more that I though about it, the more I realized how difficult it must be to be a judge, especially in an area like photography in which there is both a technical and an artistic component.
Why do we like what we like?
I’ve never used a poll in a posting before, but thought that in this case it might be interesting to learn which one of my four entries is your favorite. I am not really asking you to judge which one is “best,” but am looking more for a sense of which one you like most. You can use whatever criteria you like and I would be thrilled if you gave a few words about your choice.
As you can see, I chose a diverse set of subjects to appeal to a variety of tastes. There are two birds—a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and an Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis); one insect—a Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum ambiguum); and one mammal—a Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes).
If I have set this up correctly, you can click on any image and scroll through each of them in full size. After viewing them all, select your favorite and register your vote. As I mentioned earlier, I’d be really happy if you left a few words about your choice. (I think the poll might let you vote multiple times if you have trouble choosing, but am not 100 percent certain, given that I am not familiar with the polling component.) NOTE: If you open the posting in Reader, you may need to click on the Title to get to the actual posting and to the poll.
Thanks. Merry Christmas in advance for those celebrating Christmas and best wishes as we move toward the start of a new year.
1. Baby’s Got Blue Eyes
2. Bluebird at Dawn
3. Fox at Water’s Edge
4. Vigilant Eagle
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Early morning stillness
Posted in Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas clypeata, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Shoveler, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 23, 2015| 2 Comments »
For a few magical moments, the early morning sky was awash with delicate shades of pink and blue. I hurriedly tried to capture that ephemeral beauty. Then suddenly the color was gone.
Yet somehow the magic remained. There is something really special about taking photos just after dawn—the colors are rich and saturated and the water is often incredibly still.
I captured this tranquil moment with a male Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) early on Monday at Huntley Meadows Park. at about 7:30, not long after the color had faded away.
I love the stillness of the early morning.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Winter Solstice Bald Eagle
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Bald Eagle, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron, winter solstice on December 22, 2015| 9 Comments »
The sky was overcast yesterday morning, the day of the Winter Solstice, but my spirits soared when I caught sight of a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) high in the air over Huntley Meadows Park.
I was thrilled to be able to capture a sequence of shots that shows the eagle initially coming right at me and then gradually circling to a position that gave me a side view.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Cedar Waxwing in December
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Bombycilla cedrorum, Canon 50D, Cedar Waxwing, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 20, 2015| 12 Comments »
As I was trekking about at Huntley Meadows Park on Saturday, I was thrilled to spot this Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum), a species that don’t see very often at the park. Normally when I do see one, it is buried in the branches or is far away, but this bird posed for a moment on a branch and I was able to get an unobstructed shot of it. The Cedar Waxwing was in the shade, but its silhouette is unmistakable and I could identify it immediately.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Northern Shovelers in flight
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas clypeata, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Shoveler, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 19, 2015| 9 Comments »
After a week and a half overseas in an urban environment, it was nice Friday to get back to the wildlife of Huntley Meadows Park, where I saw this Northern Shoveler couple preparing to make a landing.
I accidentally spooked the Northern Shovelers (Anas clypeata) when I was approaching the area in which they were foraging for food. I first caught sight of them when they took to the air. Although they flew only a short distance away, I was able to react quickly enough to track them and get a few in-flight shots that show their beautiful coloration.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posing woodpecker
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Red-headed Woodpecker, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 13, 2015| 3 Comments »
Woodpeckers are so energetic that it is rare for me to spot one that is not in constant motion. Recently, however, I was fortunate to spot a Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) that seemed to be taking a break from its normal activities.
The woodpecker was relaxing on an exposed tree in the sunlight on a beautiful late autumn day. The red color of its head was even more spectacular than usual. Amazingly the woodpecker did not fly away immediately when I began to take some photos and actually changed its position a few times, almost like it was posing for me.
I hope that I have not oversaturated my readers with woodpecker shots, but I just love the attitude and look of these beautiful birds, especially the spectacular Red-headed Woodpecker.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Not a Red-headed Woodpecker
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Melanerpes carolinus, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 12, 2015| 6 Comments »
Several years ago when I first started taking photos of birds, I remember how excited I was when I photographed a woodpecker that looked like this one. It had red on its head, so surely, I thought, it was a Red-headed Woodpecker. Oh, how naive I was back then about the complexities of identifying birds.
Sometimes with age comes a bit of wisdom. I am now pretty confident in identifying this bird as a Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus), though I must confess that I have never seen a single spot of red on the belly of a Red-bellied Woodpecker.
Like the Red-headed Woodpecker that I featured yesterday, the Red-bellied Woodpecker gathers and stores acorns for later use. As one of my readers pointed out in a comment on a previous posting, it is a mystery how the woodpecker remembers where it has stored the acorns and how it keeps other creatures from stealing its ‘treasures.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Gathering acorns
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, gathering acorns, Huntley Meadows Park, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Red-headed Woodpecker, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 11, 2015| 8 Comments »
As winter approaches, squirrels are not the only creatures gathering and storing acorns. Red-headed woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) also cache acorns in crevices of trees for consumption at a later point in time. Recently these beautiful birds seemed really busy and I was happy to capture some photos of one of them in action.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
A bird in the bush
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Cardinalis cardinalis, Huntley Meadows Park, male Northern Cardinal, Northern cardinal, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 10, 2015| 4 Comments »
When you don’t have a bird in the hand, sometimes you just have to make do with a bird in the bush.
Despite their bright color, male Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are surprisingly hard to photograph. They like to dive into the deepest part of the bushes and forage there most of the time. Sometimes it sounds like they are taunting me.
This cardinal showed his face in the for a moment and I was able to get a mostly unobstructed shot of this beautiful bird, whose bright red color always reminds me of Christmas.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Duck dating
Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas carolinensis, Anas clypeata, Canon 50D, Green-winged teal, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Shoveler, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 9, 2015| 9 Comments »
“You don’t look at all like your profile photo,” said one flamboyant duck to the other during the awkward first moments of a meet-up arranged through the internet dating site quack.com. Duck dating has moved into the 21st century.
For the record, the duck on the left is a male Green-winged Teal (Anas carolinensis) and the one on the right a male Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata).
I welcome other suggestions for a caption for this photo as well as general wise quacks.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Injured eagle foot?
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Bald Eagle, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Huntley Meadows Park, injured Bald Eagle, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 8, 2015| 12 Comments »
As I was wandering about yesterday in a remote area of my favorite park, the sharp eyes of a younger fellow photographer permitted him to spot a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in a distant tree. The eagle’s even keener vision meant that it spotted us too and shortly thereafter departed.
In a shot of the eagle flying away, I noticed that the eagle seems to be carrying something. However, when I zoomed in on the next shot I took, in which I managed to cut off the eagle’s wings, it looks like the eagle’s left foot is dark and withered and is very different from the yellow right foot.
Am I seeing things? Is this an injury or merely an optical illusion?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Goldfinch in December
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, American Goldfinch, Canon 50D, Carduelis tristis, goldfinch, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 7, 2015| 11 Comments »
As we move toward winter, the natural landscape seems increasingly drab. Flashes of bright colors are particularly welcome now, like this American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) that I spotted this past weekend foraging in one of the fields at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, Virginia.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Sphyrapicus varius, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on December 6, 2015| 9 Comments »
Its body was in the shadows, so I couldn’t see its belly, but I am pretty confident that this beautiful bird that I saw on Friday at Huntley Meadows Park is a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius), a species of woodpecker that I rarely see.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Juvenile hawk
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Buteo lineatus, Canon 50D, hawk, Huntley Meadows Park, juvenile hawk, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 5, 2015| 16 Comments »
Why was the juvenile hawk perched on the ground? When I first caught sight of the flapping wings in the shadows beneath the trees, I assumed that the hawk had just captured a prey. However, there was no prey to be seen and the hawk just said there for what seemed to be a few minutes, looking from side to side.
I tried to be as stealthy as I could as I moved forward a little, but the hawk apparently sensed my presence and took to the air. I was surprised that it simply flew to a nearby tree and perched there. The light was a little better and I could see the hawk more clearly than when it was on the ground. There were, however, a lot of little branches, so it was not possible to get a completely unobstructed shot.
After a little while, the hawk flew to a more distant tree and I lost sight of it. I moved slowly in the direction that it had flown, scanning the trees. I finally spotted the hawk when I was almost directly below it. I got this shot of the hawk staring down at me before it flew off one final time. I guess the hawk decided that the portrait session was over.
I think that this might be a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), but I am not at all certain about my identification. Adult hawks challenge my identification skills and juveniles frustrate me even more.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Goose pan
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Huntley Meadows Park, panning, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 4, 2015| 11 Comments »
How do you capture a sense of motion in an image? One of my favorite methods, panning, involves tracking a moving subject with the camera set at a slow shutter speed. The results can be a bit unpredictable, but are usually fun, like these images of a Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) coming in for a landing this past weekend.
In this case, the shutter speed ended up being 1/60 of a second. I was shooting in aperture priority, but knew that the shutter speed would be slow, because of the limited light early in the morning. With my telephoto zoom extended to about 550mm, I concentrated on trying to do a smooth pan handheld. My biggest challenge turned out to be keeping the goose centered in the frame.
None of these images are perfect, which is typical of most of my panning efforts, but there are elements of each of them that I really like. Photos like these remind me that it’s ok sometimes to have photos that are not perfectly in focus.
If you haven’t tried this technique, I highly recommend it, especially if you like “artsy” images.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Disney duck
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas clypeata, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Shoveler, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 3, 2015| 3 Comments »
I can’t help but smile every time that I see the outrageously elongated black bill of the male Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)—the duck looks like a cartoon character that could have been designed by Disney.
This is the time of year when migrating ducks are passing through our area and it is always exciting to check out the ponds at my favorite park to see what ducks have dropped in. I spotted the Northern Shoveler and its mate this past weekend and spent a pretty good amount of time trying to get a shot in which the duck’s long bill was not submerged in the water.
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the bill of the Northern Shoveler is about 2.5 inches (6.5 cm) long and has about 110 fine projections (called lamellae) along the edges for straining food from water.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Great Blue Heron at dawn
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 2, 2015| 14 Comments »
The sun was just coming up, illuminating the clouds with soft light and color, when a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) flew slowly across the sky, ready to start his day at another location.
It was a magical beginning to a beautiful day.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Red-headed Woodpecker takeoff—reprise
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Red-headed Woodpecker, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, woodpecker on December 1, 2015| 5 Comments »
Facebook reminded me earlier today that exactly two years ago I posted a photo of a Red-headed Woodpecker and as soon as I saw it, I realized that it is an almost perfect companion to the photo that I posted yesterday. Yesterday’s image showed the flight feathers of a Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) from underneath and the earlier image shows them from above.
Here is the posting in its entirety from December 1, 2013:
I suspect that I may qualify as a stalker, because I spent over thirty minutes on Friday sitting on a fallen tree, observing every movement of a juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) high in the oak trees.
The small branches and the shadows made it almost impossible to get a clear shot of the little bird, but they did not keep me from trying. I was really fortunate to get this shot of the woodpecker as it took off from one of its perches with an acorn in its mouth and gave me a glimpse of its beautifully-patterned wings. As I understand it, when the Red-Headed Woodpecker becomes an adult, its wings will be pure black and white, so I am glad that I was able to get the shot of the black dots.
After I posted this photo, I noticed that there is a least one acorn jammed into a crack in the bark just above the top edge of the bird’s tail, mostly likely a snack that it has cached for future consumption.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
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Mike Powell 