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Archive for the ‘Nature’ Category

Reflection of an egret

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on September 24, 2012| 7 Comments »

It’s been at least a few weeks since I last photographed the Great White Egrets that inhabit the Cameron Run area of Alexandria, VA.  It was immediately obvious to me this past weekend that the dry summer has affected this tributary of the Potomac River and the water was really low in many places.

I was happy to stumble upon an egret standing out of the water on some rocks. The sky was a brilliant blue and it was reflected beautifully into the water, as was the egret itself. Behind the egret, the water was in the shadows and was a deep shade of green, contrasting nicely with the blue and white of the sky and the clouds. The rocks reflected the light and their highlights were a little blown out, but not outrageously so.

As we move into the fall, I am not sure if the Great Blue Herons and Great White Egrets will remain in the area. I hope that I will have the chance to photographs these wonderful birds later in the year.

Great White Egret in Cameron Run, Alexandria VA

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Ol’ Blue Eyes is Back

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , on September 24, 2012| 11 Comments »

I still can’t get over the striking blue eyes of a Handsome Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum pulchellum), so I am posting a shot from yesterday that highlights that feature (and my apologies to Frank Sinatra for borrowing the title of his 1973 album for this post).

The katydid almost seemed to be looking right up at me, perhaps wondering why I am disturbing him. I find the details of his feet to be utterly fascinating and I’ve made sure that you can see some of the many neon-like colors of his body.

Check out some of my other postings if this is your first encounter with this gorgeous katydid. You’re almost certain to fall in love with him too.

Ol’ Blue Eyes (Handsome Meadow Katydid)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Backlit cattails

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , on September 24, 2012| 4 Comments »

As the sun dropped lower and lower in the sky yesterday, I was struck by the way in which the light caused the cattails to glow. Many of the cattails had already burst into masses of cottony fibers and the backlighting showed them in wonderful detail and texture.

I tried to capture this beauty, but it was difficult shooting directly into the sun and I ended up with all kinds of light artifacts. Because I was mostly interested in the effects of the light, I decided to experiment this morning and converted one of the photos into black and white and played around with it (probably too much).

I think I need to read up some more on how to convert images to black and white and how to tweak them, but for now I’ll continue to enjoy the process of experimentation. I might stumble onto something really good.

Backlit cattails in the marsh

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Dewdrop spider

Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , , on September 23, 2012| 7 Comments »

Last week I did a posting entitled “Kleptoparasitic Spider“ that talked of the little spiders that hang around a larger spider’s web and steal or feed on the prey captured by the other spider. Today I managed to take a much clearer shot of one such spider. I am pretty sure the little spider below is of the genus Argyrodes, which are also known as dewdrop spiders.

The spider was positioned in such a way that I was able to get close enough to use my 100mm macro lens, although there was not really enough room for me to shoot with a tripod. I was able to close down only to F10 because I was shooting handheld and wanted to have a shutter speed of 1/200 sec, so depth of field suffered a little. I have found that depth of field is a problem with spiders most of the time because of the length and positioning of their legs.

This spider was really tiny and I am happy that I was able to get this good a photo of it. The portions of the web that are visible help to add an interesting geometric pattern to the background, which I think enhances the image.

Dewdrop spider (genus Agyrodes)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Snap, grackle….with a 500mm Mamiya lens

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , on September 23, 2012| 6 Comments »

Yesterday I spent several hours completely out of my comfort zone photographically as I used unfamiliar equipment in a way that stretched my skills and knowledge. This image is one of the few that I produced that I liked. I am pretty sure that this is a grackle, probably a Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula).  It was taken at the bird feeder at a local wildlife park—not exactly a natural habitat.

Common Grackle

I was shooting with a friend’s Nikon D300 camera rather than my Canon Rebel XT. The size, weight, and feel of the camera was different and the buttons and dials were a mystery to me. It was like trying to speak in an unfamiliar foreign language. I kept having to ask my photography mentor Cindy Dyer to translate my Canon language into Nikon language as I sought to change the ISO or use exposure compensation.

More significantly, though, I was using a large, heavy 500mm Mamiya telephoto lens. Yes, I was using a lens designed for a medium format camera with an adapter for the Nikon.

The lens was really cool, so much so that it is featured (at least temporarily) in the long skinny banner of my blog.  However, it was hard to use effectively because everything was manual and took a lot of time to set up. My eyes have been so attuned to looking at subjects close up that it was hard to adjust to the new reality of a minimum focusing distance of 30 feet. It was equally startling to see a lens marking for 500 feet, which preceded the marking for infinity. Focusing was manual and I longed for the split prism viewfinder of my old SLR as I tried to figure out if things were in focus. I had to guess at aperture settings and make adjustments as I went along, checking and rechecking my images. As I stopped down the lens, the viewfinder got progressively darker, meaning I had to focus with a wide open aperture and then manually switch to the desired aperture setting. Interestingly enough, the lens had aperture settings beyond F22 up to F45.

We were testing the lens because one of Cindy’s friends is trying to sell it to her. When she asked me what I thought at the end of our little shoot, I responded that I needed at least one more session before I could come to a conclusion. We started out late in the morning and there were few birds visible in the sun and the heat. I think that I need to be able to try to capture some images of birds to determine in this lens would be of any use at all. With a little more practice, estimating exposures and getting clear images would probably get easier for me. In addition, it may be possible to input information on the lens into her D300 and enable metering and focus confirmation, if I read correctly the information in the user’s manual (yes, I am one of those guys who actually reads instruction manuals). If the camera displayed the correct aperture, it would make things a lot easier and I would be able to focus on focusing. I also learned that her Nikon has Live View, a feature that I am not sure she has used. That might also help with my difficulty in focusing.

So, stay tuned and perhaps you will see me do battle once again with a heavyweight Mamiya lens.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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A common day

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on September 22, 2012| 7 Comments »

Yesterday was a common day for finding subjects to photograph. I already posted a photo of a Common Whitetail dragonfly. Here’s a photo of the Common Buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia).

A month ago I featured the Common Buckeye in a posting after my first encounter with this type of butterfly. Yesterday I was shooting in the middle of the day and there was more sunlight that I would have liked when. However, I managed to get a shot of the butterfly in which the sun is shining through one of its wings, highlighting the beauty of those wings. There are still some harsh shadows in the photo and the colors are not as saturated as they would have been with more diffused light, but I find that the colors and patterns of this butterfly make it uncommonly beautiful.

Common Buckeye butterfly in mid-September

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Whitetail dragonfly portrait

Posted in Birds, Insects, Nature, Photography, Portraits, tagged , , , , on September 21, 2012| 5 Comments »

Blue Dasher dragonflies seem to have disappeared from my local marshland, but I was happy today to see that the Common Whitetail dragonflies (Plathemis lydia) are still around. They are not as elegant and colorful as some other dragonflies and are somewhat stubby and drab (and, in fact, are called “common”). My portrait below shows, however, that they possess their own special beauty.

Common Whitetail dragonfly in mid-September

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hapless frog

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on September 21, 2012| 5 Comments »

Walking along a boardwalk in the center of a marsh, I suddenly heard a sound that I had never heard before, a strange and eerie squeak. I had no idea of the source of the sound, but a man who was walking by with his family pointed it out to me. It was a frog that had been captured by a snake and was slowly being swallowed whole.

I leaned over the edge of the boardwalk and tried to take some shots of this terrifying spectacle, but there was too much grass between me and the two protagonists in this drama for me to get a really clear shot. The shot below shows the snake working to get past the frog’s hind legs. As you can see, the snake is swallowing the frog beginning with the legs. In a previous post, I showed a green heron swallowing a frog. The heron slid the frog down his throat in a single gulp beginning with the head. The process with the snake was more protracted and therefore more gruesome.

Eventually it was over. I continued on with my day, feeling a mixture of awe and horror for what I had just witnessed.

Frog being swallowed by a snake (click for higher resolution)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bird with beautiful eyes

Posted in Birds, Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 21, 2012| 6 Comments »

I was at a local garden when I happened to hear this bird singing. My bird identification skills are so weak at this point that I won’t even hazard a guess about what kind of bird he is (I seem to be wrong more than I am right, with the exception of really common birds like robins and cardinals). His song was pleasant, however, and his brown eyes were captivating. He was perched up high enough that the sky provided a clear background and the green leaves and bright red berries added some interest and color in the foreground, although they partially hide his body. I like the way the shot turned out and it required only a minimum amount of cropping.

I finally managed to get a decent bird image in relatively good focus. What happened? I’m learning that I need plenty of light with the camera and lenses that I have to get an optimal image and I need to avoid the extreme end of my telephoto zoom and aperture range too.  Most of all, I need to be really lucky.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Butterfly in the woods

Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on September 20, 2012| 4 Comments »

My day began with a brightly colored Monarch butterfly in a field of flowers and is ending with the more subdued colors of an Appalachian Brown butterfly (Lethe appalachia) perched on a tree. Together they provide us with some sense of the diversity of the coloration and habitats of butterflies. (I confess that I am not certain of the identification of the brown butterfly, because there are a number of species that are pretty similar.)

Perhaps you like to stand out from the crowd and the gaudy colors of the Monarch are more your style.  Maybe you prefer to blend in a little better like the Appalachian Brown and find its colors and patterns to be more refined and dignified.

Whatever your taste, there is almost certainly a butterfly that fits you and I encourage to join me in chasing the butterflies through the woods, the gardens, and the meadows.

Appalachian Brown butterfly in early September

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Fall colors

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 20, 2012| 3 Comments »

Growing up in New England, I used to love this time of the year, when the fall foliage featured brilliant displays of red, orange, and yellow. I now live outside of Washington, D.C. and somehow the colors don’t seem as intense (and the colors change a lot later in the fall season). Sometimes, it seems that we simply fade to brown.

I was thrilled earlier this week to find relief from the fading fall colors when a flash of bright orange grabbed my attention. Somehow I thought it was too late in the season and that the weather was too cool for butterflies, but I was wrong. A Monarch butterfly, in all of his brilliant glory, was busily at work, flitting from flower to flower.

This fall I probably will not see the amazing oranges and yellow leaves of my childhood memories. The presence of  those same fall colors in the wings of a butterfly, however, help to trigger those memories. Isn’t it amazing how certain sights, sounds, colors, or smells can transport us back to a different time and a different place?

Monarch butterfly in mid-September

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Spider feeding on captured prey

Posted in Bugs, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 19, 2012| 5 Comments »

Recently I have become fascinated with spiders, and in particular the Black and Yellow Garden Orbweaver spiders (Argiope aurantia). I’ve spent an amazing amount of time observing them and their webs. Already I have posted photos of the spiders themselves, their webs, and several types of prey that they have captured and wrapped in silk.

This past Monday I observed what I think was a spider actually feeding on a victim that I can’t quite identify. For some reason I used to think that spiders ate solid food, but now I understand that they have a mostly liquid diet. According to an article at earthlife.net, the mouth parts of these spiders have a serrated edge to cut into the prey and a filtering edge covered in fine hairs that prevents solid particles from entering the spider’s mouth. This filtering system is so fine that only particles smaller than 1 micron (0.001 of a mm) can pass through. The spider’s venom has enzymes which can help liquify the insides of a victim and the spider may also excrete digestive juices onto the victim. Spiders then have a sucking stomach that helps them ingest the liquids.

Argiope aurantia feeding on captured prey

Sharp-eyed viewers will notice that I rotated the image 90 degrees counterclockwise to make it easier to see what is going on. Note the positions of some of the spider’s legs as she cradles her victim. If you click on the image, you will get a higher-resolution view of the spider. My apologies if I have been too graphic in describing this spider’s digestive process.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Portrait of a grasshopper

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , on September 19, 2012| 4 Comments »

It’s only a grasshopper, not an exotic insect, but I really like the way that his portrait turned out.

The grasshopper’s pose suggests that he is ready for action and his slightly cocked head helps to give him personality. I was able to get sufficient depth of field and sharpness by using an F8 aperture, ISO 200,  and 1/200 sec and by moving in a bit from the far end of my telephoto zoom (I was at 229mm of a 55-250mm lens). Both the foreground and the background are simple and are made up of a minimum of colors, mostly green and brown. The day was mostly cloudy, so the shadows are soft.

All these elements seemed to work in harmony and I was able to produce this nice, open-air portrait of a grasshopper.

Grasshopper portrait (click for a higher-resolution view)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Not a Cerulean Warbler, but a Nuthatch

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 18, 2012| 6 Comments »

Birds were out this past Monday and once again I went through the mostly frustrating process of trying to get some shots. I managed to get this unintentionally soft-focused image that I like. The angle of the shot is strange and the bird seems almost distorted, possibly because of the way in which he is sticking out his neck, but I love the blue markings on the wings. The blue color, in fact, helped me to identify the bird as most likely a Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea) for it turns out that there are not that many blue-colored birds.

UPDATE: Joel Eagle has corrected my false identification. It’s a Nuthatch, not a Cerulean Warbler. The name may not be as cool-sounding, but the bird is still as beautiful. Check out Joel’s blog “Pops & Mojo Photos” for some wonderful insect photos (and birds too).

Nuthatch

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Kleptoparasitic spider

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 18, 2012| 10 Comments »

I have repeatedly observed a small spider or two hanging around the periphery of the web of the large Yellow Garden Orbweaver spiders (Argiope aurantia) that I have been photographing recently. Initially I thought it might be the male of the species, which is considerably smaller than the female, but when I finally took a clear enough photo of one of these small spiders, I realized it was a different species.

My research suggests that this is a kleptoparasitic spider. Let me explain. It may sound like I’m trying to sound like a scientist, but “kleptoparasitism” is a single word that captures the idea that this spider steals or feed on the prey captured by another spider. According to Wikipedia, kleptoparasitic spiders occur in five different families and I am pretty sure the little spider below is of the genus Argyrodes, which are also called dewdrop spiders.

Kleptoparastic spider eyes another spider’s catch

Let me set the scene for you. The much larger Yellow Garden Orbweaver spider caught what looks like a bee and returned to the center of the web, leaving the wrapped bee on the periphery. The little spider moved in and appears to be checking out this potential new food source. Compare the relative size of the spider and the bee—the spider is tiny. That made it tougher to get a clear shot of both the spider and the captured bee. My shot is far from perfect, but it does allow you to see some of the details (and you can get a higher resolution view if you click on the image).

It seems to me that the little spider plays a risky game, living with (and maybe stealing food from) a larger, more dangerous spider. Maybe he’s a thrill-seeker, an adrenaline junkie who enjoys living in a state of constant danger.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Snake season in the marsh

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 18, 2012| 15 Comments »

Throughout this dry summer, the water level in the marsh area of Huntley Meadows Park has continued to drop. I was shocked to see how low the levels were today. In an area where the water had previously been deep enough to support large snapping turtles (an open area outside of a beaver lodge), I now saw snakes, at least four or five of them. They were swimming in the shallow water and even burrowing into the soft mud in search of food. I am pretty sure they were all Northern Water snakes (Nerodia sipedon), a fairly large, non-venomous snake.

Face-to-face with a Northern Water snake

As I was watching the snakes, a couple came by and they said that they sometimes like to pick up these kind of snakes, examine them, and then release them. In passing, they mentioned that the snakes will bite hard and will release musk when handled. I don’t know why they thought I wanted to play with the snakes (trust me, I had no such desire), but they warned me not to be surprised if the bite wound bled a lot. According to the Wikipedia article on Northern Water snakes, the snake’s saliva contains a mild anticoagulant.

Northern Water snake, full-body shot

I did not see the snakes catch any prey, but the Wikipedia article states that during the day they hunt among plants at the water’s edge, looking for small fish, frogs, worms, leeches, crayfish, salamanders, birds, and small mammals. At night, they concentrate on minnows and other small fish sleeping in shallow water.

Northern Water snake focusing on a potential prey

One other interesting fact about the Northern Water snake is that—unlike many other snakes—they do not lay eggs. According to one academic article, the mother carries the eggs inside her body for three to five months and, on average, gives birth to 26 babies, each about 7-9 inches long. Once they are born, the babies are on their own; the mother does not care for them at all.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Early dinner with a Monarch

Posted in Bugs, Gardening, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , on September 17, 2012| 4 Comments »

If you ever get invited to dinner by a Monarch caterpillar, you know what will be on the menu—milkweed. Monarch caterpillars consume amazing quantities of milkweed (and nothing else), growing over 2,000 times their original mass during this 14-day phase of their lives, according to Rick Steinau.

Almost everything you read emphasizes that milkweed is toxic to humans (and to animals), but scienceviews.com notes that native peoples all over the United States and southern Canada used milkweed for fiber, food, and medicine. The article warns that milkweed may be toxic “when taken internally without sufficient preparation.” It is especially fascinating to read of the medicinal uses of the plant. It was used to treat backaches and bee stings, to induce postpartum milk flow, and to deal with a variety of stomach problems. The Meskwaki tribe, according to the article cited above, even used milkweed as a contraceptive, that worked by producing temporary sterility.

Milkweed, however, contains cardiac glycosides that are poisonous to humans and livestock, but also may account for its medicinal effect.  Symptoms of poisoning by the cardiac glycosides include dullness, weakness, bloating, inability to stand or walk, high body temperature, rapid and weak pulse, difficulty breathing, dilated pupils, spasms, and coma. (It sounds a lot like being in love!)

I don’t care how well Monarch caterpillars can prepare milkweed, if they invite me over for dinner, I think I’ll probably refrain from eating and just watch them eat (as I did this past weekend). I love Monarch butterflies in all their forms. Nevertheless, I would take my cue from the artist Meat Loaf, who sang, “I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that.”

Monarch caterpillar feeding on milkweed

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Fall Bee

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on September 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The weather is getting cooler and it’s getting darker earlier, but it’s nice to see that there are still lots of insects around to photograph. Here’s a recent shot of a bee, still busily at work in mid-September.

Bee in mid-September

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Unidentified bird with impressionist background

Posted in Birds, Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , on September 16, 2012| 2 Comments »

Do you ever take a photo and like the way the background turns out so much that the primary subject becomes of secondary importance?

I mentioned in an earlier post the difficulty I have in photographing birds. This was a shot from the same day I photographed the cardinal. I’m not really sure what kind of bird this is, but I like the fact that I got a relatively clear shot of the bird. More than that, though, I like the impressionist look of the background.

Can anyone identify this bird?

Unidentified bird

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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More spider art

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on September 16, 2012| 9 Comments »

I’ve already posted some photos of spider webs from last Friday morning when I visited Huntley Meadows Park. When I looked over the photos again today, however, I realized I have some more pretty good ones. Once again I am struck by the complexity and the diversity of the webs. Some have primarily straight lines and others have mostly curves. Some are large and intricate, others are smaller and simpler.

All of them are breathtakingly beautiful to me.

A view from a jail cell (not really, but it almost looks like that)

An unusually-shaped spider web

An incomplete spider web

Scallop-curved web

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Northern cardinal

Posted in Birds, Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , on September 14, 2012| 5 Comments »

I have even greater respect for photographers who can capture clear images of birds after my experiences today. Previously I had shot a few photos of birds, but primarily in a garden setting. Today I tried to photograph some bright red birds that I think are Northern Cardinals in a meadow with lots of vegetation. Even though these birds are much bigger than the insects that I often photograph, they seemed to spook a lot easier and rarely placed themselves within the limits of my lenses. I think that I understand now why dedicated bird photographer need those huge lenses that I see them carrying. It also proved impossible for me to isolate the background (and foreground), which was often cluttered and blocked a clear view of the bird.

This is the best image I managed of the cardinal. The focus is not perfect and I had to do a mega-crop, but I like the overall look of the image and there is a clear view of the face.

Cardinal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Creeping spider

Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on September 14, 2012| 8 Comments »

As I was going through some photos this morning I realized that I have a lot of photos of the Yellow Garden Orbweaver spider (Argiope aurantia). I have posted quite a few photos, but most have shown the spider with a prey. I came across an image of the spider by herself and started playing with it in Photoshop Elements. This first image is the result of my experimentation—it is cropped and rotated and focuses on only part of the subject. I think it is a little more dramatic thank the original image. (You can get a higher resolution view of all of the images if you click on them.)

Creeping spider

You can see below the original image after a minor crop. I remember when I took the shot that I had to twist my body around to get the desired angle of view of the spider in the center of her web, waiting patiently for prey. This morning I initially liked the image a lot and was going to post it, but then decided to rotate it 90 degrees to see what it looked like.

Side view of spider

After the rotation, it looked like the image below. It seems to me that by simply shifting the plane of view, the spider appears like more of a predator, like she is more aggressively stalking her prey rather than waiting for it to arrive. I keep going back and forth in trying to decided if I like this image more than the cropped image that I started with. What do you think? Which of the three images do you like most?

Creeping spider (full body)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Spreadwing Damselfly

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on September 14, 2012| 2 Comments »

Why does this damselfly have its wings in an open position? That was the question that popped into my mind when I first spotted this pretty little damselfly. As far as I knew, damselflies folded their wings together when they were at rest. A little research on the internet showed that there is a family of damselflies called Lestidae (more commonly known as Spreadwings) that hold their wings at an angle from their body when they are at rest.

I decided to show the same photo in two different ways. The first image is a cropped close-up and it lets you seem the facial expression and some additional details of the body, including the drops of water on the chest and legs. As you can see, one of the disadvantages of wings that are spread is that depth of field is a problem. The second view is the image more or less as I composed it in the view finder. It shows how really long and skinny the tails are for this type of damselfly. I think that this may be a Southern Spreadwing (Lestes australis), but I am not certain of the identification because there are other varieties that look similar.

Close-up shot of spreadwing damselfly

Full-body shot of spreadwing damselfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Yellow Garden Orbweaver catches a bee

Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , , on September 13, 2012| 7 Comments »

I’m amazed at the size and intricacy of the webs of the Yellow Garden Orbweaver spiders (Argiope aurantia) whenever I see them at Huntley Meadows Park here in Alexandria, VA. This past weekend I had a chance to see how effective these webs are when a bee flew into the web of a spider that I was observing.

Previously I posted some photos of these spider with prey (a grasshopper and a cicada) that had been captured earlier and wrapped up in silk, but I didn’t really understand how the spider accomplished this. In this case, as soon as the bee touched the web, the spider moved quickly from the center of the web and in a few seconds had wrapped up its newest victim. I was so fascinated by what was happening in front of my eyes that my reaction time was delayed and I missed photographing those initial actions. However, I stayed and observed (and photographed) the spider’s subsequent actions.

The first photo below shows the spider as she is wrapping up the wrapping up of the bee. It’s a little hard to believe that the long package is just a bee, but I’m pretty sure that’s all that there is inside. (With all three photos, you can click on them and get a somewhat higher resolution view.) After the bee had finished, she left the package at the periphery of the web and returned to the center of the web, where she usually resides, probably hoping for another victim.

After several minutes wait, she returned to the bee and and began to transport it to the center of the web. In the photo below, you can see how she held the wrapped-up bee with some of her legs as she crawled along the strands of the web. The zigzag portion of the web is part of the path that leads to the center.

Once she was back in the center, it looks like she was preparing to eat her newly captured meal. I really like the varied positions of her legs in this photo as she holds on to her prey.

You may have noticed the blurry contours of another, smaller spider in the upper portion of the final photo. There were two small spiders hanging around the web and they seemed to be fighting with one another. I tried to capture that dynamic and will post a photo if I find one that is clear enough. I suspect that one of them may have been the mate of the female spider. Bugguide notes that the male of this species is considerably smaller than the female. Not counting legs, the male is usually 5-6 mm in size and the female is 14-25mm. I am not sure who the “other guy” was. Maybe he’s another male competing for the affections of this “lovely” lady. Any ideas?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Climbing grasshopper

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , on September 12, 2012| 2 Comments »

I have become hyper-attentive now when I walk through gardens, woods, and marshes. I have started to slow down and am more aware of my surroundings. A few months ago, for example, I would not have noticed this grasshopper climbing up the stalk of a plant. Now I can look with wonder at yet another fascinating creature, and my life is enriched by the experience.

Climbing Grasshopper

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Suburban oasis

Posted in Language, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 12, 2012| 3 Comments »

Huntley Meadows Park is made up of 1,425 acres of forests, meadows, and fresh-waters wetlands and has become one of my favorite places to take photos of a wide variety of wildlife. What is most remarkable for me, though, is the fact that it is located in the midst of a heavily populated suburban area of Washington, D.C., only a few miles from where I live. I am clearly not the only one who enjoys being there. On any given day I am likely to be greeted by groups of giggling boys and girls or smaller, more sedate groups of adults, many with binoculars or cameras with very long telephoto lenses. The park’s website notes that it is a favorite location for bird spotting, with over 200 species having been identified there.

Monday was an especially beautiful day. The coolness of the fall mornings has definitely arrived and we were treated to brilliant blue skies, a relative rarity here. While at Huntley Meadows, I decided to try to capture a view of some of the elements of the park, including part of the half-mile long boardwalk that zigzags through the marshland.

Huntley Meadows Park in early September

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Tattered wings (and growing old)

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 11, 2012| 6 Comments »

I don’t know if this Blue Dasher dragonfly is long in the tooth (do dragonflies have teeth?) or has simply had a tough life. How do you tell the age of a dragonfly? In any case, his wings are tattered and torn to such a degree that it is surprising that he can still fly. Yet I seem to detect a smile on his face, a reflection of contentment. (Yes, I know, I am guilty of anthropomorphism.)

Tattered wings,but still able to fly

I have been thinking about aging ever since Sunday when I read a wonderful column in the Washington Post by John Kelly entitled “You can learn a lot about growing old from a dog.” Kelly describes how the accelerated aging process of his dog has made him more conscious of the fact that he too is growing old. I recommend the article to all, but want to highlight the final paragraph of the column. Kelly concludes:

“Aging is unknown territory for each of us, despite the fact that humans have been doing it forever. I think there are worse ways to spend your final years than napping next to someone you love, dreaming of what was and what still might be.”

I doubt that this dragonfly will end his final days in peace and contentment like Kelly’s dog, but it is my fervent hope that we can accept the infirmities of growing old with grace and patience, and can focus—as this dragonfly appears to be doing—on the things that we are still able to do, on contributions that can make this world a better place.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Tiny Monarch caterpillar

Posted in Birds, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , on September 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I love examining milkweed plants, because I always find interesting insects there to photograph. Yesterday I spotted a tiny caterpillar on a milkweed leaf that I was pretty sure was a Monarch butterfly-to-be (Danaus plexippus). The colored stripes were very similar to the one whose photo I previously posted, but this one was significantly smaller.

I decided to do some research on the life cycle of the Monarch to try to find out why this caterpillar was so small. The website butterflybushes.com has a wonderful article on the development of the Monarch. I learned that the larva is so small when it hatches that it can barely be seen, but it then consumes its body weight in milkweed leaves daily (Don’t try that at home!). During the 9-14 day larval stage, the caterpillar sheds its skin five times. Obviously this little guy is in a much earlier stage of development than the previous one, who was probably about ready to move to the pupal stage.

Here are a couple of shots of the little Monarch caterpillar that I took with my Canon 100mm macro lens.

Tiny Monarch caterpillar at rest

Tiny Monarch caterpillar eating milkweed

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bullfrog with bubble

Posted in Humor, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »

This morning I captured this photo of a bullfrog. I was able—with gyrations that would have been hilarious to a spectator—to get almost low enough to look him eye-to-eye. I was happy also to get a reflection of the frog with a considerable amount of detail. As I was reviewing the images on my computer, I noticed the bubbles under his chin (do frogs have chins?), a delightful detail that adds a sense of whimsy to the frog. Blowing bubbles is something that I always associate with being a child, and I remember how much fun it was to blow bubbles in my drink with a straw or to blow soap bubbles with one of those little wands.

Perhaps this bullfrog was blowing bubbles in the water, remembering too when he was little, presumably in a post-tadpole phase.

Bullfrog with bubble (click for higher resolution)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Interesting insect–now identified

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 10, 2012| 7 Comments »

I was getting ready to wrap up my brief photo shoot at a local garden this afternoon when I happened to spot this interesting looking insect. Fortunately I had my macro lens on my camera and I had my tripod as well. I maneuvered as well as I could to frame the first shot and this is how I composed the image in the camera. I did a few tweaks in Photoshop Elements but did not crop at all. I cropped the second image slightly as I tried to move in a little closer. The eyes are in better focus, but I lost the sharper focus on the body.

I hope to figure out eventually what kind of insect he is, but for the moment I like the way the photos turned out.

UPDATE: Thanks to Jeremy Sell’s identification skills, I am pretty confident this is a Western Leaf-Footed Bug (Leptoglossus clypealis). Check out his blog at thelifeofyourtime.wordpress.com.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Butterfly shadow

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , on September 10, 2012| 2 Comments »

The sunlight was pretty bright late this afternoon, casting dark shadows everywhere, and I was not at all confident that I would get any decent shots. A butterfly flew into view in a partially shaded area, where he perched on a leaf. He was pretty cooperative as he kept his wings open as I made a few adjustments to my camera.

I like the interplay of light and shadows in the image below, even if the colors are somewhat muted and some of the highlights are a little blown out. I probably should admit that I love shadows almost all of the time—me and my shadows.

Butterfly shadow (click for higher resolution)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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