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Archive for the ‘Summer’ Category

Rabbits at Occoquan Bay

Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, rabbit, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA on July 22, 2017| 3 Comments »

I don’t feature rabbits very often on this blog because I don’t see them very often. Actually that is not entirely accurate—I have a rabbit named Prime Rib who appears from time to time, but I don’t count him, because he does not live in wild and instead lives in a cage in my living room.

At Huntley Meadows Park, where I do a lot of my wildlife photography, I rarely see rabbits. Perhaps the marshy and wooded habitat is less than ideal for the rabbits or perhaps the hawks are brutally efficient at keeping their numbers low. During some recent visits to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which has more open grassy areas, I’ve spotted numerous rabbits and decided to feature a couple of them today.

In a recent posting, I expressed my concern about possibly oversaturating my readers with dragonfly photos. In an exchange of comments, a faithful reader, Dan Antion, shared similar concerns about his photos of rabbits and squirrels and I warned him that I was going venture into his niche and post some rabbit photos. Dan is one of my favorite bloggers and I encourage everyone to check out his blog No Facilities for his humorous and insightful looks at the joys and frustrations of everyday life as well as some great photos, including images of the aforementioned squirrels and rabbits and his faithful dog Maddie.

This one is for you, Dan.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Green Heron flyby

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Butorides virescens, Canon 50D, green heron, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm on July 19, 2017| 4 Comments »

Green Herons (Butorides virescens) have so much personality packed into their small bodies. This one almost seemed to be smiling as it flew by me last weekend at Huntley Meadows Park. Perhaps it was just my imagination running away with me.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Milkweed Tiger Moth caterpillar

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Euchaetes egle, milkweed tiger moth, milkweed tussock moth, milkweed tussock moth caterpillar, mlkweed tiger moth caterpillar, Tamron 180mm, Wickford Park on July 17, 2017| 14 Comments »

What in the world is that? That was my initial reaction when I spotted a mass of black, orange, and white fibers sitting atop a milkweed plant leaf. As I moved closer, I changed my mind and decided it was probably a cocoon. I was shocked when it started moving and I realized that it was a strange-looking caterpillar.

When it comes to finding insects, milkweed plants are one of my favorite locations. There are all kinds of bugs and butterflies that make their homes on these plants and I make a point to explore them whenever I find them growing. These particular milkweeds were growing in a wooded area of Wickford Park, a small park adjacent to Huntley Meadows Park, the marshland location where I shoot many of the photos featured in this blog.

After photographing the single caterpillar, I stumbled across a whole family of them devouring a leaf on a another milkweed plant. I didn’t know the species of the caterpillar, but it was easy to do a search on the internet, because I could identify the host plant. I learned that this is a Milkweed Tiger Moth caterpillar (Euchaetes egle), also known as a Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Oversaturation?

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Celithemis eponina, halloween pennant, Halloween Pennant dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm on July 16, 2017| 17 Comments »

Is it possible that I am sharing too many dragonfly images, that I am oversaturating the market and taxing the patience and tolerance of my readers? I realize that not everyone is as drawn as I am to these amazing little creatures and that some folks are repelled by insects of any variety or are simply not interested in them.

An old adage asserts that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and to a certain extent I agree with that statement. However, I would counterargue that beauty is not entirely subjective, that there are cases in which the majority of people would agree that something is beautiful.

I somehow think that this might be the case for an image I captured this past Friday of a spectacular female Halloween Pennant dragonfly (Celithemis eponina) at Huntley Meadows Park. Most of the Halloween Pennants that I have photographed this year have been males, which tend to be more visible, since they are trying to attract females, so it was a treat to spot a female. In the dragonfly world, females usually are the ones that choose the partner for mating and they frequently remain in the treeline or in open fields until they are ready.

I had my 150-600mm lens mounted on my camera, because I was hoping that I might see a bald eagle or a hawk, so I was able to shoot this dragonfly from a distance without disturbing her. I focused manually and was able to capture some beautiful details of the dragonfly, such as the two-toned eyes and the long, two-toned legs. I love the organic shape and feel of the cool-looking perch that the dragonfly had chosen. The background dropped out of focus so much that it almost looks like a studio shot and draws the eyes of viewers to the subject.

When you first read the title, you might have scratched your head in puzzlement, because the color palette is more subdued than oversaturated. By now, it should be clear that I was not referring to the colors, but to the question of whether or not I am posting too many images of dragonflies. Fear not, not all of my postings will be about dragonflies, but we are in the prime period for dragonflies, so stay tuned for more images of these amazing aerial acrobats. When it comes to the quantity of my dragonfly images, I feel like some Southerners do about sugar in their sweet tea—you can never have too much of a good thing.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Playful pose

Posted in Birds, Nature, Summer, wildlife, tagged Aix sponsa, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm, wood duck on July 14, 2017| Leave a Comment »

I spotted several young Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) this morning at Huntley Meadows Park, including these two who playfully posed for me. Actually, there were three young Wood Ducks grooming themselves on a long and one decided to jump into the water. After swimming around for a while, the duck in the water decided to dry its wings and I was able to capture the extended wings in this shot. In case you are curious, the third duck was just out of the frame to the right. Although it was well past the “golden hour,” the light was beautiful and I was happy to be able to capture a partial reflection of the duck with outstretched wings.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Green Heron in a tree

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Butorides virescens, Canon 50D, green heron, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm on July 13, 2017| 3 Comments »

Why do we like certain photos more than others? What makes a good image? These questions churn away in my brain every time that I have my camera in my hand and often even when my hands are empty. Sure, there are rules and guidelines and generally accepted norms, but often it comes down to personal, unexplainable preferences—I like what I like.

Last weekend I spent a lot of time observing Green Herons (Butorides virescens) at Huntley Meadows Park. I kept trying to capture action shots of the herons catching fish or flying through the air, but I pretty much came up empty-handed. Oh, I took a lot of shots and once I wade through them all there may be some decent images of the herons that I will choose to post, but none of those images really spoke to me during my initial review of the photos from that day.

I was drawn instead to some images from early in the day when a fellow photographer and I spotted a Green Heron in the trees in the distance. We were standing on a boardwalk, so there was only a limited freedom of movement to frame our shots. There was a lot of vegetation that partially obstructed our view of the heron. I searched in vain for a visual tunnel that afforded a clear view of the entire body of the heron. Still, the light was beautiful, so I kept shooting—when it comes to birds, expressions are so fleeting that it is best to shoot a lot of images.

I decided to post this shot and attempt to explain why. There are so many things that I like about this image that I am not really bothered by the leaves that blocked my view. What do I like? I love the tilted head as the heron looks to the sky and basks in the sun; I like the little head feathers that look like a cowlick; I really like the shapes and colors in the background; and I am happy that I was able to capture some details in the wing feathers.

Is it one of my best shots? No, it is not, but I choose to post images that I like and especially the ones that make me happy, like his image of a pensive, relaxed Green Heron in a tree.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Insect counterpart

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Fort Belvoir VA, Hermaris thysbe, Hummingbird Clearwing, Hummingbird Clearwing Moth, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, Tamron 180mm on July 11, 2017| 1 Comment »

I haven’t seen many hummingbirds this year, so I am always excited to spot one of their insect counterparts in action. Hummingbird Clearwing Moths (Hemaris thysbe) act a lot like hummingbirds, with the notable difference of gathering nectar with their long proboscises rather than with needle-like bills.

I photographed this moth yesterday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. As you can probably imagine, I had to take a lot of shots to get one in which the moth was in focus and had its wings in a relatively good position. These moths are really fast, keep moving in and out of the flowers, and are pretty small—about a wingspan of about an inch and a half (4 cm).

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Butterflies and coneflowers

Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Canon 50D, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Papilio glaucus, skipper, Tamron 180mm, Vienna VA on July 10, 2017| 8 Comments »

Brightly-colored flowers and butterflies—-what a wonderful combination for a summer’s day. I spotted these beauties this past weekend at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia.

The first shot features a little skipper butterfly on a spectacular, orange-red coneflower. The other two shots highlight the beauty of an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) in a patch of the more frequently observed purple coneflowers.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Tropical water lilies at Kenilworth

Posted in Flowers, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Anacostia, Canon 50D, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, Tamron 180mm, tropical water lilies, Washington D.C., water lilies, water lily on June 29, 2017| Leave a Comment »

I just love the vibrant colors of the tropical water lilies at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, like this one that I photographed on Sunday during a brief trip there. These gardens, located in a part of Washington D.C., are run by the National Park Service and have acres of ponds with all kinds of lotuses and water lilies. The tropical water lilies are in small cement ponds behind the visitor center and are one of my favorite spots to visit.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Sideward swallowtail

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, green spring gardens, Papilio glaucus, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on September 6, 2016| 2 Comments »

I’ll often try to get shots of butterflies with their wings wide open, but when they turn sideward, you can sometimes get an equally spectacular view of them slowly sipping nectar. I can’t identify the flower, but the butterfly definitely is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) that I chased about this past weekend at Green Spring Gardens.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Damaged wings

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, damaged wings, dark swallowtail, Huntley Meadows Park, Papilio troilus, Spicebush Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly, Tamron 150-600mm on September 1, 2016| 5 Comments »

Butterflies fly so expertly that I often can’t tell that they have severe wing damage until I look closely. That was certainly the case this past weekend when I was observing a dark swallowtail at Huntley Meadows Park.

I didn’t get an absolutely clear look at it, but I think it might be a Spice Bush Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio troilus), judging from its colors and patterns. In the first photo, you can see only minor damage, but when the butterfly changed position, the extent of the damage became much more apparent.

I consider flight to be somewhat of a mystery in any case, but it is even more of a mystery how a butterfly can fly so well when one of its wings is almost completely detached from its body,

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Arrowhead Spider

Posted in Arachnids, Nature, Photography, spiders, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, Arrowhead Spider, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm, Triangulate Orb Weaver, Triangulate Orb Weaver spider, Verrucosa arenata on August 30, 2016| 4 Comments »

This past weekend I spotted an unusual-looking spider at Huntley Meadows Park. I took this shot from a distance, so I didn’t capture all of its wonderful details, but it looks to me like a Triangulate Orb Weaver spider (Verrucosa arenata), also known as an Arrowhead Spider.

The spider was hanging in mid-air, which helped a slight bit with focusing, but Arrowhead Spiders are less than a half inch in size (about one cm), so it was a bit of a challenge getting any kind of shot with my telephoto zoom lens extended to 600mm.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Red Admiral in a tree

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, huntley meadows, Red Admiral, Red Admiral butterfly, Tamron 150-600mm, Vanessa atalanta on August 28, 2016| 6 Comments »

Here’s a shot of another one of the colorful butterflies of Huntley Meadows Park. I spotted this Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) there this past Friday morning as it perched in a tree. What was the butterfly doing in the tree? It seemed to me that it was simply resting, though I suppose that it might also have been trying to attract a mate.

From a photography perspective, I really like the way that the background is divided into two separate colors, creating a kind of yin-yang effect.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Swift Setwing dragonfly still with us

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Canon 50D, Dythemis velox, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbot Wetlands Refuge, Swift Setwing, Swift Setwing dragonfly, Tamron 180mm on August 25, 2016| 6 Comments »

On Monday I spotted this beautiful Swift Setwing dragonfly (Dythemis velox) at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetlands Refuge at Fort Belvoir, a nearby military base. When I observed one at the same location in June, it was the first time that one had been recorded in Fairfax County, the county in Northern Virginia where I live, so I was a little surprised to see that they are still around.

If you would like to see some photos of my initial sighting, check out my blog posting from June 25. The range of this dragonfly seems to be moving northward and it seems likely that I’ll be seeing this species again next year, since I suspect that mating and egg-laying have been taking place during the past two months.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Not a beetle

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Ailanthus Webworm moth, Atteva aurea, Canon 50D, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbot Wetlands Refuge, Tamron 180mm on August 23, 2016| 8 Comments »

My eyes were drawn yesterday to the bright yellow of a patch of goldenrod as I was exploring Jackson Miles Abbott Wetlands Refuge at nearby Fort Belvoir. From past experience I knew that goldenrod also attracts a wide variety of insects, so I moved in closer with my macro lens at the ready.

There were a lot of skipper butterflies, but what really caught my eye was a small, brightly patterned insect that was crawling around in the goldenrod. Based on its shape, I assumed that it was some kind of beetle, but I had not idea what kind it was. When I returned home and began to do a little research, I was a little shocked to learn that the insect in question was a moth, not a beetle. I am pretty sure that it is an Ailanthus Webworm moth (Atteva aurea).

The colors and patterns of this moth are so spectacular that I think it needs a name that is more descriptive and easier to remember. Any ideas?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Great Blue Skimmer in mid-August

Posted in Dragonflies, Macro Photography, 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 21, 2016| 2 Comments »

Many of the dragonflies that I see this late in the summer have wings that are torn and tattered, yet they seem to still fly perfectly well. The dragonflies clearly are survivors—survivors of encounters with predators and thorny vegetation or even of overly energetic mating sessions.

Last Friday I spotted this Great Blue Skimmer (Libellula vibrans) as it perched on some bent stalks of grass. He is not a perfect specimen, but I can’t help but be drawn in by his beautiful speckled blue eyes.

Yes, he still deserves to be called “great.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Monarch in a tree

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Danaus plexippus, Huntley Meadows Park, Monarch, monarch butterfly, Tamron 150-600mm on August 20, 2016| 3 Comments »

The last few years I haven’t seen many Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) and I have read reports of their declining numbers. I was therefore pretty excited when I spotted one yesterday at Huntley Meadows Park. As I approached, the Monarch got spooked and flew up into a tree. Fortunately I was shooting with my long telephoto zoom lens and I managed to get this somewhat unusual shot of the beautiful butterfly.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Busy bees of August

Posted in Bees, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, bees, Canon 50D, green spring gardens, Tamron 180mm on August 17, 2016| 5 Comments »

Despite this summer’s scorching heat and high humidity, the bees of Green Spring Gardens were busy at work gathering pollen and sipping nectar during a recent visit to the gardens. I’m certainly no expert on bees, but it looks like there are several different varieties in the photos below.

I’m pretty confident that the bee in the final shot is a carpenter bee because its abdomen is bare and shiny, unlike that of the bumblebee, which has a hairy abdomen. If you look closely at that image, you’ll see that this bee appears to be a nectar robber—it is piercing the flower from the side to extract the nectar and thereby is not playing any role in pollinating the flower.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Praying Mantis

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, mantis, mantis religiosa, praying mantis, Tamron 180mm on August 15, 2016| 7 Comments »

I spotted this Praying Mantis on Saturday at Huntley Meadows Park as it was crawling about on a nesting box for birds in one of the remote areas of the park. I am pretty confident that the nesting box, which was used by Tree Swallows earlier in the year, was no longer in active use—otherwise the mantis probably would not have survived for long. I was struck by the size of the insect, which seemed to be about six inches (15 cm) in length.

I think this may be a Mantis religiosa, one of the more common types of mantises, though Wikipedia notes that there are over 2400 species worldwide, so I could easily be incorrect in my identification.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Butterfly and Joe Pye

Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, Eutrochium, Huntley Meadows Park, Joe-Pye weed, Papilio glaucus, Tamron 150-600mm on August 9, 2016| 1 Comment »

Hot, humid summer days may be a little tough on us, but butterflies seem to love them. I captured this shot of a spectacular Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) this past weekend at Huntley Meadows Park as it sipped nectar from what I think is Joe-Pye weed (g. Eutrochium). (I am a bit uncertain about the plant identification and wonder if it might instead be a kind of milkweed, but “Joe Pye” rhymes with butterfly and sounds cooler, so I’ll go with that as a possible identification.)

Unlike many butterflies that I see at this time of the year whose wings are tattered and torn, this butterfly seemed to be in perfect condition. The sun was shining brightly when I took these shots and I was really afraid of blowing out the highlights of this lightly-c0lored butterfly. I switched the metering on my camera to spot metering and was able to get a good exposure of the butterfly and the background went really dark, adding a bit of drama to the images.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue Dashers in Massachusetts

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Blue Dasher, Blue Dasher dragonfly, Canon 50D, Canon 70-, Pachydiplax longipennis, Woburn MA on August 2, 2016| 3 Comments »

It was really easy to find Blue Dasher dragonflies (Pachydiplax longipennis) near the hotel where I stayed in Woburn, Massachusetts this past weekend. The challenge was capturing them in interesting poses, which was a bit more difficult than usual because they were unusually skittish—maybe they are not used to seeing people.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Pipevine Swallowtail on Buttonbush

Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, Battus philenor, Buttonbush, Canon 50D, Cephalanthus occidentalis, Huntley Meadows Park, Pipevine Swallowtail, Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly, Tamron 150-600mm on July 28, 2016| 11 Comments »

Butterflies were really active this past Monday at Huntley Meadows Park, especially around the buttonbushes (Cephalanthus occidentalis). A dark swallowtail butterfly caught my eye and my mind raced to remember how to distinguish among the various dark swallowtails. Fortunately I had enough presence of mind to capture some images, knowing I could search different resources when I got home.

I’m pretty confident that the butterfly in question is a Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor). One of its distinguishing characteristics is a single row of orange spots in the shape of a C. As I was searching the internet, I came across a wonderful posting by Louisana Naturalist that has side-by-side photos of four different dark swallowtails —the Black Swallowtail, the dark morph of the female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, the Spicebush Swallowtail, and the Pipevine Swallowtail.

As I was trying to get a shot of this butterfly, which was in constant motion, another insect decided to photobomb us. I think it is a bee and I am including a photo of the photobombing insect just for fun.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Staying cool

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Cardinalis cardinalis, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern cardinal, Tamron 150-600mm on July 27, 2016| 5 Comments »

How do birds manage to survive the unbearable heat of summer? Monday, on a day when temperatures soared to 100 degrees (38 degrees C), I spotted this Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) at Huntley Meadows Park. It was sitting in the shade and looked like it had fluffed up its feathers or was drying off after a dip in the pond in an effort to stay cool.

I was the crazy one standing in the sun.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Glad

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Cindy Dyer, gladiolas, Runnymeade, Tamron 180mm on July 26, 2016| 1 Comment »

When the temperature is 96 degrees outside (about 36 degrees C), it’s hard to have the energy to go far with my camera. Fortunately, my neighbor, fellow photographer Cindy Dyer, has an awesome garden. I was glad to be able to capture this shot of some gladiolas that were blooming there this past weekend.

Thanks, Cindy.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Sunflowers

Posted in Flowers, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Canon 50D, McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, Poolesville MD, sunflower, sunflowers, Tamron 180mm on July 25, 2016| 4 Comments »

The bright colors and distinctive shape of sunflowers never fail to bring a smile to my face. Here’s a shot of one from my trip last Friday to McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Poolesville, Maryland.

Normally a shot like this is easy to get when the towering sunflowers reach tall into the sky. In reality, however, the sunflowers at this site were not that tall and I had to crouch low to the ground to capture this image. In addition, many of the sunflowers were a bit wilted and past their peak. One of my Facebook readers commented that it looked like the flowers had their heads bowed in prayer in the following shot, which gives you and idea of the conditions in one area of the field of sunflowers.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Black-shouldered Spinyleg

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Black-shouldered Spinyleg, Black-shouldered Spinyleg dragonfly, Canon 50D, Dromogomphus spinosus, McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, Poolesville MD, Tamron 180mm on July 24, 2016| 4 Comments »

As I was walking through a field of sunflowers at McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Poolesville, Maryland, I spotted an unusual dragonfly that I couldn’t immediately identify. It turned out to be a Black-shouldered Spinyleg dragonfly (Dromogomphus spinosus)—a cool name for a cool-looking dragonfly.

When I first caught sight of the dragonfly, the dragonfly’s long, skinny abdomen and the enlarged area near the end suggested to me that it was a member of the clubtail family of dragonflies. (You can get a really good sense of the shape of the “clubtail” when you look at the shadows in a couple of the images). The only clubtails that I have seen with any kind of regularity have been Common Sanddragons and Unicorn Clubtails, and this was clearly not one of them. When I am out in the field, I don’t worry too much about identification—I practice what I call the “Law of the West,” i.e. “shoot first and ask questions later.”

Later in the day my shooting partner was able to identify the dragonfly after I pointed her to the website “Dragonflies of Northern Virginia.” This website is my favorite resources for information and photos of dragonflies in my area. I checked my past blog postings because I had a vague recollection that I had seen this species before and found a posting indicating that I saw one almost exactly a year ago on a trip to a different part of Maryland.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Goldfinches and sunflowers

Posted in Birds, Flowers, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged A, American Goldfinch, goldfinch, McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, Poolesville MD, Spinus tristis, sunflower on July 23, 2016| 9 Comments »

Yesterday I traveled with my photography mentor Cindy Dyer to McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in nearby Poolesville, Maryland to check out the large fields of sunflowers that are planted there each year. We just missed the peak blooming period and many of the sunflowers were drooping and seemed a little wilted. Cindy, who has visited this area multiple times, noted that the sunflowers were not as tall or as dense as in previous years.

Several American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) that I observed in the fields, however, were definitely not disappointed—they were gorging themselves on sunflower seeds. The goldfinches were pretty skittish, but occasionally were distracted enough when feeding that I was able to get some shots, despite the fact that I was shooting with my 180mm macro lens.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Banded Pennant dragonfly in mid-July

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Banded Pennant, Banded Pennant dragonfly, Canon 50D, Celithemis fasciata, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbot Wetlands Refuge, Tamron 180mm on July 22, 2016| 1 Comment »

During a quick trip to Jackson Miles Abbott Wetlands Refuge at Fort Belvoir, Virginia last weekend, I was thrilled to see that the spectacularly patterned Banded Pennant dragonflies are still around. This is the only location that I visit regularly where I have spotted this dragonfly species and I am never quite sure when an encounter will be the last one of the season.

As I was looking over the two shots that I chose to use with this posting, I realized that they represent two different approaches that I use when photographing dragonflies. Ideally I will try to position myself so that the camera’s sensor is parallel with the dragonfly’s wings and most of the dragonfly will be in focus. That was the case with the second shot and it really highlights the beautiful pattern of the wings. However, the image seems a bit too static for my taste. I prefer the first shot, in part because the pose is more dynamic and the direct eye contact with the dragonfly draws me in.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue Dashers at Green Spring

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, Blue Dasher, Blue Dasher dragonfly, Canon 50D, green spring gardens, obelisk pose, Pachydiplax longipennis, Tamron 180mm on July 21, 2016| 3 Comments »

Blue Dasher dragonflies (Pachydiplax longipennis) have become for me one of the signs of summer in the area in which I live. When the weather turns hot and humid, they can often be seen flying lazily over the marshes and ponds, perching frequently on vegetation growing out of the water.

On a recent trip to Green Spring Gardens, I captured some images perched male Blue Dasher dragonflies. In the first shot, the dragonfly was perched on the edge of a lotus leaf. I really like the curves and softness of the leaves, which contrast with the details of the dragonfly. I think too that the shadow cast on the lower leaf adds some additional visual interest to the image.

The second image features a Blue Dasher in the obelisk pose. It is generally believed that some dragonflies assume this pose to dissipate heat by reducing the amount of their bodies that is exposed to direct sunlight. I was shooting partially into the sun, which forced me to overexpose the image a bit and accounts for the lighter background. However, the surface of the water was covered with a lot of duckweed and was not uniform in color. As a result, the background ended ended up with some ugly gray patches that I seemed to be impossible for me to remove.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Chasing a Buckeye butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Buttonbush, Canon 50D, Cephalanthus occidentalis, Common Buckeye, Common Buckeye butterfly, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbot Wetlands Refuge, Junonia coenia, Tamron 180mm macro on July 20, 2016| 7 Comments »

I first spotted this small Common Buckeye Butterfly (Junonia coenia) as it was flying low above a grassy patch at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetlands Refuge. Periodically it would stop and I would attempt to get a shot of it. It was probably hilarious to watch our little pas de deux—the butterfly would fly and perch and I would bend my knees and crouch, which served as a signal for the butterfly to take off again.

I’m pretty patient, so we danced this way for quite a while before the butterfly decided to perch on some low vegetation rather than on the bare ground. I was finally able to capture a shot, though the butterfly didn’t pose long before taking off again.

As I continued the chase, my knees started getting a bit sore. I was thinking of giving up the chase when suddenly the butterfly flew higher into the air and landed on a buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis). These bushes are a virtual magnet for butterflies and I love the spiky spheres of the plant. I wasn’t able to get very close to the buttonbush, but captured this image that I really like.

The chase ended here and we went our separate ways. I hope that I never get too old or too self-conscious to chase butterflies, a pursuit that makes me feel like a carefree child again.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Real world creature

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, green spring gardens, Papilio glaucus on July 18, 2016| 6 Comments »

Some folks are really into chasing imaginary creatures with their cellphones. I prefer to chase living creatures with my camera and captured this image of a beautiful Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) yesterday as it was feeding at Green Spring Gardens, a county-run historic garden in Northern Virginia.

The butterfly gave me multiple opportunities to get shots as it flew around a small area of the gardens, but it rarely gave me an obstructed view. Often it was partially buried in the flowers or turned away from me at an angle. When I took this shot, the butterfly had opened its wings and offered me a rare look at its body as well as its amazingly long proboscis.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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