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Mourning Cloak butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, Summer, wildlife, tagged Camberwell Beauty, Canon 7D, Mourning Cloak, Mourning Cloak butterfly, Nymphalis antiopa, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on June 18, 2025| 7 Comments »

Mourning Cloak butterflies (Nymphalis antiopa) are often one of the first butterflies that I see in early spring, because they overwinter with us as adults in a kind of hibernation. According to Wikipedia, Mourning Cloaks, known in Britain as the Camberwell Beauty, have a lifespan of 11 to 12 months, one of the longest lifespans for any butterfly.

In the springtime, these butterflies mate and I suspect that the butterfly in the photo below that I spotted in early June at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge is part of the “new generation.” I don’t know a whole lot about the entire life cycle of the Mourning Cloak, but from what I have read, their lives include periods of activity followed by long periods of inactivity. During the summer, for example, they enter into a “dormant” stage, known as aestivation that is somewhat similar to hibernation, and then become active again in the autumn.

I love the markings of this beautiful butterfly and was thrilled when it held its wings open for a few seconds and let me see the stunning blue markings on its inner wings that stand out among the mostly subdued colors on its body.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Great Crested Flycatcher

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, Summer, wildlife, tagged Canon 7D, flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Myiarchus crinitus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on June 17, 2025| 2 Comments »

Earlier in June I spotted this cool-looking bird at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I am not really sure what species it is, but I think it might be a Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus). The bird was mostly hidden in the foliage, but I managed to get a couple of reasonably clear shots of it.

I love the wash of yellow on its belly that gradually fades into the gray of its throat. There are a few other birds in the flycatcher family that are somewhat similar in appearance, so I could be off in my identification, but this is the one that most closely matches the descriptions and images in my identification guides.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Ebony Jewelwing damselfly

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, Summer, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Calopteryx maculata, Canon 7D, Ebony Jewelwing, Ebony Jewelwing damselfly, female Ebony Jewelwing, Tamron 18-400mm, Wickford Park on June 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I spotted my first Ebony Jewelwing damselflies (Calopteryx maculata) of the year last week during a short visit to Wickford Park, a small suburban park with a creek that runs through it. Members of this species have distinctive dark wings and are generally found in shaded streams where the mixed lighting makes it challenging to photograph them.

Female Ebony Jewelwings have small white patches (known as pseudostigmas) on their wings that along with their terminal appendages make them easy to identify. The damselflies in these two photos are both female. I am not sure why the eyes of the damselfly in the first photo are so red in appearance—perhaps it is a result of the angle of the light or maybe it is related to the age of the individual. Whatever the case, the red eyes give the damselfly a devilish look.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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First Slaty Skimmer of 2025

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, Summer, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 7D, Libellula incesta, male Slaty Skimmer, Slaty Skimmer, Slaty Skimmer dragonfly, Tamron 18-400mm, Wickford Park on June 14, 2025| 5 Comments »

On Wednesday I visited Wickford Park, a small suburban park a few miles from where I live that has a creek that flows through it. In the past I have spotted a variety of dragonflies and damselflies at this location and once again I was rewarded with some new sightings.

I was pleasantly surprised to spot a male Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta), the first one that I have seen this year. During the summer, Slaty Skimmers are quite common at a number of the locations that I visit. The dark slate blue of the mature males of this species and their brown eyes make this species pretty easy to identify.

I thought about cropping this image closer to give a better look at the dragonfly, but decided that I really liked the twisting vegetation on which the dragonfly was perched and ultimately decided to keep the crop loose. What do you think?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Love is in the air

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, Summer, wildlife, tagged Arigomphus villosipes, Canon 7D, mating Unicorn Clubtail, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Unicorn Clubtail, Unicorn Clubtail dragonfly, villo, Woodbridge VA on June 13, 2025| 4 Comments »

A dragonfly couple in wheel formation flew by me during a recent visit Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and landed on some nearby vegetation. This acrobatic position is the one used by most dragonflies for mating—sometimes they will mate while in the air and other times they will “do the deed” while perched.

I am not totally certain but I believe that these dragonflies are Unicorn Clubtails (Arigomphus villosipes), a species that I see from time to time in my area.

Happy Friday the 13th!

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Powdered Dancer damselfly

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, spring, Summer, Winter, tagged Argia moesta, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Powdered Dancer, Powdered Dancer damselfly, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on June 12, 2025| 5 Comments »

Most of the time that I see damselflies, they are perched in the vegetation. Powdered Dancer damselflies (Argia moesta), like this one that I spotted last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, however, like to perch on bare ground, emergent stones, and along trails. Immature male Powdered Dancers are tan to dark brown, turn darker with age, and becoming almost completely whitish at maturity.

The “powdered” color of this damselfly helped in to blend in almost perfectly with the sand and gravel on this trail at the wildlife refuge. If I had not seen it land, I suspect that I would have had real trouble spotting this Powdered Dancer damselfly.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Reaching for nectar

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, Summer, wildlife, tagged Canon 7D, Eurytides marcellus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA, Zebra Swallowtail, Zebra Swallowtail butterfly on June 11, 2025| 6 Comments »

This Zebra Swallowtail butterfly (Eurytides marcellus) had its wings fully extended as it reached for nectar from an unidentified plant last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I love the way that the photo below shows the butterfly’s long “tails” that appear to be fully intact, making me wonder if this butterfly had recently emerged.

In my area of Northern Virginia Zebra Swallow tails tend to have at least two broods a year. According to the local Prince William Conservation Alliance, “The summer generation is larger and has proportionally wider stripes and longer tails than the spring generation.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Yellow-breasted Chat

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, Summer, wildlife, tagged Canon 7D, Icteria virens, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA, Yellow-breasted Chat on June 10, 2025| 5 Comments »

Last Monday I spotted this beautiful Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I thought that this was my first encounter with this bird species, but a search of my previous blog postings revealed that I got some long distance shots of one in 2022.

Many of the migrating warblers that are passing through my area have various yellow markings, so I assumed that this was simply another warbler. The reality, however, is hardly simple. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “The Yellow-breasted Chat has always been a mystery to taxonomists—it looks similar to warblers but is larger, with a more varied repertoire of songs and calls, and also has other differences in behavior and anatomy. The species was placed in the warbler family (Parulidae) for decades, but in the late 2010s was given its own family (Icteriidae), in recognition of these differences.”

If that were not confusing enough, the name “chat” is used for a number of different birds throughout the world. According to Wikipedia, “Chats (formerly sometimes known as “chat-thrushes”) are a group of small Old World insectivorous birds formerly classified as members of the thrush family (Turdidae), but following genetic DNA analysis are now considered to belong to the Old World flycatcher family (Muscicapidae). The name is normally applied to the more robust ground-feeding flycatchers found in Europe and Asia and most northern species are strong migrants.”

All of this scientific explanation leaves me utterly confused. The only thing I know for sure is that the Yellow-breasted Chat that I photographed was a real treat for me—its bright yellow color immediately brought a smile to my face and lifted my spirits. For me, that is more than enough—I’ll leave the arguments about taxonomy and classification to others.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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American Redstart

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged American Redstart, Canon 7D, immature American Redstart, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Setophaga ruticilla, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on June 9, 2025| 4 Comments »

When I photographed this bird last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I really had no idea what it was. Some aspects of its overall coloration reminded me a little of a Tufted Titmouse, but its shape and size were not right. Its mottled and patchy color suggested to me that this might be an immature bird and I wondered if it might be some kind of warbler.

When I returned home I searched though my identification guides and looked at lots of photos on-line and concluded that this was probably an immature male American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). Some folks on Facebook confirmed my identification, which was helpful, considering that I had never before seen this species. As I suspected, this Redstart is a New World warbler—apparently there is also an Old World Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) that is completely unrelated to the one that I spotted.

Each spring I am absolutely delighted to find any warblers at all. Often I hear the warblers singing in the leafy trees, but only rarely do I manage to catch a glimpse of their beauty.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Black Saddlebags dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Black Saddlebags, Black Saddlebags dragonfly, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Tramea lacerata, Woodbridge VA on June 7, 2025| 4 Comments »

I tracked this Black Saddlebags dragonfly (Tramea lacerata) in the air for quite some time on 2 June at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge until it finally landed and I was able to capture this shot of it perching in the vegetation.

Black Saddlebags are among the few North American dragonfly species that undertake migrations. Specifically, the offspring of the Black Saddlebag dragonflies migrate south in the fall, while some return north in the spring to breed. It’s impossible for me to know if the dragonfly in this photo started its journey somewhere to the south, but that is certainly a possibility.

One thing I do know for sure is that Black Saddlebags spend a lot of their time in the air, patrolling back and forth over an area. Most of the time when I spot them, they are flying, so it was nice to have a chance to capture a shot of one on the ground.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue-faced Meadowhawk (immature male)

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Blue-faced Meadowhawk, Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly, Canon 7D, immature male Blue-faced Meadowhawk, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sympetrum ambiguum, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on June 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I was really surprised to spot this immature Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum ambiguum) on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. In the past I have seen this species only in late summer and early autumn and by the bodies of those dragonflies have always been red in color and the face has had a distinctive blue tinge.

This dragonfly appears to have only recently emerged and that is its the body is tan rather than red—the color will change as he matures. The stripes on the abdomen and the eye color, though, helped me to identify it as a Blue-faced Meadowhawk rather than the somewhat similar Autumn Meadowhawk that has brown eyes.

I was curious to understand why I happened to spot this species a lot earlier than usual and have heard some other dragonfly enthusiasts speculate that the immature Blue-faced Meadowhawks “hide” in the woods and make an appearance only later in the season. One of the experts in Virginia Odonata Facebook group to which I belong noted that “They appear to have two different emergence periods, one in spring and one in late summer/fall.”

Whatever the reason for the early appearance, I was delighted to see and photograph this Blue-faced Meadowhawk, one of my favorite dragonfly species. A few long-time subscribers may recall that I was awarded second place almost ten years ago in a local photography contest for a macro close-up of a Blue-faced Meadowhawk. If you are interested in learning more about that experience and seeing the “award winning” image, check out my blog posting from December 2015 entitled “Second place in local photo contest.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Female Widow Skimmer

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 7D, female Widow Skimmer, Libellula luctuosa, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Widow Skimmer, Widow Skimmer dragonfly, Woodbridge VA on June 5, 2025| 1 Comment »

On Monday I spotted this female Widow Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula luctuosa), my first one of 2025, during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Widow Skimmers have very distinctive dark patches on their wings that reminded the scientist who named them of the dark mourning crepe worn by Victorian-era widows during their initial stages of mourning and even their Latin name “luctuosa” means “sorrowful.”

The weather in my area has warmed considerably this week and already it feels like summer. Gradually the summer dragonflies, like this Widow Skimmer, are starting to appear. The hot days of summer are a bit uncomfortable for me, but seem to be preferred by many dragonfly species.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Big Bluet damselfly

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Big Bluet, Big Bluet damselfly, Canon 7D, Enallagma durum, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on June 4, 2025| 8 Comments »

When I spotted these damselflies last week I was not sure what species they were. Most of the damselflies that I had seen near this location at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge in the past were Big Bluet damselflies (Enallagma durum), but the coloration of this one was different enough that I was not confident in identifying it. I posted a photo in a Facebook group that specializes in dragonflies and damselflies and one of the experts there confirmed that this is in fact a Big Bluet.

I am happy to identify this species, but I must confess that I am even more happy with the images that I was able to capture. For all three images, I believe, I had to focus manually as I tried to compose the images, which can be a real challenge with a digital camera. When I first started taking photos back in the pre-digital age, I remember that my single-lens reflex film camera had a split prism area that you had to adjust and you knew that the subject was in focus when the two halves of the image aligned.

My telephoto lens was extended fully to 400mm, so I was a pretty good distance from the damselflies when I composed these shots. I particularly like the first image, in which the branch at the top third of the shot gradually falls out of focus, allowing the viewer to focus on the damselfly clinging to the leaf.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 7D, Great Spangled Fritillary, Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Speyeria cybele, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on June 3, 2025| 7 Comments »

I was excited last week to see a lot of Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies (Speyeria cybele) that appear to have recently emerged at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Great Spangled Fritillaries are large orange-colored butterflies with dark-colored markings on the inner wings and prominent silvery white spots on the underside of the hind wings, i.e. the “spangles” in the name of the species.

Most of the ones that I saw appeared to be feeding on the trails, as you can see in the two photos below, rather than feeding on the nectar of flowers, as I have typically seen them do in the past. Perhaps they need minerals from the ground when they first emerge or were attempting to drink water from the damp soil.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Needham’s Skimmer dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 7D, female Needham's Skimmer, Libellula needhami, Needham's Skimmer, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on May 31, 2025| 4 Comments »

I was delighted yesterday during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge to spot this beautiful female Needham’s Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula needhami), my first of the year. Later in the year, Needham’s Skimmers will become the most frequent dragonfly that I will encounter at this location but the dragonfly in the photo below was the only one that I saw yesterday.

Needham’s Skimmers are quite distinctive in appearance. Mature males are reddish-orange in color and stand out from the males of other species. Females and immature males have a body coloration that is shared with some other species, but the golden yellow veins at the leading edges of their wings distinguishes them from the others.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Late-season Blue Corporal dragonflies

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Blue Corporal, Blue Corporal dragonfly, Canon 7D, Ladona deplanata, male Blue Corporal, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on May 27, 2025| 4 Comments »

Blue Corporals (Ladona deplanata) are an early-season dragonfly—they appear in April and are usually gone by the beginning of June. I was therefore happy to spot some Blue Corporals in mid-May during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Blue Corporals perches frequently on low flat surfaces, often on the ground, so they are sometimes hard to see when the ground is cluttered, as it often is at this time of the year.

The dragonfly’s “corporal” stripes on his thorax are really visible in the first photos, so I could immediately identify his species. A short time later I was surprised when I saw a Blue Corporal land on a rusty bit of metal sticking out of the water at the edge of a small pond—I haven’t seen Blue Corporals flying over the water very often. I think this might have been a fence post or some kind of marker, because it appeared to be attached to some concrete.

I was absolutely delighted to be able to captures the texture of the rusty metal and the orange-blue complementary colors make this image particularly eye-catching.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Spangled Skimmer dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 7D, Libellula cyanea, male Spangled Skimmer, Orkney Springs VA, Shrine Mont, Spangled Skimmer, Spangled Skimmer dragonfly, Tamron 18-400 on May 26, 2025| 2 Comments »

There are quite a few blue dragonflies where I live, so I can’t always rely on color to tell them apart. Fortunately, it is relatively easy to identify a male Spangled Skimmer (Libellula cyanea), because it has a lighter-colored spot beside a black spot on the outer leading edge of each wing—as far as I know, no other dragonfly in our area has multi-colored stigmata, the technical name for those spots.

The stigmata are not there for decoration, but reportedly serve an important role in the flight of dragonflies. I do not really understand the physics of flight, but have read that the stigmata are heavier than the adjoining cells and help to stabilize the vibrations of the wings.

I spotted this male Spangled Skimmer as he was perched in the vegetation at the edge of a small pond at Shrine Mont, an Episcopal Church retreat center, in Orkney Springs, Virginia. Most often I try to get side views of dragonflies in order to get most of the body in focus, but in this case I deliberately tried to focus on the dragonfly’s large, compound eyes, knowing that much of the body would fall out of focus. This allows the viewer’s attention to be drawn immediately to those eyes.

I encourage you to click on the image to get a closer look at the dragonfly’s amazing eyes.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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More flying Common Baskettails

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 7D, Common Baskettail, Common Baskettail dragonfly, Epitheca cynosura, Orkney Springs VA, Shrine Mont, Tamron 18-400mm on May 24, 2025| 4 Comments »

I was away in the mountains last weekend at a church retreat at Shrine Mont, and Episcopal retreat center in Orkney Springs, Virginia. We had a wonderful time of rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation in a really beautiful setting.

There was a small pond at the site where I spotted a number of dragonflies, including some Common Baskettails (Epitheca cynosura) that were patrolling back and forth over the surface of the water. I felt compelled to try to capture images of these dragonflies and had a modest amount of success, as you can see in the photos below. I ended up focusing manually most of the time, because the backgrounds were often cluttered and the focus system had trouble acquiring the dragonflies.

I really like the way that this little series shows the varied backgrounds at the pond. I was also quite happy to focus well enough on the dragonflies that the backgrounds were blurred and non-distracting. In case you are curious, these Common Baskettails were relatively cooperative, hovering a bit over the water and allowing me time to focus on them.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Ospreys in action

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, osprey mating, osprey nest, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on May 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

When I first spotted two Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) sitting in a large eagle nest last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I assumed that one of them was sitting on eggs. I was therefore a bit surprised when one of the ospreys mounted the other in what I assume was an act of mating. That suggests that there are not yet any eggs in the nest.

After a brief period of activity, the one that is probably the male flew away from the nest and I managed to capture a couple of photos of his departure. Both of the ospreys are in the frame in the second and third photos below and I really like the way that I captured the wing span of the departing osprey and his spread tail feathers. I encourage you to click on these two images to get a closer look at the ospreys, particularly the male.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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First Blue Dasher of 2025

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Blue Dasher, Blue Dasher dragonfly, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Pachydiplax longipennis, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on May 21, 2025| 5 Comments »

I usually try to get close-up shots of dragonflies, but sometimes that is not possible. In those cases, I try to be creative and frame and/or isolate the subject with elements of the environment, as I did with this Blue Dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis) that I spotted last Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the first one that I have spotted this year.

I really like this composition, despite the fact that the dragonfly is very small in the photo, thanks largely to the undulating green waves of the leaves and the out-of-focus branches in the background. What do you think? Should I have cropped the photo a bit more?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Goldfinch in plain sight

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged American Goldfinch, Canon 7D, goldfinch, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Spinus tristis, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on May 20, 2025| 9 Comments »

As I have noted in several recent posts, I have real troubles spotting birds when the trees are fully leafed out. In other seasons, when the trees are bare, birds tend to fly to new perches when they detect my presence and I can often track them when they are in flight and follow them visually to their new perches. Now, however, the birds seem to remain in place and sing loudly, but remain invisible to my eyes.

Last week I managed to capture an image of an American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) when he popped into view momentarily outside of the tree canopy at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The little goldfinch was visible for only a short period of time, but fortunately I was looking in the right direction at that moment.

Later in the day I spotted another goldfinch perched in a distant tree. For some reason, the tree had no leaves, so it was easy for me to see the bird. I grabbed a shot and tried to move a little closer, but the bird could see my movement and immediately flew away. I hesitated to post the second photo below, because the bird is so small in the frame, but decided that I really liked the contrast between the bright yellow of the bird and the starkness of the branches and the white sky, a nice counterpoint to the lushness of the vegetation in the first photo.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bald Eagle Takeoff

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle takeoff, Canon 7D, eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on May 19, 2025| 12 Comments »

As I rounded a bend in a trail last Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I spotted a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the foliage of a tree right in front of me. The eagle and I both reacted instantly, but its reflexes were faster than mine and the eagle took the air. I managed to capture a few shots of the departing eagle, a testament to both my luck and a quick reaction in bringing my camera up to my eye.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Honey Bee and False Indigo

Posted in Bees, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Amorpha fruticosa, bee, Canon 7D, false indigo bush, g. Apis, honey bee, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on May 16, 2025| 2 Comments »

The colors of the False Indigo Bushes (Amorpha fruticosa) were spectacular on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, attracting my attention as well as that of an energetic honey bee (g. Apis) whose pollen sacs were already filled to bulging. I was initially paying so much attention to focusing on the moving bee that I did not realize that my shutter speed had dropped to 1/400—I was in aperture priority mode. The first photo was a “happy accident: in which the bee’s face was in focus, but its rapidly-moving wings were a blur.

In the second shot, the bee had landed and was crawling all around the stalks of the false indigo bush. I am really happy with my snapshot of that action that captured the color and movement of my brief encounter with the honey bee.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Calico Pennant dragonflies

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Calico Pennant, Calico Pennant dragonfly, Canon 7D, Celithemis elisa, male Calico Pennant, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on May 15, 2025| 4 Comments »

Later in the season I can rely on coloration to distinguish between male and female Calico Pennant dragonflies (Celithemis elisa)—the bodies of males are red and those of females are yellow. When they first emerge, however, immature males are yellow, so you have to look really closely at a given individual to determine its gender.

The terminal appendages of the dragonfly in the second photo indicate to me that it is a male, despite the fact that its body is yellow. The one in the first photo is also an immature male Calico Pennant dragonfly that is just beginning to change from yellow to red. I love the way that he is perched on the very tip of the flimsy vegetation stalk, holding tightly to it with all of his little legs.

I spotted these two dragonflies on 12 May at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, my first sightings of this colorful dragonfly species of the year. There is something really special about the patterned wings of both genders of Calico Pennants and when viewed from the right angle, as in the second photo, the pattern on their bodies look like a series of hearts.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Big Bluet damselfly (female)

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Big Bluet, Big Bluet damselfly, Canon 7D, Enallagma durum, female big bluet, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on May 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »

During a visit on Monday to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I noted that many of the summer dragonfly and damselflies are starting to appear. I was particularly delighted to spot several Big Bluet damselflies (Enallagma durum). As their name suggests, Big Bluets are relatively large damselflies, with an overall length of about 1.7 inches (43 mm).

Big Bluets tend to active and a bit skittish, so it’s a bit tough to get a decent shot of one, especially when I am shooting with a zoom lens. The auto-focus of my Tamron 18-400mm zoom often has trouble focusing on a damselfly, because their bodies are so thin and they clasp their wings together over their bodies. Consequently, I frequently end up focusing manually and it is an advantage with this lens that the minimum focusing distance is 17.7 inches (45 cm), so I can get pretty close to my subject.

I was delighted to be able to capture this beautiful image of a female Big Bluet. My focusing was spot on and the background blurred out nicely. If you look closely, you may notice that the depth of field, i.e. what was in focus, was so shallow that much of the stalk of vegetation on which the damselfly was perched was out of focus. In case you are curious, I tried to position myself so that I was on a parallel plane with the damselfly’s body to get as much of it in sharp focus as possible.

One interesting factual tidbits about Female Big Bluets is that, like several other damselfly species, they come in two different color variants. This one is the blue form and there is also an olive form. What that means is that I cannot rely exclusively on the color of the damselfly to determine its species and must also look at other features like the shapes of the eyespots and markings on the terminal appendages.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cormorant in a small pond

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 7D, cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Nannopterum auritum, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on May 13, 2025| 1 Comment »

The feathers of Double-crested Cormorants (Nannopterum auritum) are not completely waterproof, so periodically they have to dry out their wings. I often see cormorants completely out of the water, perched on rocks or logs with extended wings. This cormorant last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge apparently decided, however, that a perch was not necessary—it simply spread its wings in the air and held them in that position.

A bit earlier I captured the second image below. Usually I see cormorants in the deep waters of the bay, but this cormorant was in a small pond at the wildlife refuge. The pond is mostly surrounded by trees that are now in bloom and I was happy to capture some of the colors of the trees in their reflections on the surface of the water.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Five-lined Skink in May

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 7D, Common Five-Lined Skink, Five-lined Skink, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, Plestiodon fasciatus, skink, Tamron 18-400mm on May 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Common Five-lined Skinks (Plestiodon fasciatus) are indeed quite common, but they are so skittish that they are tough to photograph. As soon as they see me (or sense my presence), they will usually scamper away to the underside of the logs on which they like to perch. On a recent visit to Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, I spotted this skink sunning itself on a log and was able to get this shot because I approached him from behind—this technique does not work as well for dragonflies, which have massive compound eyes that provide them with a field of view of almost 360 degrees.

It is always fun to encounter juvenile skinks that have bright blue tails, but this one appeared to be an adult. I noted too that its tail was intact. Like many lizards, skinks possess the unique defense mechanism of being able to drop their tail to escape predators. The dropped tail continues to wiggle, distracting the predator, while the skink flees. Skinks can regenerate their lost tail, though the new tail may differ in structure and coloration from the original.

As many of you know, I love bad “Dad” jokes and this skink reminded me of one of them. “Where do skinks go to find a replacement for a lost tail? A retail outlet.” Sorry!

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Turkey at the edge of the woods

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 7D, Meleagris gallopavo, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Wild Turkey, Woodbridge VA on May 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The trees are now covered with leaves, providing hiding places for the tiny songbirds that I can hear but cannot see. Fortunately, some birds are so big that it is hard to miss them, like this Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) that I spotted this past Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

This turkey was slowly walking away from me and I captured this shot when he was in motion. I don’t think that a Wild Turkeys can balance themselves on a single leg when stationary, though perhaps there is a special kind of turkey yoga that enhances their balancing abilities.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Black Swallowtail in May

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged black swallowtail, black swallowtail butterfly, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Papilio polyxenes, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on May 9, 2025| 2 Comments »

Although it is relatively early in the butterfly season, this beautiful Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) that I spotted on Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge was already beginning to show signs of the wear and tear of everyday life, with damage to its wings and body and one missing “tail.” I don’t know what caused the damage to the butterfly’s wings, but suspect that it might have been attacks by predators or collisions with thorns or other sharp vegetation.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Forktail damselflies

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 7D, Eastern Forktail, Eastern Forktail damselfly, Fragile Forktail, Fragile Forktail damselfly, Ischnura posita, Ischnura verticalis, Lorton VA, Occoquan Regional Park, Prince William Forest Park, Tamron 18-400mm, Triangle VA on May 8, 2025| 3 Comments »

It has taken a little while, but I am starting to see damselflies during my searches for dragonflies. As many of you know, damselflies and dragonflies are “cousins” in the sense that they are both members of the order Odonata. Generally speaking, dragonflies have thicker, shorter bodies and hold their wings out to the sides when resting, while damselflies are slender with wings often folded together. The eyes of dragonflies often touch each other, while those of damselflies tend to be more widely separated.

The first photo below shows a Fragile Forktail damselfly (Ischnura posita), a very common species where I live. The interrupted shoulder stripes look like exclamation marks, which makes them pretty easy to identify. The second photo shows what I am pretty certain is a female Eastern Forktail damselfly (Ischnura verticalis). Female damselflies of a number of species are similar in appearance, so I am a bit less confident that I have correctly identified this individual.

More damselflies will continue to appear as I shift my attention almost exclusively from birds to insects. As a result of recent rains, the trees in my area are now covered with leaves, which means that I am increasingly having trouble seeing the birds that I can hear singing.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mayapple flower in May

Posted in Flowers, Nature, Photography, spring, tagged Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge, Canon 7D, daddy longlegs, Fort Belvoir VA, Mayapple, mayapple flower, opiliones, Podophyllum peltatum, Tamron 18-400mm on May 7, 2025| 2 Comments »

Most flowers have blooms at the end of their stems or at least in places above their leaves. Each spring, however, I encounter Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum), a strange plant that seems to work in a totally different way. Mayapple plants grow in colonies from a single root and stems put out large umbrella-shaped leaves, with usually only a single large leaf per stem. These stems do not produce any flower or fruit.

A few stems, though, produce a pair or more leaves and a single white blossom appears at the juncture point where the stem branches off. If you don’t know that the blooms are there, it is easy to miss them, because the large leaves hide them from view.

Last week during a trip to Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge I checked out several large patches of Mayapples that I had seen in previous years. I think I might have been a little late in the season, but eventually I found a Mayapple plant with a flower that was clearly past its prime. As you can see in the first photo, a harvestman, known colloquially as a daddy longlegs, was camped out on the flower, waiting perhaps for potential prey. For the second photo, I zoomed out a bit to show the unusual location of the flower on the Mayapple plant and the habitat in which these plants grow.

As many of you know, I focus mostly on wildlife creatures in my photography, but my almost insatiable sense of curiosity draws me to anything weird and wonderful that catches my eyes, like Mayapples in bloom.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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