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Beavers take over

Posted in animals, Architecture, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, beaver, beaver lodge, Canon 24-105mm, Canon 50D, Castor canadensis, Huntley Meadows Park, North American Beaver on January 20, 2017| 4 Comments »

Periodically I will arrive at Huntley Meadows Park early in the morning, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the local beavers, but I haven’t seen one in quite some time. It’s very obvious, though, that North American beavers (Castor canadensis) are present and active, because their lodge, built in part on the boardwalk, keeps getting bigger every time that I see it.

Gradually the beavers are taking over more and more of a bench on the boardwalk. I noticed this morning, when I took this photo, that there is barely room now to sit down on the end of the bench. In the past, park employees have had to remove some mud when the lodge extended too far across the boardwalk and it looks like that has been the case this year too.

I’m fully expecting to see one of these days that the bench has been totally engulfed by the beavers and incorporated into their architectural plans. At that moment I will know for certain that the beavers have taken over.

© 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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Transition

Posted in Christmas, Photography, Travel, Urban, tagged brussels, Brussels Belgium, Canon A620, Christmas tree, Grand-Place on January 13, 2017| 1 Comment »

A few colored lights still stretch across some of the streets here in Brussels, but the signs of Christmas have gradually disappeared during my short stay here. The massive Christmas tree has disappeared from the Grand-Place—all that is left to remind us of the impressively beautiful tree is a hole in the ground and several sections of the tree’s trunk.

Seasons change and life quickly moves on, no matter how much we want to slow it down to better savor its special moments.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Another mural in Brussels

Posted in Art, Photography, Travel, Urban, tagged Brussels Belgium, Canon A620, Georges Remi, Hergé, mural, The Adventures of Tintin, Tintin on January 12, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Here’s a photo of another wall mural that I came across here in Brussels. This one I recognizes as a scene from The Adventures of Tintin, a comic book series by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. This scene shoes Tintin, his dog Snowy (Milou), and Captain Haddock, his best friend, a seafaring Merchant Marine Captain.

It’s a little sad to see the ugly graffiti that has defaced the bottom part of this beautiful mural, but that is the unfortunate reality in many parts of this city.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Looking up in Brussels

Posted in Architecture, Photography, Travel, Urban, tagged brussels, Brussels Belgium, Canon A620, Grand-Place on January 11, 2017| 5 Comments »

Every time that I walk through the Grand-Place in Brussels I end up with a sore neck. The ornate architecture of the buildings that surround the square is so amazing that I can’t help but spend an extended period of time with my neck outstretched as I take in the beautiful architectural details. This image shows the view that I had earlier this week as I approached the square from one of the side streets and suddenly was treated to the sight of an overwhelming number of spires and statues on one of the buildings.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mural in Brussels

Posted in Architecture, Art, Photography, Travel, Urban, tagged brussels, Brussels Belgium, Canon A620, mural, Tin-Tin, urban art on January 10, 2017| Leave a Comment »

One of the cool things about wandering through the narrow winding streets in the center of Brussels is that I will occasionally come upon wall murals that cover the entire side of a narrow building. They most often appear to depict scenes from comic book series like Tin-Tin, but most of them are unfamiliar to me.

This past weekend I stumbled upon this funny little scene on the side of a building. I am clueless about its context, but it made me smile as I stopped to examine it.

UPDATE: I did a little research and think this may be a depiction of Nero, the title character of a Belgian comic book series The Adventure of Nero.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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De-trimming the Christmas tree in Brussels

Posted in Christmas, Photography, Travel, Winter, tagged brussels, Brussels Belgium, Canon A620, Christmas, Christmas tree, Grand-Place on January 9, 2017| 3 Comments »

Under any circumstances it is a challenge to remove the ornaments and lights from a Christmas tree, but when the tree is several stories tall, a simple step ladder is not enough. Yesterday, when I arrived at the Grand-Place in the center of Brussels, workers had already removed the large red and gold ornaments from the tree and were working to take off the lights using a “cherry-picker.” They worked methodically to remove strand after strand of lights, carefully coiling them as they went along.

As I watched them work, I noticed the beautiful reflections of the square on the shiny surfaces of the spherical ornaments that reminded me of the images you would get with a fisheye lens. No matter which way I moved, my figure was always in the frame, so I decided to embrace the opportunity and create a kind of self portrait. The other images in this set feature the efforts of the workers from different angles.

It was a lot of fun trying to frame shots with my little Canon A620 point-and-shoot camera. As a result of its limited zoom range, I was forced to move about a lot, causing me realize that a big zoom lens tends to make me a little lazy in considering options for framing shots.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Christmas is not over yet

Posted in Architecture, Christmas, Landscape, Photography, Travel, Winter, tagged brussels, Brussels Belgium, Canon A620, Christmas tree, Grand-Place, town hall on January 8, 2017| 4 Comments »

I was happy yesterday to see that the big Christmas tree was still up at the Grand-Place, the historic center of Brussels. It lent some light and color to an otherwise cold, wet day.

I am always disappointed when I see Christmas trees cast aside immediately after Christmas. When I was growing up, it was traditional to wait at least until Epiphany, the celebration of the arrival of the Magi, though I seem to recall some of my neighbors keeping their Christmas tree and lights going for an even longer period of time.

The Grand-Place is always so much fun to visit. The buildings on each side of the square are all different and different elements attract my attention each time that I visit. In the first photo below, you can see the tall town hall in the background. The second image shows the building directly opposite the square from the town hall.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Freezing rain in Brussels

Posted in Architecture, Landscape, Photography, Travel, Winter, tagged brussels, Brussels Belgium, Canon A620, winter on January 7, 2017| 2 Comments »

Freezing rain has blanketed Brussels today, making footing treacherous, especially on the cobblestones in the center of the city. Needless to say, the outdoor cafes are not doing much business on a day like today.

I am in Brussels this week for work, so the photos that I post on this blog will be a bit different from my typical wildlife shots.

© 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.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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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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Dawning of a new year

Posted in Landscape, Photography, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, dawn, Huntley Meadows Park, new year, Tamron 150-600mm on January 1, 2017| 8 Comments »

It’s just starting to get light outside, the dawning of a new year. It’s time to hang new calendars and to try to remember 2017 on my checks. I’m not really into setting resolutions, but New Year’s Day is a good time to stop to reflect on the past year. Then it will be time to boldly step into the as yet uncharted territories of 2017, certain only that there will be both challenges and opportunities—I hope that I will learn and grow irrespective of the circumstances,

Best wishes to all those who read and/or view my blog for a healthy and happy 2017.

I took these shots as the sun was rising early yesterday morning at Huntley Meadows Park for the final time in 2016. The treeline to the east blocked me from seeing the actual sunrise, but the colors were spectacular for a few brief moments.

© 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.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Foraging shoveler

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas clypeata, Canon 50D, foraging, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Shoveler, shoveler, Tamron 150-600mm on December 30, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Some birds are so skittish that they fly away the very second that they detect my presence. Other birds are so tolerant or have gotten so used to humans that they will come right up to me or allow me to get pretty close to them. Northern Shovelers (Anas clypeata) are somewhere in the middle—generally they will turn their backs to me and swim away, but don’t fly away.

On a recent trip to my favorite marshland park, Huntley Meadows Park, I spotted a small group of Northern Shovelers. They were in constant motion as they foraged in the vegetation in the far reaches of one of the small ponds. It was a bit frustrating trying to get shots of them, because they spent most of the time swimming with their heads partially submerged.

I waited patiently and finally one of the handsome males briefly stopped swimming and gave me a half-smile and I was able to capture this image.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Turtle shell

Posted in abstract, Art, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, organic, Tamron 150-600mm, turtle, turtle shell on December 29, 2016| 3 Comments »

I never quite know what I will see when I wander about in the back areas of Huntley Meadows Park. This past Monday I came upon this partially deteriorated turtle shell. Initially it was in a muddy area adjacent to a beaver pond, but I moved it onto branches of a fallen tree to take the photos.

I just love the organic shapes and designs of the shell and the way that you can see some of its underlying structure.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Early morning on the Potomac River

Posted in Christmas, Language, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, fishermen, fishing, Fort Washington Park, lighthouse, Maryland, Potomac River, Tamron 150-600mm on December 28, 2016| 7 Comments »

As they headed out on the Potomac River this past weekend, these fishermen looked like they had decorated their rods with little Christmas ornaments that glimmered in the early morning light as I watched them from the shore at historic Fort Washington Park in Maryland.

The buildings and gun emplacements at the fort are impressive, but more than anything else, I am irresistibly drawn to the little lighthouse there. Even though I was shooting with a long telephoto zoom lens, I tried several landscape-style compositions in an effort to capture a sense of the location.

The shoreline on the other side of the river was hazy and indistinct, almost like an impressionist painting, but it proved to be tough to capture that feeling with my camera. This final shot gives you a sense of what I was going for—I think a tripod might help in the future with this kind of a shot.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Northern Pintail couple?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas acuta, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Pintail, Northern Pintail Duck, Tamron 150-600mm on December 27, 2016| 9 Comments »

It was really cool yesterday to see some elegant Northern Pintail ducks (Anas acuta) poking about in the distant weeds of Huntley Meadows Park. At first I thought that the ducks in this first image were male-female couple. The more I look at the image, however, the more I think the duck in the foreground may be an immature male that will eventually look like the male in the background. The Northern Pintails in the second image look more to me like a male-female couple.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Christmas moon

Posted in Christmas, commentary, Photography, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Christmas, Christmas 2016, Christmas moon, Runnymeade, Tamron 150-600mm on December 25, 2016| 3 Comments »

As I walked through frosty streets in the early hours of Christmas morning, I could see lots of colored lights adorning the houses of my neighbors. What really drew my eyes, though, was the sliver of the moon shining brightly in the darkness—it was simultaneously modest and spectacular. It brought to mind some words from the first chapter of the Gospel of John, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

As my pastor reminded us last night, Christmas comes in ordinary ways to everyday people like us and it is a season of hope and expectation. No matter what you believe or what you choose to celebrate, we can all use more light and hope in our lives and today is a good day to be reminded of that.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Northern Shovelers are back

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas clypeata, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Shoveler, Tamron 150-600mm on December 22, 2016| Leave a Comment »

We haven’t yet had snow, but Monday there were quite a few shovelers at Huntley Meadows Park. Northern Shovelers (Anas clypeata) are pretty easy to identify because of their cartoonishly elongated bills (and striking yellow eyes).

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Peek-a-boo with a redhead

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, peek-a-boo, peekaboo, Red-headed Woodpecker, Tamron 150-600mm, woodpecker on December 21, 2016| 3 Comments »

Sometimes I have this feeling that the birds and other creatures that I photograph are playing games with me. On Monday this Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) seemed to be playing peek-a-boo with me at Huntley Meadows Park. It was hiding at the top of a broken-off tree and at irregular intervals would show its face for just a split second and then immediately pull it back.

As I look at the woodpecker’s head I can see streaks of brown, rather than the solid red of an adult, suggesting that this may be a juvenile redhead—maybe that’s why it likes to play games.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Another bald eagle

Posted in Birds, Nature, Patriotism, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Bald Eagle, birds in flight, Canon 50D, eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm on December 20, 2016| 4 Comments »

Is it possible to post too many photos of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)? I don’t think so. Here’s a shot of one I saw yesterday flying in the distance at Huntley Meadows Park. It was a nice bonus that we had sunshine and blue skies after a series of dreary, overcast days, even though it was still pretty cold outside.

I see Bald Eagles, including juvenile ones, often enough at the park that I frequently wonder if there is a nest hidden somewhere the park. I have wandered through some pretty remote areas of the park, but so far have been unsuccessful in locating a nesting site.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hawk in mid-December

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Buteo lineatus, Canon 50D, hawk, Huntley Meadows Park, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Tamron 150-600mm on December 19, 2016| 1 Comment »

High in the trees on a bleak, overcast day, this Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) was keeping watch over Huntley Meadows Park last Friday. As I was getting ready to post this image, I realized that I photographed a hawk on exactly the same perch a little over a month earlier. I decided to reprise that earlier photo to show you how much the foliage has changed. I suspect, however) that it is not the same hawk.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Morning Mourning Dove

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, mourning dove, Tamron 150-600mm, Zenaida macroura on December 17, 2016| 6 Comments »

Early yesterday morning it was frigid at Huntley Meadows Park and this Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) appeared to have fluffed up its feathers in an attempt to retain its body heat. Normally Mourning Doves are very skittish, but this one remained on the branch for quite a while as I slowly moved into position to take a series of shots.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Berry hungry

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, American Bittersweet, Canon 50D, Catharus guttatus, Celastrus scandens, Hermit Thrush, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm on December 16, 2016| 14 Comments »

It was unusually cold when I set out this morning to go shooting, about 18 degrees F (minus 8 C). I always worry about birds in the wild being able to survive when it gets this cold, but somehow they manage.

As I was walking along the boardwalk at Huntley Meadows Park, I spotted a bird in the distance bobbing up in a tree. I couldn’t figure out what was going on until I got closer and could see that the bird was reaching up to grab some red berries that were just above its head.

At first I thought that this was an immature American Robin, but the more I look at the photos, the more I think that it is probably a different bird species. I would welcome assistance in identifying this mystery bird that obviously was berry hungry.

UPDATE: Thanks to several knowledgeable folks on Facebook, I have learned that the bird is a Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) and the plant with the berries is an American Bittersweet vine (Celastrus scandens).

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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