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Egrets still with us

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea alba, Cameron Run, Canon 50D, egret, Great Egret, Great White Egret, Sigma 135-400mm telephoto zoom lens on September 27, 2013| 9 Comments »

Before long, the White Egrets (Ardea alba) will leave this area for more temperate locations, so I was happy to get a few shots this past weekend of one of them at Cameron Run, a tributary of the Potomac River.

The egrets like to roost in trees that overlook this stream and the first shot shows an egret relaxing in a tree after I inadvertently flushed him. I am deliberately underexposing the image in an effort to keep from totally blowing out the highlights of this very white bird, but it is still very hard to capture any details on the body.

The second shot shows the egret out of the water and its pose reminds me of a dancer, with its slim body and long elegant neck.

If things follow last year’s course, the blue herons will remain in my local area for most of the winter, but the egrets and green herons will soon depart. I’ll be looking for more photo opportunities with them before they leave.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Baby snapping turtle

Posted in Nature, Photography, Portraits, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Chelydra serpentina serpentina, Eastern Snapping Turtle, Huntley Meadows Park, snapping turtle, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 26, 2013| 12 Comments »

Far away from any adult supervision, this baby snapping turtle seemed to be having trouble figuring out how to forage for food on his own. He stretched out his neck as far as it would go, but was still not within reach of the plants that he was eying. The realization had not yet struck him that was going to have to move his body closer. Just above him you can see a little fish that was monitoring his progress, but staying beyond the reach of those jaws, in case the turtle decides he needs a little protein in his diet.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Adopted turtle

Posted in Humor, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Chelydra serpentina serpentina, Eastern Snapping Turtle, Huntley Meadows Park, red-eared slider, red-eared slider turtle, snapping turtle, Tamron 180mm macro lens, Trachemys scripta elegans), turtle on September 26, 2013| 8 Comments »

When the family of Red-eared Slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans) adopted an orphaned turtle, they had no idea that the baby would grow so big. Despite his disproportionate size, the larger turtle, an Eastern Snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina serpentina), likes to participate in all family activities and doesn’t seem to realize that he is different from the other members of his adopted family.

I chose a natural setting for this family portrait and managed to catch almost everyone in a good pose—unfortunately, one of them had an attitude and refused to look directly at the camera and smile. Most of us have similar informal family portraits with the same problem. I don’t know how professional portrait photographers get everyone to cooperate.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Happy as a frog in mud

Posted in Amphibians, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Bulfrog, Canon 50D, frog, Huntley Meadows Park, mud, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 25, 2013| 8 Comments »

This large bullfrog was so content in the mud that he did not budge at all when I moved closer to take this shot. Compared to the tiny tree frogs that I have been photographing recently, this frog seemed enormous.

The mud may not be the best backdrop for a photo, but I like the way that the image has become a study in greens and browns, with a golden eye as a accent.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Late September Viceroy

Posted in Art, Butterflies, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Limenitis archippus, Tamron 180mm macro lens, Viceroy butterfly on September 25, 2013| 9 Comments »

The days are getting cooler and leaves are starting to wither and fall, but there are still signs of the lingering summer, like this beautiful Viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) that I photographed this past weekend.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Fuzzy red spider

Posted in Arachnids, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, fuzzy red spider, Huntley Meadows Park, red spider, spider, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 22, 2013| 13 Comments »

Walking along the boardwalk at my local marsh, I encountered this fairly large, hairy red spider in a web almost at eye level.

It was a little disconcerting to look a spider in the eye (eyes) at such close range, but it did allow me to get a pretty detailed shot at close range against an uncluttered background. I’ve been searching around on the internet, attempting to identify the spider but so far have not had any success. Can anyone identify this cool-looking spider?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Rainbow katydid depositing eggs?

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Handsome Meadow Katydid, Huntley Meadows Park, katydid, Orchelimum pulchellum, ovipositing, rainbow katydid, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 22, 2013| 15 Comments »

As was watching this Handsome Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum pulchellum) through my viewfinder, it suddenly arched its body and assumed a position worthy of an world-class gymnast or yoga master. What was it doing?

My first thought was that the katydid was merely stretching, getting ready for the day’s activities. When you jump around as much as these insects do, you can’t risk a pulled muscle or other injury by not warming up properly.

Over the past year, this rainbow-colored katydid has become my favorite insect, but I confess that I don’t much about their anatomy. Looking over my photos, I realized that I needed to identify the orange-colored body part, a part that I don’t recall observing before, in order to figure out what was going on. What could it possibly be?

Well, it looks like this katydid probably is a female and the orange-colored thing is her ovipositor, the organ used for depositing eggs. So, is she depositing eggs in the photos? I am not sure.

A University of Arkansas website describes the ovipositing for a similar katydid with these words, “An ovipositing female embraces a plant stem with her prothoracic and mesothoracic legs and brings the curved and sword-like ovipositor far forward so its tip can scrape the substrate.” It’s not really helpful when the explanation contains so many words with which I am unfamiliar. I think that I will leave this kind of science to the scientists.

As a photographer, I continue to be amazed by the multi-colored beauty of this fascinating insect and especially by its alluring blue eyes. I know that it’s an illusion, but those eyes often seem to be looking right at me. I’m not sure if this Handsome Meadow Katydid is depositing eggs in these photos, but I am sure that I like the images a lot, including the final image, which shows the katydid in a more “normal” position following her brief series of gymnastics.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Speaking with a forked tongue

Posted in Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, forked tongue, green snake, Huntley Meadows Park, Opheodrys aestivus, Rough Green Snake, snake, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 21, 2013| 10 Comments »

Most of the time, when I see these green snakes, they are half-buried in a bush and it is impossible to get a decent shot. yesterday, however, I almost stepped on this Rough Green Snake (Opheodrys aestivus) on one section of the boardwalk at my local marsh and was able to compose this shot before he slithered away.

The snake had stopped moving and was surveying the situation, sticking its tongue out repeatedly. I got several shots with the tongue extended, but I especially like this one, because it shows the forked tongue.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Migrating Green Darner dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner dragonfly, dragonfly in flight, Green Darner dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park on September 21, 2013| 6 Comments »

Yesterday at my local marsh, I noticed some large dragonflies flying over the cattails and realized that it was migrating season for Green Darner dragonflies (Anax junius). I don’t usually think of dragonflies as migratory creatures, but I recall from early spring that Green Darner dragonflies spend their winters in the south and migrate north in the spring (or at least their offspring fly north).

Green Darners are pretty big dragonflies, with bodies up to 3 inches (75mm), so I decided to try to photograph one in mid-flight. Another photographer and I spent almost an hour trying to track and photograph the dragonflies. Unlike other times, when I photographed dragonflies when they were hovering, I was attempting to capture these dragonflies as they were flying at a normal speed, which greatly complicated the task.

I knew that there was no way that I could isolate a flying dragonfly against the green plants of the marsh, so I concentrated on the dragonflies in areas in which I would have the sky as a backdrop. I used my 180mm macro lens and would try to follow a dragonfly in the viewfinder and track it, hoping it would fly close enough for me to attempt a shot. As I was tracking the dragonfly, I would focus manually. Needless to say, my success rate was really low, but I am happy that I managed to get the shot below of what I believe to be a female Green Darner. My fellow photographer, who was using a 70-200 telephoto zoom lens used a different approach and pre-focused on an area and took a shot when a dragonfly entered that capture zone.

It was a beautiful, sunny fall day and I enjoyed this challenge, which gave me a greater appreciation for the aerial skills of dragonflies—they are really tough to track. This practice, though, should help me later in the fall when I start to take more photographs of birds.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mating cannibalflies

Posted in Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, mating insects, Promachus rufipes, Red-footed Cannibalfly, robber fly, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 19, 2013| 11 Comments »

Most of us have heard that female praying mantises eat their mates after mating, so what happens when a pair of cannibal flies mate?

I was quite a distance away when I spotted this pair of insects, but I immediately recognized them as Red-footed Cannibalflies (Promachus rufipes), a species of giant robber flies. These flies are really big and have a very distinctively shaped body (and I had done some research on them for a previous posting). Cannibalflies are fierce predators and are reportedly very aggressive. Would the male survive the mating process?

I observed the pair for quite a while and concluded that the “cannibal” in this insect’s name refers to its behavior toward other insects. The male cannibal fly flew away unscathed.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Frog and fly

Posted in Amphibians, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, American Green Treefrog, Canon 50D, fly, Green Treefrog, Huntley Meadows Park, Hyla cinerea, Tamron 180mm macro lens, tree frog on September 18, 2013| 4 Comments »

As I was observing a tiny green tree frog in the cattails, a large fly suddenly buzzed into the frame and landed right next to the frog. Did the fly initially consider the frog to be a potential prey? Was the fly a daredevil who liked to flirt with danger? Was this an initiation test into a fly fraternity or perhaps the result of a bet between drunk buddies?

The unlikely juxtaposition of these two creatures makes me smile every time I look at it. As a child, I watched lots of cartoons in which frogs would flick out their very long tongues and snag unsuspecting flies from a great distance. I waited and watched, anticipating the moment when the frog would turn and strike. That moment never came—the fly eventually flew off to safety.

Real life doesn’t always live up to life in the cartoons.

frog_fly_blog

(Click on the photo to see a higher resolution view.)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue Skimmer in flight

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, dragonfly, dragonfly in flight, Great Blue Skimmer, Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly, Libellula vibrans, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 17, 2013| 16 Comments »

As summer fades, I have been seeing fewer and fewer dragonflies, so I decided to attempt some in-flight shots and managed to capture these images of a female Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula vibrans).

Photographing dragonflies in flight is one of my toughest photographic challenges, but I have learned a few tricks about capturing these kinds of shots. One way is to find a favorite perch of a dragonfly and try to photograph the dragonfly arriving and departing from that perch, given that dragonflies often return to the same perches. That was not the approach that I used this time.

The approach I used is to capture the dragonfly while it is hovering and is therefore in the same spot for a few seconds. I watched as two blue skimmers mated quickly and I knew that I had a target of opportunity, because the female would soon deposit the eggs in the water. She hovered in the air and then dipped her tail end down to the water to deposit some eggs and returned to the hover position and repeated the process. It was during this process that I got these shots.

I am always struck by the beautiful blue eyes of the Great Blue Skimmer, particularly in the female. The male is all blue, so his eyes don’t provide the same visual contrast as the drabber colored body of the female.

The dwindling dragonfly population is yet another sign of the changing of the seasons—it won’t be long before I begin to focus my camera lens more frequently on birds than on insects, but I am not giving up on my insects quite yet.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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How’s the fishing?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, fishing, Great Blue Heron, Huntley Meadows Park, Sigma 135-400mm telephoto zoom lens on September 16, 2013| 7 Comments »

The Great Blue Heron stealthily moved into position and leaned forward, preparing to strike. Would he pull a great big fish out of the water? The second photo provides the answer.

The catch was relatively modest, a tiny fish, dwarfed by the size of the heron’s bill. The heron obviously did not believe in the “catch and release” policy used by most fisherman for such small fish. Turning his head back a little, the heron had no trouble swallowing the little fish. He even seemed to smile a little as he did so, content that he had been successful in his fishing.

Having consumed his appetizer, the heron got back to fishing, hoping to catch a more substantial dinner.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Dramatic green frog

Posted in Amphibians, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, green frog, Green Treefrog, Huntley Meadows Park, Hyla cinerea, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 15, 2013| 6 Comments »

The lighting and the pose add some drama to this almost formal portrait of a Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea) that I encountered at my local marsh.

Most of the tree frogs that I have seen have been snoozing in the cattails and it’s been tough to get a clear shot, but this one was conveniently perched on a horizontal leaf, giving me pretty good latitude to compose the shot that I wanted. Even the frog was cooperative and stayed put while I made adjustments to the camera in between shots.

I’m really happy with this image and think that the frog too would be content with this portrait.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue Dasher on red leaf

Posted in Dragonflies, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Blue Dasher, Blue Dasher dragonfly, Canon 50D, dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Pachydiplax longipennis, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 14, 2013| 3 Comments »

I love the mix of colors that resulted when a male Blue Dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis) that I was observing chose to perch on a plant with red leaves.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Milkweed bug nymphs

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, large milkweed bugs, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 14, 2013| 3 Comments »

I continue to be fascinated by the metamorphosis of bugs and was happy to spot these familiar bright red milkweed bug nymphs recently at my local marshland.

Last year, I closely followed the development of Large Milkweed Bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus) and documented my observations in a posting called Life Phases of the Large Milkweed Bug. I was a bit surprised when that posting turned out to be my fourth most visited posting of the year (it was since slipped to number six on the charts), because it was as much an educational posting as one to highlight my photos.

When I spotted these bugs, there were several clusters of them and the individuals seemed to be gradually separating as they sought out food. The bugs go through five phases (instars) as nymphs before they become adults and these look to be in one of the middle phases of development, judging from the size of the “wings.”

In case someone is not familiar with these bugs, I am attaching a photo from last year of adult milkweed bugs to give an idea of what these nymphs will eventually become.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Green Heron reflections

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Butorides virescens, Canon 50D, green heron, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 13, 2013| 8 Comments »

Recently I had the chance to observe a Green Heron (Butorides virescens), one of my favorite birds, as it waded into the water at the edge of a small pond and focused its attention on catching a meal.

It was fascinating to watch the heron’s movements—it moved so with such care and stealth that it almost seemed to be moving in slow motion. At times, the heron would lean forward, as in the first photo, perhaps when a potential prey caught its attention.

The water in the pond was very still and I was happy to capture some nice reflections of the heron. They presented a minor dilemma for me in deciding how to crop the shot. Was it better to crop tighter and emphasize the main subject, as I did in the first shot, or to show the entire reflection, as in the third shot, which is the same image cropped differently? What do you think?

In many ways, the second shot is my favorite one. The heron had started to slowly move away and then turned its head back and opened its mouth a little. That little gesture seemed to give the heron more personality and it looks almost like it is smiling.

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Another fuzzy white caterpillar

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, fuzzy white caterpillar, Huntley Meadows Park, Spilosoma virginica, Tamron 180mm macro lens, Virginia Tiger Moth caterpillar, Yellow Wooly Bear caterpillar on September 12, 2013| 6 Comments »

I continue to see these white fuzzy caterpillars and have concluded that they may be Virginia Tiger Moth caterpillars (Spilosoma virginica), also known as Yellow Wooly Bear caterpillars.

I have seen some mating white moths in the same area that look like Virginia Tiger Moths and my photos of these caterpillars resemble some of the ones I find on-line for the Yellow Wooly Bear caterpillars.

In any case, I really like the way that the light fell on this caterpillar and illuminated the long white hairs of its body, giving it a halo-like effect.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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September bee

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, bee, bumblebee, Canon 50D, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 11, 2013| 11 Comments »

One of the advantages to living in a relatively southern state is that summer lingers on for a bit longer and flowers continue to bloom. As long as there are flowers blooming, bees continue in their efforts to gather pollen,

I am not sure what flower this is, but it was blooming in the garden of one of my neighbors, Cindy Dyer, a fellow photographer and blogger. She plants her garden with an eye toward plants that will photograph well and when I have a few minutes to spare, I enjoy making a quick trip to her garden to see what is blooming.

When I first spotted it, I had this mental picture of the bee working in the center of the flower, surrounded by a protective little fence. I tried to frame the shot with that picture in mind and chose an angle that emphasized the “fence.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Brown praying mantis

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, praying mantis, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 10, 2013| 10 Comments »

I feel lucky whenever I spot a praying mantis, because they are usually so well camouflaged that they are virtually invisible when motionless.

I was a little surprised to see a brown one recently (all the other ones that I have seen have been green), but I can’t help but note that the brown head makes those green compound eye really stand out. I really felt like the praying mantis was looking right at me as I tried to photograph it.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Eastern Comma

Posted in Art, Butterflies, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, butterfly, Canon 50D, Eastern Comma, Eastern Comma butterfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Polygonia comma, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 9, 2013| 6 Comments »

It’s rare that I actually welcome an insect landing on me, which is usually a prelude to it biting me, but I was really happy when this Eastern Comma butterfly (Polygonia comma) decided it like the way that I tasted.

It initially landed right on my chest and began to lick my shirt and then moved over to the messenger bag in which I carry my camera gear. I carefully removed the bag and was able to get these shots while the Eastern Comma kept busy licking away my accumulated sweat (my apologies to those with delicate sensibilities, but these butterflies don’t land on pretty flowers and instead generally feed on the less photogenic sap, rotting fruit, and dung).

Normally this butterfly blends in well with its environment and is hard to see, but I guess that we would all agree that a blue Adidas bag is not its natural environment. It was also surprisingly easy to identify the butterfly. Last year I agonized in trying to decide if a butterfly I had photographed was a Question Mark or a Comma—the difference is in the shape of the white marking. Yes, those are actually the names of the butterflies. Who makes up these names? It’s the kind of job that I would enjoy.

I haven’t found any other insects named for punctuation marks, but won’t be surprised to find that there is an Asterisk caterpillar or an Ampersand beetle.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Sleeping tree frog

Posted in Amphibians, Art, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Green Treefrog, Huntley Meadows Park, Hyla cinerea, Tamron 180mm macro lens, tree frog on September 8, 2013| 14 Comments »

This little Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea) was almost hidden in the cattails, comfortably napping at midday with its legs tucked under its body. It’s nice to know that I am not the only one who enjoys a little afternoon siesta.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Another screaming hawk

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Buteo lineatus, Canon 50D, hawk, Huntley Meadows Park, Red-Shouldered Hawk, screaming hawk, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 7, 2013| 12 Comments »

I have not seen any hawks at my local marsh for quite some time, so yesterday I was really happy when I heard the unmistakable sound of screaming Red-shouldered hawks (Buteo lineatus). (Check out the sound file on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website if you have never heard the cry of these magnificent birds.)

From the sound of the loud screaming, I could tell that the hawks were not far away and eventually I spotted two of them soaring above the trees. After a few minutes, one of them flew silently into view and landed in a tree across the beaver pond from where I was standing. I suspected that he would not remain very long, so I decided to try to get some shots with the lens that I happened to have on my camera at the time, my Tamron 180mm macro lens, rather than take the time to set up my tripod and change to a longer lens.

Before long, I heard the cries of the other hawk and the one that I was watching took to the air and joined in the screaming. I was a little surprise to see that it flew laterally and downward, but I was able to track it pretty well and got the in-flight shot that you see below.

I was pleased to see that the lens was able to capture a pretty good amount of contrast and detail, even in heavily-cropped images like the two that I am posting. I enjoy the challenge of attempting to capture any birds in flight and look forward to more attempts as we move out of insect season, when my macro lens is use most of the time, into bird season, when I switch to a telephoto lens.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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September spider

Posted in Arachnids, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Argiope aurantia, Black and Yellow Garden Orbweaver spider, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, spider, Tamron 180mm macro lens, Yellow Garden Orbweaver spider on September 5, 2013| 11 Comments »

Finally I am starting to see some of the Yellow Garden Orbweaver spiders (Argiope aurantia) that fascinated me so much last summer. These spiders are big and colorful and have awesome webs with a distinctive zigzag section. I will be keeping an eye on the spiders to see if I can observe them catching prey and wrapping it up in silk.

Stay tuned for more spiders., most likely coming pretty soon to the blog—this spider is just the first fall installment.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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You just keep me hanging on

Posted in Amphibians, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Green Treefrog, Huntley Meadows Park, Hyla cinerea, tree frog on September 4, 2013| 10 Comments »

Unlike most of the tree frogs that I have encountered, this Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea) was alert and moved about a bit when I tried to take its photo—the others were resting motionless on cattail plants and seemed half-asleep.

The frog initially hid behind the cattail leaf and then tentatively poked its head out, giving me the chance to get this shot. I really like the pose that I was able to capture and the really cool details that you can see of the pads on its toes, which help it to seemingly defy gravity. (Click on the image to see a higher resolution view.)

I too would love to be able to defy gravity.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Impressive wingspan

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria, Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 180mm macro lens, wingspan on September 1, 2013| 8 Comments »

Coming in for a landing, this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) stretched out his wings to their full extent and the sight was mighty impressive. The wings stretched out so wide, in fact, that I couldn’t fit them entirely into the frame. As he reached the ground, the heron gradually pulled in his wings and I was able to get a couple of additional shots of the impressive wingspan.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Red-footed Cannibalfly

Posted in Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Promachus rufipes, Red-footed Cannibalfly, robber fly, Tamron 180mm macro lens on August 31, 2013| 39 Comments »

If you were an insect or even a hummingbird, you would definitely not want to encounter this large insect with the macabre moniker of Red-footed Cannibalfly (Promachus rufipes), also known as the Bee Panther.

This insect is considered to be a giant robber fly. Robber flies in general are predators that wait for their prey to fly by and then attack it. Wikipedia describes the attack in this way, “The fly attacks its prey by stabbing it with its short, strong proboscis injecting the victim with saliva containing neurotoxic and proteolytic enzymes which very rapidly paralyze the victim and soon digest the insides; the fly then sucks the liquefied material through the proboscis.”

It’s hard to believe that a fly could actually take down a hummingbird, but bugguide, which I have found to be a good reference for insects, notes that there have been reports of a Red-footed Cannibalfly attacking a Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

When I first saw this insect fly by, I thought it was some strange kind of hairy dragonfly, but the more that I looked at it, the more I realized that it was not a dragonfly—the eyes and wings were all wrong. I have spotted several of these flies already, but so far have not seen any with captured prey.

I came across a wonderful commentary on these insects in a blog called Ohio Birds and Biodiversity that sums up my feelings about them—”Be thankful these insects aren’t the size of Sandhill Cranes.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Silhouettes and reflections

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, blue heron, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, heron, Huntley Meadows Park, relfections, silhouettes, Tamron 180mm macro lens on August 30, 2013| 10 Comments »

Without fill-in light, a backlit subject is often in the shadows and becomes a silhouette, which is what happened in these shots of a Great Blue Heron taking off from a watery area of my local marshland park. The same sunlight in front of me also created beautiful reflections of the heron in the water, and I really like the combination of the silhouettes and reflections in these images.

This heron was getting ready to give chase to another blue heron and was squawking loudly as it took off. I watched the two herons for quite a while and this one went out of his ways several times to harass the other one and force it to search for prey in the vegetation away from the pool of water. As you can see in the second and third photos, a Great Egret was a spectator to the action, lifting up its head to observe what was going on. When things calmed down, the egret returned to its fishing until the next round of activity from the herons.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Munching on mallow

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Handsome Meadow Katydid, Hibiscus moscheutos, Huntley Meadows Park, katydid, mallow, Orchelimum pulchellum, Swamp Rose Mallow, Tamron 180mm macro lens on August 29, 2013| 7 Comments »

Looking into a Swamp Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos), I immediately noticed the distinctive colors of a Handsome Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum pulchellum), feeding on the center stalk of the flower.

The katydid did not move from its position and merely cocked its head a little to the side and glanced up at me with its striking blue eyes. It seemed to be a little irritated to be disturbed, though I must confess that it’s really hard to gauge the emotions of an insect from its expressions.

The Handsome Meadow Katydid is one of my favorite insects and, in my humble opinion, truly deserves its name. In addition to its rainbow coloration and distinctive eyes, it has the cutest little feet and toes.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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An odd couple

Posted in Dragonflies, Humor, Insects, Landscape, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, canon 50, Common Whitetail dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, odd couple, Plathemis lydia, sunbathing, Tamron 180mm macro lens, turtle on August 27, 2013| 25 Comments »

It’s hard to imagine an odder couple than this dragonfly and this turtle, sunbathing together on a log in the beaver pond. What do they see in each other? How do they communicate? Love seems to find a way to overcome obstacles like these.

One thing is clear—they are happy together, sharing this special moment in the warmth of the sun. If you don’t believe me, check out the smile on the turtle’s face.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Dragonfly on leaf

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Blue Dasher, Blue Dasher dragonfly, Canon 50D, dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Pachydiplax longipennis, Tamron 180mm macro lens on August 27, 2013| 8 Comments »

Most dragonflies choose perches high in the air, but this male Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) decided to land on a little plant just inches above the surface of the water at my local marsh, creating a photographic challenge for me.

Hanging over the edge of the boardwalk, I tried to get at eye level with the dragonfly and simultaneously sought an uncluttered background. In the first image, I was successful in shapes of the leafs, achieving a kind of three-dimensional effect. The water turned into an almost even gray, totally lacking in details. The second image gives you a better sense of the context, with the ghostly plants in the background.

The Blue Dasher dragonfly is the most common one that I see and it’s always a challenge to come up with creative new ways to show off its beauty. For this one day, I feel like I successfully met that challenge.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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