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Male Twelve-spotted Skimmer

Posted in abstract, Art, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, tagged Adamstown MD, Canon 50D, Libellula pulchella, Lilypons Water Gardens, Tamron 180mm, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly on August 27, 2017| 3 Comments »

When it comes to dragonflies, what catches your eye? Is it their bright colors or their acrobatic flying skills? When it comes to male Twelve-spotted Skimmers (Libellula pulchella), it is definitely the bold brown-and-white pattern on their wings that irresistibly attracts me. I somehow feel compelled to chase after one whenever I spot it.

Yesterday I made a brief trip to Lilypons Water Gardens in Adamstown, Maryland. This sprawling facility has over 150 acres of amazing ponds and water gardens with fantastic displays of water lilies, which are for sale. (I’ll feature some of the different colored water lilies in an upcoming post.) Although I saw a lot of dragonflies there, I saw only a few Twelve-spotted Skimmers.

Most of them were remarkably elusive, but one finally perched on some vegetation overhanging the water. The bank was fairly steep, so there was no way that I could get a side shot or a head-on shot, which is one of my favorite shots of a dragonfly. What was I going to do?

Then it dawned on me that I had a perfect view of the magnificent wing patterns as I looked straight down the body of the dragonfly, facing in the same direction that he was facing. Boldly I decided to commit what is normally a cardinal sin for a photographer—I intentionally chose not to focus on the subject’s eyes. Lightning did not strike me as I pressed the shutter and I captured an almost abstract portrait of the dragonfly. For me, there is a real beauty in the simplicity and minimalism of this image.

In case you get confused about counting the twelve spots, you’re supposed to count only the brown spots. According to Wikipedia, though,some folks prefer to count the white spots and therefore call this dragonfly a “Ten-spot Skimmer.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Juvenile skink

Posted in Amphibians, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Common Five-Lined Skink, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, juvenile skink, Plestiodon fasciatus, skink, Tamron 180mm on August 26, 2017| 13 Comments »

The bright blue color of a juvenile skink’s tail is so startling and whimsical that I never fail to smile whenever I see one. When I first spotted this Common Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus), it was basking in the sun on top of a concrete fishing platform at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. As I approach, it scurried under the platform and I stopped and waited. Eventually the skink poked its head out and cautiously crawled forward and I was able to capture this image.

Generally I prefer a more natural backdrop for my shots of insects and amphibians, but in this case I really like the varied colors and textures of the man-made materials. I also like the angular lines that contrast nicely with the curves of the skink’s body. Finally the neutral colors of the image help to draw the viewer’s eyes to the beautiful blue tail.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Summer wear

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Great Blue Skimmer, Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Libellula vibrans, Tamron 150-600mm on August 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

As the days of summer gradually wind down, I can’t help but notice a significant amount of wear and tear on the bodies and especially the wings of some of the dragonflies and butterflies that I see. Clearly it has been a long, tough season for some of them. Despite its tattered wings, this male Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula vibrans) that I spotted on Monday at Huntley Meadows Park seemed to have no trouble flying, though I suspect that his days are numbered.

I hope that all of you have managed to survive this season well and that your “summer wear” refers to your clothes and not to the condition of your body.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Dragons in the air

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Black Saddlebags, Black Saddlebags dragonfly, Canon 50D, Epitheca princeps, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Prince Baskettail, Prince Baskettail dragonfly, Tamron 180mm, Tramea lacerata, Woodbridge VA on August 24, 2017| 2 Comments »

Different species of dragonflies fly in different ways. Some soar high in the air and some cruise just above the surface of the water. A dragonfly’s wings allow it to perform all kinds of aerial acrobatics that are entrancing to observe. Given their size and speed, it’s a significant challenge to try to capture them in flight, though frequent readers of this blog know that I will sometimes spend extended periods of time trying to meet that challenge.

During a recent trip to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I noticed a dragonfly flying above my head. Its flight reminded me of eagles and hawks that I have seen gliding effortlessly on thermal updrafts. I couldn’t make out the flight pattern that it was following, but it repeatedly flew over me. Each time that it returned, I would point my camera almost straight up and eventually I was able to capture this shot of an easy-to-identify Black Saddlebags dragonfly (Tramea lacerata)—the pattern of black blotches on the wings are very distinctive.

Later that same day I spotted a dragonfly making repeated patrols above the water. The dragonfly never seemed to rest or to perch, so I tried and tried to capture some shots of it as it zoomed on by me. Most of my shots were out of focus, but I like the one below. The choppy water in the background reminds me of the clouds that I will sometimes see when I look out of the window of an aircraft that has reached its cruising altitude. In my mind’s eye, I can imagine this dragonfly flying high in the sky, peacefully soaring above the clouds and the turbulence below it.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Spangled trio

Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Asclepias incarnata, Canon 50D, Great Spangled Fritillary, Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Speyeria cybele, swamp milkweed, Tamron 150-600mm on August 23, 2017| 6 Comments »

A clump of what I think is Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) seemed irresistible to a trio of Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies (Speyeria cybele) on Monday at Huntley Meadows Park. For a brief moment they coexisted peacefully, until one of them encroached into the territory of another and they all began to jostle each other for the prime spots.

I quickly snapped off a series of photos before the butterflies flew away. As is the case with almost any group, it was almost impossible to capture an image in which all of the subjects were more or less facing the camera and had interesting poses. It was roughly equivalent to trying to photograph a group of wiggly little children—single subjects seem easy by comparison.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Hawk along the Potomac River

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Buteo jamaicensis, Canon 50D, hawk, Mount Vernon Trail, Potomac River, Red-tailed Hawk, Tamron 150-600mm on August 22, 2017| 12 Comments »

When is a cluttered background so distracting that it draws attention away from the primary subject? When I have the luxury of time, I will normally attempt to compose my shots so that the background fades into the background as a creamy blur. As a wildlife photographer, though, I am often photographing live subjects that are likely to flee as soon as they become aware of my presence. Frequently I barely have time to bring the camera up to my eye and am forced to react rapidly and instinctively—I just don’t have time to think about the background.

Yesterday as I was walking along the Mount Vernon Trail in Alexandria, Virginia parallel to the Potomac River, I spotted a bird at the very top of a distant tree. Earlier in the day I had seen an osprey in a similar position, so I initially assumed it was another osprey. I had just zoomed in on the bird when it exploded out of the tree into the air. From the way that it was flying, I realized that it was probably an eagle or a hawk. I tracked the bird, which I believe is a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) as it flew behind some trees and eventually into the clear blue skies.

Here are my three favorite shots of the encounter. Two of them are cluttered and one has a plain blue background. Which one do you like most? I am not bothered by the branches in the first two shots and like the way that they help to give a sense of context to the action that is depicted. The third shot shows some of the wonderful details of the beautiful hawk, but it seems a bit more sterile to me. (For the record, the first shot is probably my favorite of the three images.)

Are cluttered backgrounds ok? Like so many factors in photography, the correct response appears to be that it depends on the specific circumstances.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Spider and Monarch

Posted in Arachnids, Butterflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spiders, tagged Argiope aurantia, Black and Yellow Garden Orbweaver spider, Canon 50D, Danaus plexippus, Monarch, monarch butterfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA on August 21, 2017| 3 Comments »

The beautiful Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is often featured in conservation efforts that focus on its dwindling numbers and shrinking habitat. It was therefore a little disconcerting to stumble upon a Monarch that had been ensnared in the web of a Black and Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) during a visit this past weekend to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

I have no idea how long the butterfly had been in the web, but it appeared to be totally immobilized. Spiders like this one, known also as Yellow Garden Spiders or Writing Spiders, kill their prey by injecting venom and often wrap them up in web material for later consumption.

I considered cropping this image to focus more attention on the spider and the butterfly, but ultimately decided that I liked the context provided by the elements of the spider’s web and the murky, out-of-focus background.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Zebra Swallowtail

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Eurytides marcellus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA, Zebra Swallowtail, Zebra Swallowtail butterfly on August 20, 2017| 3 Comments »

One of the coolest looking butterflies in our area is the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly (Eurytides marcellus). In addition to having beautiful coloration, it has amazingly long “tails” that flutter when it is in flight. It is not a species that I see very often, so I will spend a lot of time chasing after one when I spot it, hoping, often in vain, that it will perch long enough for me to get a shot.

This Zebra Swallowtail, which I chased this past Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, was reasonably cooperative, though it refused to open its wings to give me a view of its entire wingspan.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Spider and dragonfly

Posted in Arachnids, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spiders, tagged Canon 50D, Common Whitetail, Common Whitetail dragonfly, Neoscona crucifera, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Plathemis lydia, Spotted Orbweaver, Spotted Orbweaver spider, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA on August 19, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Predator or prey? Dragonflies are fearsome predators, but they can also become prey—it’s the whole circle of life cycle in the natural world.

This past Friday as I was walking around Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I spotted the twisted body of a dragonfly suspended in the air against a backdrop of the sky. Instinctively I knew that there must be a spider web there, although it was not initially visible. The wing pattern of the dragonfly made it easy to identify as a Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia).

As I got closer, I realized that a large spider was holding onto the body of the dragonfly. I am not totally certain of the spider identification, but it looks to me like it is a Spotted Orbweaver (Neoscona crucifera). Often when I approach a spider, it will scurry to the edge of its web, but this spider defiantly stayed in place—it looked like it was determined not to give up its prey.

As many readers know, I really like dragonflies, but spiders have to eat too. Undoubtedly this scenario plays out multiple times each day, but it is still a little unsettling to see it face-to-face.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Dragonfly and ladybug

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Canon 50D, ladybug, Libellula needhami, Needham's Skimmer, Needham's Skimmer dragonfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA on August 19, 2017| 3 Comments »

Dragonflies have to eat too, but I was a little shocked when I stumbled upon this Needham’s Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula needhami) munching on a ladybug or two yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Woodbridge, Virginia. Although I know that dragonflies are fearsome predators, I guess that I am not used to thinking of ladybugs as prey—they are usually depicted as cute, which is why they are seen so often on children’s clothing and furnishings.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Female Kingfisher in August

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Belted Kingfisher, Canon 50D, female Belted Kingfisher, Huntley Meadows Park, kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon, Tamron 150-600mm on August 18, 2017| 5 Comments »

I spent a considerable amount of time one morning earlier this month at Huntley Meadows Park trying to get some shots of this skittish female Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon). It was almost impossible to get really close, so I had to rely on my long telephoto zoom lens.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Monarch and Queen Anne

Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Danaus plexippus, Daucus carota, Huntley Meadows Park, Monarch, monarch butterfly, Queen Anne's Lace, Tamron 180mm on August 17, 2017| 3 Comments »

Although I tend to associate Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) with milkweed, this Monarch was hungrily feeding on Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota) this past weekend at Huntley Meadows Park. I am not sure why, but I have seen significantly more Monarch butterflies this summer than in the past few years.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Painted Lady in August

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Painted Lady, Painted lady butterfly, Tamron 180mm, Vanessa cardui on August 16, 2017| 4 Comments »

As I was exploring at Huntley Meadows Park this past weekend, I was thrilled to stumble upon this beautiful Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui), a species that I have not seen in several years. In the field, I couldn’t remember the differences between a Painted Lady and the similar-looking American Lady. Fortunately, there are plenty of resources on-line, including this helpful comparison page on bugguide.net that shows the differences between the two types. On the basis of the pattern of the eye spots, I concluded that this is almost certainly a Painted Lady.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Not a bee

Posted in Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged black-eyed susan, Canon 50D, family Syrphidae, flower fly, Fort Belvoir VA, hover fly, hoverfly, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, Rudbeckia hirta, Tamron 180mm on August 15, 2017| 5 Comments »

Several years ago, when I first started getting serious about photography, I probably would have called the insect in the photo a bee. My choices back then were simple—a black and yellow insect was either a bee or a yellowjacket. Now that I know a whole lot more about insects, I can readily identify the insect as a hoverfly (also referred to as flower fly) from the Syrphidae family.

When I spotted the hoverfly yesterday, I was struck by the way that its colors matched almost perfect those of the black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) that were growing in abundance at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Robber Fly and Striped Horse Fly

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Asilidae, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, robber fly, Striped Horse fjy, Tabanus lineola, Tamron 180mm on August 14, 2017| 3 Comments »

When I first encountered two insects this past weekend at Huntley Meadows Park, I thought they were mating. Looking a little closer, I realized it was a robber fly and its prey, which, after some research, I conclude is probably a Striped Horse Fly (Tabanus lineola). In addition to its unusual eyes, check out the sharp mouth parts of the horse fly that are used, I believe, for biting. Ouch!

There is a whole family of robber flies, known as Asilidae, of varying sizes and shapes, including the Red-footed Cannibalfly that I have featured several times recently. This robber fly was considerably smaller than a Red-footed Cannibalfly, but has many of the same general characteristics. They both grasp their prey with their long legs and inject it with saliva that paralyzes the victim. The saliva eventually liquifies the insides of the prey and the robber fly sucks out the liquified material through its proboscis. I think that the robber fly in the photo was in the middle of that process when I spotted it.

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Common Wood Nymph butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Cercyonis pegala, Common Wood Nymph, Common Wood Nymph butterfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 180mm on August 13, 2017| 4 Comments »

One of the little woodland butterflies that I see only rarely is the Common Wood Nymph (Cercyonis pegala). I was therefore pretty excited when I spotted this beauty on Friday while it was perched on a tree at Huntley Meadows Park. The yellow patch is so distinctive that it was pretty easy for me to identify this one, unlike so many other woodland butterflies that are mostly brown with different patterns and colors of eye spots on their wings.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Demise of a hummingbird moth

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, beauty canon 50D, Hemaris thysbe, Hummingbird Clearwing Moth, Huntley Meadows Park, Promachus rufipes, Red-footed Cannibalfly, Tamron 180mm on August 12, 2017| 3 Comments »

In the insect world, Red-footed Cannibalflies (Promachus rufipes) are fearsome predators. Yesterday I spotted one at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, Virginia that appeared to be subduing a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe) that it had just captured.

What happens next? Wikipedia describes the tactics of a robber fly, the family to which the Red-footed Cannibalfly belongs, in these words: “The fly attacks its prey by stabbing it with its short, strong proboscis injecting the victim with saliva containing neurotoxic and proteolytic enzymes which very rapidly paralyze the victim and soon digest the insides; the fly then sucks the liquefied material through the proboscis.”

Yikes!

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Gathering pollen

Posted in Bees, Flowers, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged bee, bumblebee, Canon 50D, McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, pollen, Poolesville MD, sunflower, Tamron 180mm on August 11, 2017| 12 Comments »

How much pollen can a bee transport at one time? As it circled the inside of a sunflower, this bee filled the pollen baskets on its hind legs with so much bright yellow pollen that I was afraid it would not be able to lift off and fly away. In addition to the very full pollen baskets, which looked like cotton candy to me, the bee was virtually covered with grains of pollen. My fears proved to be unfounded, and the overladen bee was able to carry away its golden treasure.

I think this bee is a bumblebee, though I am no expert on the subject of bees. According to Wikipedia, certain species of bees, including bumblebees and honeybees, have pollen baskets (also known as corbiculae) that are used to harvest pollen. Other bee species have scopae (Latin for “brooms”), which are usually just a mass of hair on the hind legs that are used to transport pollen.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Missing the point

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Eastern Pondhawk, Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly, Erythemis simplicicollis, male Eastern Pondhawk, McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, Poolesville MD, Tamron 180mm on August 10, 2017| 15 Comments »

I don’t know about you, but if I were an insect with large, fragile wings, I think that I would avoid perching on vegetation with large thorns. This male Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly (Erythemis simplicicollis), however, is obviously bolder and more skilled than I am. With precision flying skills matching the parking abilities of an inner city driver, he has managed to squeeze into a space that seems barely large enough to accommodate him.

Pointless perching—that seems to be the point.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Sunflower views

Posted in Flowers, Nature, Photography, tagged Canon 24-105mm, Canon 50D, McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, Poolesville MD, sunflowers on August 9, 2017| 9 Comments »

When you are confronted with a field of sunflowers, what’s the best way to photograph them? That was my challenge this past weekend at McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Poolesville, Maryland. Before I arrived, I though I would get a wide-angle view, filled with the bright yellows of the tall sunflowers. The reality was a little underwhelming, because the sunflowers had not grown very tall this year and many of them were past their prime.

So instead of going wide, I decided to move in closer and try to capture some of the details of the sunflowers. Here are a few images of single sunflowers in different stages of development. Some of the images are a little abstract and hopefully challenge readers to think beyond the normal shapes and colors that they associate with sunflowers.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Green Heron breakfast

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Butorides virescens, Canon 50D, green heron, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm on August 8, 2017| Leave a Comment »

I didn’t see the Green Heron (Butorides virescens) actually catch his breakfast last Friday morning at Huntley Meadows Park, but when he climbed up onto a protruding branch he gave me a quick look at the fish before swallowing it.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Not a tug of war

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, mating Red-footed Cannibalflies, Promachus rufipes, Red-footed Cannibalfly, Tamron 150-600mm on August 7, 2017| 5 Comments »

Although it looks a bit like a tug of war, I think that these two Red-footed Cannibalflies (Promachus rufipes) actually were mating when I spotted them on Friday at Huntley Meadows Park. (Don’t ask me any anatomical questions–I am not sure how it works for them.)

This photo was taken from a pretty good distance away with my 150-600mm lens and is a little soft, but I thought I’d post it today as an accompaniment to my earlier macro shot of what I think is a female Red-footed Cannibalfly.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Keeping an eye on me

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Alex, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm on August 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »

This majestic osprey (Pandion haliaetus) was keeping a close watch on a fellow photographer and me as we pointed our long lenses in its direction as it perched high in a tree early one morning this weekend at Huntley Meadows Park.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Indigo Bunting and Monarch

Posted in Birds, Butterflies, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Canon 24-105mm, Canon 50D, Canon SX50, Danaus plexippus, Indigo Bunting, McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, monarch butterfly, Passerina cyanea, Poolesville MD, sunflowers on August 6, 2017| 14 Comments »

In the first sunflower field that we visited yesterday morning at McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, many of the sunflowers were drooping because of the weight of their seeds. They may not have been very photogenic, but the birds and butterflies seemed to love them, like this Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) and this Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) that I spotted among the sunflowers.

Several photographer friends and I made the trip to the sunflower fields in Poolesville, Maryland, hoping to see endless rows of tall sunflowers. According to its website, McKee-Beshers has 30 acres of sunflowers planted in nine different fields. I think that the sunflowers may have been a little past their prime and appeared to be a little stunted in size, compared to some past years.

It was tricky to figure out what kind of gear to bring on a trek like this. I ended up using my super zoom Canon SX50 to photograph the Indigo Bunting, which was a first sighting for me of this beautiful bird, and my Canon 24-105mm lens on my normal Canon 50D DSLR for the butterfly. I had both of the cameras with me at all times, which gave me a pretty good amount of flexibility. I’ve seen some photographers walk around with two DSLR bodies, but that seems like a lot of weight to carry around, especially when you are moving through vegetation as I was doing as I waded through the rows of sunflowers.

I did take shot shots of the sunflowers and I’ll post some of them eventually. Folks who know me, though, are probably not surprised that my first instinct was to post images of birds and butterflies, rather than ones of the flowers alone.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Early morning egret

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea alba, Canon 50D, Great Egret, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm on August 5, 2017| 2 Comments »

Early yesterday morning at Huntley Meadows Park, the Great Egrets (Ardea alba) were relaxing in the trees, awaiting the start of another beautiful day. When birds are as brilliantly white as egrets, it’s a challenge to get an exposure that retains the details in the feathers. I set the metering on my camera to spot metering and it seems to have worked pretty well. I even like the way that it darkened the background and made the egret stand out even more.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Toad texture

Posted in Amphibians, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Anaxyrus fowleri, Canon 50D, Fowler's Toad, Great Falls VA, Potomac River, Riverbend Park, Tamron 180mm, toad on August 4, 2017| 5 Comments »

As I was walking along the Potomac River one day last month, I came upon this large toad, which I think might be a Fowler’s Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri). I was really struck by the way that the light and shadows helped to emphasize the very bumpy texture of the toad’s skin.

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Spotted Sandpiper

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Actitis macularius, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, sandpiper, spotted sandpiper, Tamron 150-600mm on August 4, 2017| 1 Comment »

Last weekend I spotted a shorebird in the distance while exploring Huntley Meadows Park. It was sharing a log with several turtles. Initially the little bird stayed on the opposite end of the log from the turtles. Gradually the curious and energetic bird moved closer and closer to the turtles. I couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked like the bird came close to pecking one of the legs of a turtle. Perhaps the bird was surprised when the turtle reacted or the turtle made a threatening move, but in any case the bird flew off after the brief encounter.

I was pretty conftdent that the bird was some kind of sandpiper, but I have never seen one with these markings. I posted to a Facebook group and got a quick response. What was the sandpiper I had spotted? It turned out to be a Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius).

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Damselfly love

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Calopteryx maculata, Canon 50D, damselfly mating, Ebony Jewelwing, Ebony Jewelwing damselfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 180mm on August 3, 2017| 2 Comments »

Damselfly mating is, to say the least, unusual and acrobatic. Yes, I felt a little like a voyeur as I observed this pair of Ebony Jewelwing damselflies (Calopteryx maculata) on Monday at Huntley Meadows Park.

Did you notice the sideways heart that their bodies form during this process? Yeah, I am a bit of a romantic, even when it comes to mating insects in the wild. I would recommend, though, that you not try this position at home, but leave it to the professionally trained damselflies. You might otherwise require an unplanned visit to a chiropractor.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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You keep me hanging on

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Mocha Emerald, Mocha Emerald dragonfly, Somatochlora linearis, Tamron 150-600mm, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on August 2, 2017| 7 Comments »

Do you relax by hanging from a bar in the pull-up position? No, I don’t either, but this Mocha Emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora linearis) chose to do so on Monday when I spotted it at Huntley Meadows Park.

A couple of things really stand out whenever I am lucky enough to spot one of these beautiful dragonflies. Unlike many dragonflies, Mocha Emeralds don’t appear to like direct sunlight—they seem to hang out at small shaded streams, where the shadows and shade make photography difficult. Secondly, they often seem to hang vertically, which emphasizes their extraordinarily long slender bodies. Somehow they remind me of the super skinny young male models that many designers seem to favor, clothing them in garments that those of us with more normal physiques would never ever fit into—unlike those models, we have waists and hips.

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Looking in the wrong direction

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Bald Eagle, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm on August 1, 2017| 6 Comments »

I was looking high and in the distance and the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) came in low and was almost on top of me before I saw it yesterday morning at Huntley Meadows Park. I had to scramble and pull back on my zoom lens to capture this image, which barely fit into the frame of the viewfinder. (The EXIF data for the shot indicate that it was shot at 309mm of my 150-600mm Tamron telephoto zoom lens.)

I feel like I should have been able to take better advantage of the situation that presented itself, but I am not disappointed. As I have noted repeatedly, any day with a bald eagle is a great day.

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Bee mountain climber

Posted in Bees, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, bee, Canon 50D, green spring gardens, Tamron 180mm on July 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »

I love to watch bees and spotted this one recently at Green Spring Gardens. I was struck by the way it resembled a mountain climber (albeit with no ropes) as it hung upside-down from this shaggy flower—I have no idea how to effectively gather pollen from a flower like this one, but the bee seemed to be doing ok with its “tongue.”

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