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Stalking a big bird

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Dryocopus pileatus, Huntley Meadows Park, Pileated Woodpecker, woodpecker on December 16, 2013| 13 Comments »

Do you have a list of subjects that you really want to photograph? I do and ever since I caught sight of a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) through the window of the visitor center of my local marshland park, I have been possessed with an overwhelming desire to photograph one. That first time, the woodpecker was hanging from a suet feeder usually used by nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers and I was impressed by its size and its beauty.

Last month, a year after the initial sighting, I finally got a photo of one and featured it in a posting My First Pileated. The photo was a little blurry and the bird was partially obscured by branches, but it was clearly a Pileated Woodpecker. This past Saturday, I came upon another one as I was walking through the woods. Not surprisingly, I heard the woodpecker before I caught sight of it high in the trees, barely visible.

The dry leaves crackled loudly as I tried to get closer to the woodpecker and it flew to other trees several times during this protracted process. I had heard from others that Pileated Woodpeckers sometimes work on fallen logs, but this one never left the higher reaches of the trees. Eventually it flew out of sight.

I ended up with a slightly better photograph of a Pileated Woodpecker, but am confident that I can do much better this winter as I continue to stalk “big game,” which for me includes this woodpecker, hawks, and maybe even an owl.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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One of my photos “published”

Posted in Art, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Handsome Meadow Katydid, Huntley Meadows Park, katydid, rainbow grasshopper, Tamron 180mm macro lens on December 15, 2013| 37 Comments »

It is pretty cool that a website (cracked.com) chose to use one of my photos in an article entitled “6 Insanely Colored Versions of Normally Boring Animals.” It is this photo that I took during the summer of my favorite insect, the Handsome Meadow Katydid and I featured in a posting called Rainbow Grasshopper.

Check out the article at http://www.cracked.com/article_20811_6-insanely-colored-versions-normally-boring-animals.html .

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Goose pan

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, panning on December 15, 2013| 11 Comments »

How do you capture speed? Sometimes I will pan the camera and track the moving subject, as I did yesterday with the flying Canada Goose (Branta canadensis). Usually the background is a little blurry, but this time the background became abstract, almost like a painting, an effect that I really like.

What happened? Generally, I shoot in aperture priority mode and I had my camera set on f/5.6, as wide open as I could get at the far end of my telephoto zoom. The weather was cold and gray with the threat of precipitation—it eventually rained for hours—so I set my ISO to 500. It turned out that I would have needed a much higher ISO to stop the motion completely, for my camera provided me with a shutter speed of only 1/60 of a second. That is why there is some motion blur in the wings.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Frosty wren

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Carolina Wren, frozen, Huntley Meadows Park, ice, Thryothorus ludovicianus, wren on December 14, 2013| 14 Comments »

Back home from a week overseas in Vienna, I felt the need to reconnect with nature and headed off to the marsh at Huntley Meadows Park early this morning. The weather was cold and gray, but I was able to get some shots of birds, like this Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus), surveying the frozen pond from an overhanging branch.

It’s nice to be home.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Gone for a week—not a vulture’s meal

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Cathartes aura, Huntley Meadows Park, turkey vulture, vulture on December 6, 2013| 9 Comments »

This Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) was circling around me last week, so I followed the advice given to me by one of my fellow photographers—I made sure that I moved periodically as I captured shots of this large bird with an impressive wingspan.

I will be away from home on a business trip starting tomorrow and I am not sure how often I will be able to update my blog. I wanted to alert readers in case they are concerned if they don’t see any movement for me for a number of days—the vultures probably have not made a meal of me yet.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Natural windowpane

Posted in Art, Birds, Inspiration, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Cameron Run, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, dove, mourning dove, window, Zenaida macroura on December 5, 2013| 4 Comments »

Do you ever sit by a window and daydream as you look out into the world with unfocused eyes? Somehow that was what came to mind when I spotted this Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) perched on a branch, framed by the trees. The dove seemed gentle and pensive, unlike so many of the birds (and people) in this area that are so driven, always intense and tense.

There is a real value in slowing down and daydreaming more in order to recharge my creative batteries. Sometimes I need a gentle reminder.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Looking up, looking down

Posted in Art, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern cardinal on December 4, 2013| 1 Comment »

I looked up at her from below and then she cocked her head and looked down at me. Our eyes met and we shared a brief, magical moment together. Then it was over, my all-too-short encounter with a beautiful female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis).

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Uncomplicated portrait

Posted in Art, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, Alexandria VA, blackbird, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, cattail, Huntley Meadows Park, red-winged blackbird on December 3, 2013| 11 Comments »

Although it is exciting to search for new birds or for unusual interactions, I love to return to familiar subjects, like this male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) that I photographed last week.

There is nothing complicated about this image, a blackbird perched on a cattail, but the small details make it special for me. I like the angled body and the turned head. The feathers seem unusually glossy and the eye is shiny too. There are a few wispy feathers that are matched by the “fluff” from the cattail. The background is brown, but there are a wide variety of shapes and shades.

What does it take for you to be satisfied as a photographer? For now at least, I am content to stay relatively close to home and photograph whatever I can find as well as I can. Life doesn’t have to be complicated all of the time.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Gull chasing Hooded Merganser duck

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Cameron Run, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, duck, Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, Potomac River, Ring-billed Gull on December 2, 2013| 19 Comments »

Do seagulls hunt ducks? That’s a crazy question, but that was the first thing that came to mind when a Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) started aggressively chasing a Hooded Merganser duck (Lophodytes cucullatus) with what appeared to be hostile intent.

I was walking along Cameron Run, a tributary of the Potomac River, when the scene started to unfold in front of me. The gull flew toward the dusk with its legs extended, like it was trying to snatch the duck out of the water. The duck immediately started bounding across the water (as you can see in the third photos) in an effort to escape the gull, but did not take to the air. When the duck got close to the bank of the stream, the gull turned away and left the duck in peace.

Was this merely a cranky gull or maybe a bully? Was it a territoriality thing? All I know is that it provided me a fascinating moment as I treated to a brief interaction between these two very different species of birds.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Red-headed Woodpecker takeoff

Posted in Art, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Red-headed Woodpecker, woodpecker on December 1, 2013| 6 Comments »

I suspect that I may qualify as a stalker, because I spent over thirty minutes on Friday sitting on a fallen tree, observing every movement of a juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) high in the oak trees.

The small branches and the shadows made it almost impossible to get a clear shot of the little bird, but they did not keep me from trying. I was really fortunate to get this shot of the woodpecker as it took off from one of its perches with an acorn in its mouth and gave me a glimpse of its beautifully-patterned wings. As I understand it, when the Red-Headed Woodpecker becomes an adult, its wings will be pure black and white, so I am glad that I was able to get the shot of the black dots.

After I posted this photo, I noticed that there is a least one acorn jammed into a crack in the bark just above the top edge of the bird’s tail, mostly likely a snack that it has cached for future consumption.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cached acorn?

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Melanerpes carolinus, Red-bellied Woodpecker, woodpecker on November 30, 2013| 6 Comments »

Why was this Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) pecking so feverishly at the top of this broken tree? It certainly did not look like a good spot to find insects.

A few seconds later, I got an answer to my unspoken question, when the woodpecker pulled an acorn out with its beak (at least that’s what I think it is). After a bit of research on the internet, I learned that these woodpeckers eat plant materials, like acorns, as well as insects and that they sometimes use cracks in trees to store food for use at a later time.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Meadowhawk Mike

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Humor, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, perching dragonflies, Sympetrum vicinum on November 30, 2013| 4 Comments »

I don’t know what it was about Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies, but they really seemed to like to perch on me during several sessions when I was stalking them with fellow photographer and blogger Walter Sanford, who was able to capture shots of them (including mating pairs) on various parts of my clothing and body. His shots are wonderful and provide some great views of these colorful dragonflies, which seem to have disappeared with the arrival of frigid weather in our area.

walter sanford's photoblog

Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum vicinum) like Mike! Mike Powell, that is, a.k.a. “Meadowhawk Mike.” The following photos were taken at Huntley Meadows Park on 15 November 2013. Each set of images, or individual image, features a different dragonfly (or dragonflies) perching on Mike at various times during the day. Disclaimer: No dragonflies were either injured or killed in the making of these photos.

Now you see it; now you don’t! A male dragonfly perching on Mike’s shoulder, that is. Or was.

A time-series of images showing a mating pair in tandem. Mating pairs are usually more skittish than this male and female.

Sometimes the same dragonfly — or more than one dragonfly — perched in different places.

Another male, testing a couple of perching places.

A male on Mike’s arm.

This isn’t an optical illusion — a male dragonfly actually is…

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Red-headed Woodpecker

Posted in Art, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Red-headed Woodpecker, woodpecker on November 29, 2013| 12 Comments »

Wouldn’t you know it, I finally see a Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) and its head is not red. It’s a juvenile one and if you look closely you can see a few traces of the spectacular red that it will eventually sport on its entire head.

One of the serious birders at my local marshland park identified the area in which two juvenile Red-headed Woodpeckers had been seen regularly and I was fortunate to spot one of them this past Monday. The woodpecker seemed to be carving out a cavity in the tree and actually climbed into the hole as it chiseled away the bits of wood. Earlier, I saw one of them in the distance at a nearby tree with two large cavities (see the third photo). The bird stuck its head inside one of the cavities and I couldn’t tell if it was checking out the hole or was storing food there.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology notes that the Red-headed Woodpecker is one of only four North American woodpeckers known to store food, and it is the only one known to cover the stored food with wood or bark. These woodpeckers have a varied diet and will eat both insects, which they sometimes catch in the air, and a a number of plant materials, especially acorns.

I don’t know how long it will take for this bird’s head to turn red, but I will certainly be keeping an eye out for it, now that I have an approximate idea of its territory.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wildlife Watching at Huntley Meadows Park

Posted in Autumn, commentary, Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Huntley Meadows Park on November 28, 2013| 1 Comment »

When a dragonfly landed on a sign at my local marshland park, one of my favorite places for photography and reflection, it seemed to be sharing reminders with me and with fellow photographer and blogger Walter Sanford about the proper approach to observing wildlife (and life in general).

walter sanford's photoblog

Sometimes I jokingly refer to myself as a “Dragonfly Whisperer.” Well, as it turns out, the roles were reversed recently when a mature male Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum vicinum) whispered some words of wisdom about wildlife watching at Huntley Meadows Park. Here’s what the old-timer had to say …

Food for thought on the traditional day when we give thanks for our many blessings. I am especially thankful for the opportunity to be a frequent and careful observer of the natural beauty of the hemi-marsh at Huntley Meadows Park, and for many good friends with whom I share the experience. And thanks to WordPress.com for the free blog that enables me to share my sightings with others!

Copyright © 2013 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

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The chase

Posted in animals, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, deer, ducks, Huntley Meadows Park, white-tailed deer on November 27, 2013| 5 Comments »

I don’t often see deer in the daylight at my local marshland park, so I was a bit surprised last week when a doe came running out of the cattails and began to pick her way thought the ducks that were foraging in the shallow water. She was immediately followed by a smaller doe, who was also running.

What was going on? What had spooked these two deer? I didn’t have to wait long for an answer. A small buck emerged and started chasing the other two deer through the water.

I don’t know if they were just playing or if the buck had amorous intentions, but it gave me the chance to get a few shots of what passes as “big game” for me.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Slippery landing

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Branta canadensis, Canada Geese, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, geese, Huntley Meadows Park, slippery landing on November 27, 2013| 10 Comments »

It was cold enough Monday that the pond at my local marsh froze over. The ice may not have been thick, but it complicated landings for migrating Canada Geese (Branta canadensis).

One goose slid to a stop by lowering its tail, as other geese watched with varying degrees of interest. It has warmed up a bit and we’ve had a lot of rain since Monday, so the ice is almost certainly gone by now, but I suspect that I will see this scene repeated as we move into winter.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Female Rusty Blackbird

Posted in Art, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, blackbird, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Euphagus carolinus, Huntley Meadows Park, Rusty Blackbird on November 26, 2013| 11 Comments »

I encountered another small flock of blackbirds this past weekend and this time I managed to get a shot of a female Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus). If you want to compare the female with the male, check out my earlier posting with an image of a male.

I have now gotten used to the idea that these blackbirds are likely to be be found in the water and the mud, rather than in the cattails, where I usually find the Red-winged Blackbirds. I have also gotten used to the notion that female blackbirds are not black—that used to mess with my head.

What I have not gotten used to, however, is the pale yellow color of the eyes of the Rusty Blackbirds. There is something a little eerie and disconcerting about those eyes and I find them to be a bit creepy.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Autumn Hooded Mergansers

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, ducks, Hooded Merganser duck, Hooded Merganser ducks, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus on November 25, 2013| 12 Comments »

It’s been months since I have seen any Hooded Merganser ducks (Lophodytes cucullatus), so I was thrilled when I spotted several pairs in the distance this past weekend, swimming around as shown in the second photo.

Unfortunately, they sensed my presence before I could get much closer and took to the air. Given the distance and the small size and speed of these ducks, I was surprised that I got a reasonably good shot of one of the males in flight. Hooded Mergansers always look a little cartoonish, but that effect is magnified when they are straining forward in flight. If you click on the first photo, you can get a better look at some of the details of the wings and some of the beautiful colors of this little duck.

The second photo was taken before the first and it gives you a general idea of the differences between the male and female of this colorful species of duck.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bouncing takeoff

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Aythya collaris, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, duck, Kingstowne, Ring-necked duck, takeoff on November 24, 2013| 6 Comments »

Have you ever watched ducks taking off from the water? Some of them seem to rise up almost straight out of the water, while others, like this Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris), like to get a running start, bouncing across the surface of the water.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Heron in the rain

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Great Blue Heron, heron, Huntley Meadows Park on November 23, 2013| 7 Comments »

The light was fading in the late afternoon yesterday and it was starting to rain when I came across a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), one of my favorite birds. The conditions were less than ideal, but I was determined to try to get a shot.

I managed to open my umbrella without startling the heron, a minor miracle, given that my umbrella is green and white. Knowing that I was going to have to shoot one-handed (with a small amount of balancing help from the hand holding the umbrella), I decided I was going to have to crank up the ISO of the camera higher than I had ever gone before—to ISO 1600.

I like the image that I got, though unsurprisingly it was a bit grainy. Fortunately, my software was able to reduce thee noise a little.

So now you know of at least two things that you can find out in the open when it is raining—blue herons and crazy photographers.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Rusty Blackbird

Posted in Art, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, blackbird, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Euphagus carolinus, Huntley Meadows Park, Rusty Blackbird on November 23, 2013| 13 Comments »

When I saw a small flock of blackbirds on Monday at my local marsh, I assumed that they were Red-winged Blackbirds, but a closer look showed that I was wrong—they were Rusty Blackbirds (Euphagus carolinus), a species that I had never photographed before.

The shape of the body seems similar to that of the Red-winged Blackbird, but the coloration is different and the pale yellow eyes of the Rusty Blackbird are particularly distinctive. They also seem to prefer a flooded area of the woods and I observed them pecking about in the shallow water, periodically flipping over wet leaves.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology notes that the Rusty Blackbird is one of North America’s most rapidly declining species, whose population has plunged an estimated 85-99 percent over the past forty years and scientists are not sure why.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Autumn House Sparrow

Posted in Art, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, autumn, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, fall, House Sparrow, Kingstowne, Passer domesticus, sparrow on November 22, 2013| 4 Comments »

It won’t be long before my bird photos have the colorless backgrounds characteristic of winter, so I am photographing as many birds as I can find with autumn colors in the background, like this House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) that I observed last Sunday. As I noted in a posting last month, these birds are non-native (introduced from the Old World) and sometimes crowd out native birds. Still, I find them to be beautiful, especially when they pose like this. This pose is one of my favorites, when I get to look down the tail toward the head turned to the side.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly (female)

Posted in Art, Autumn, Dragonflies, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife on November 22, 2013| 1 Comment »

Could this be the mascot for a new line of clothing or shoes? Dragonfly photographer extraordinaire Walter Sanford took these shots of a beautiful female Autumn Meadowhawk perched on my hand as I tried to move it closer to the messenger bag in which I carry my camera gear.

walter sanford's photoblog

The preceding gallery shows a female Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum vicinum), spotted at Huntley Meadows Park on 15 November 2013. She is perching on the hand of Mike Powell, fellow wildlife photographer and blogger. This individual is not the female featured in my last post, “Champion dragonfly.”

Copyright © 2013 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

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Champion dragonfly

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife on November 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Fellow photographer and blogger, Walter Sanford, has an incredible talent for capturing photos of dragonflies, in this case one that was perched on the sleeve of my sweatshirt.

walter sanford's photoblog

The following gallery features photos of the undisputed champion dragonfly!

This individual is a female Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum vicinum), spotted at Huntley Meadows Park on 15 November 2013. She is perching on the sleeve of Mike Powell’s Champion USA sweatshirt.

Hey Champion, how ’bout a little something, you know, for the product placement in my photos?

Copyright © 2013 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

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Hawk in the sky

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Buteo lineatus, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, hawk, Huntley Meadows Park, juvenile hawk, Red-Shouldered Hawk on November 20, 2013| 21 Comments »

When I spotted a fairly large bird soaring in the sky, I stopped talking in mid-sentence and pointed my camera to the sky. My fellow conversationalist might have thought it was rude (she is not a photographer), but I am always trying to capture images of birds in flight and will start shooting long before I have identified a bird.

This bird looks to be a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), though I am not certain about the identification and the hawk did not cry out at all, so I have only visual clues to go by. At first I thought it was just soaring for fun, but the intensity of the hawk’s eyes, especially in the second shot, suggest that it was paying attention to what was happening on the ground.

I was pretty fortunate when the hawk turned toward the light with its wings extended, providing a good look at the beautiful feathers of its wings and body. I am hoping that I will be getting better shots of hawks as we progress into winter, though, as with most wildlife subject, there are no guarantees.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Dragonfly and denim

Posted in Art, Autumn, Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Autumn Meadowhawk, Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly, Canon 100mm macro lens, Canon 50D, denim, dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Sympetrum vicinum on November 19, 2013| 7 Comments »

When an Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum vicinum) landed on my thigh last Friday, my first thought was to get a photograph of him. Fortunately, my 100mm macro lens was already on my camera—in anticipation of a shot like this—and I was able to capture a close-up, eye-to-eye portrait of the dragonfly by contorting my body and attempting to stabilize my shooting position.

My blue jeans were broken in and their texture, color, and pattern made a pretty cool backdrop for this colorful dragonfly. It may be my imagination, but he seemed to be looking up at me with a mixture of curiosity and amusement.

For whatever reason, many of these dragonflies, which I was able to observe as recently as yesterday, do not seem fearful of people. The classic Drifters song from the 1960’s may talk of spending time with your sweetheart under the boardwalk, but these Autumn Meadowhawks seem to spend most of their time warming up on (and not under) the boardwalk, with periodic mating forays into the bushes.

dragonfly1_denim_tight_crop_blog

Click on the photo to see it in higher resolution.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Silent Blue Jay

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Blue Jay, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Cyanocitta cristata, Kingstowne on November 19, 2013| 14 Comments »

Blue Jays are usually very loud and obnoxious, but this one flew by me without a sound. When I looked at the photos, it was pretty clear why I had heard only the sounds of silence—the Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) had apparently discovered an all-you-can-eat buffet and decided to stuff its mouth. I suspect that the Blue Jay was going to cache the food, which seems to include acorns, and go back for more.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Fill the frame

Posted in Art, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, fill the frame, goose, Huntley Meadows Park on November 18, 2013| 10 Comments »

How often have you been told (or read) that you need to fill the frame with your primary subject? If you photograph wildlife as I do, you know that it is rare that you have the opportunity to “fill the frame,” especially when your subject is moving.

I was a little shocked when I first looked at this image of a Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)—not only had I filled the frame, but I had managed to compose it pretty well. Yes, this is an uncropped image of a flying goose. I was awfully lucky to get this shot and I know that several of the images in the burst I took featured cutoff bodies or heads.

Now if I could just get a raptor to fly by this closely…

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Berry tasty

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, sparrow, white-throated sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis on November 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

No matter how bad the weather is, sparrows seem to be omnipresent at this time of the year. I can hear them as they move about in search of food, but they often choose to bury themselves deep in the bushes and undergrowth.

This White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) was snacking on some kind of berries and I managed to catch him mid-bite when he lifted his head slightly. The branches and leaves give you an idea of the challenge involved in getting an unobstructed shot. I am happy that I was able to get the head (and eye) in focus and the pose is an interesting one, because it caught the sparrow as it was doing something—static portraits are nice, but for me it’s even nicer to capture motion and activity.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Conducktor

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas platyrhynchos, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, conductor, duck, Huntley Meadows Park, mallard duck, orchestra on November 17, 2013| 13 Comments »

Orchestral conductors tend to be flamboyant characters and that is exactly what came to mind when I first say this image of a female Mallard Duck (Anas platyrhynchos) with fully outstretched wings. She seems to be conducting an unseen duck orchestra creating what some might call music and other would characterize as a quackonophy.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Heron over the marsh

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Great Blue Heron, heron, Huntley Meadows Park on November 17, 2013| 18 Comments »

I was moving forward slowly in the underbrush, trying to get closer to some ducks, when out of the corner of my eye I detected some motion. It was a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) flying low over the waters of the marshland pond.

I didn’t have time to check the settings on my camera, but the heron’s slow speed in flight did allow me to get off a few shots. This was one of the few times that I have been able to capture a bird in flying parallel to the ground at eye level and I really like this perspective.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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