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Archive for the ‘wildlife’ Category

Outside my front door

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 6, 2023| 7 Comments »

As I was preparing to lock the front door of my townhouse in Northern Virginia one day last week, I glanced over at a bush about 10 feet (3 meters) away where a bird was perched. I pivoted my body, turned on the camera, and focused on the little bird, which I noted was a Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)—I going out out on a photo adventure, so my camera was slung over my shoulder.

Fearing that I might scare off the wren, I snapped off a few shots without paying too much attention to my camera settings. It felt a little strange to photograph a bird at such close range. In most cases I photograph birds with my 150-600mm lens zoomed out to 600mm, but in this instance I took the shot at 309mm and probably should have zoomed back a bit more.

When I was reviewing the images on my computer,  I checked the camera settings I had used and found out my camera was set at ISO 800, f/6.3, and 1/100. I am a little shocked that I was able to get a relatively sharp shot at such a low shutter setting, but the lens does have some built-in image stabilization and I am used to holding the lens pretty steady.

Some photographers travel great distances to capture wildlife images. This shot is definitely award worthy, but it does show that you may not have to travel far from home to see and photograph nature and wildlife. Beauty is everywhere.

Carolina Wren

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Yellow-rumped Warblers in November

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 5, 2023| 7 Comments »

Most warblers pass briefly through my area when they are migrating in the spring and in the fall, but Yellow-rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronata) stay with us for a good part of the colder season. This past Thursday I spotted quite a large number of Yellow-rumped Warblers as I wandered the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

In the first photo, you can see a portion of the yellow patch that is responsible for the name of this species. Most of the time I see only the smaller yellow patches on their sides, because they tend to perch high above me and I am often shooting at an upwards angle.

I am amazed by the light weight of Yellow-rumped Warblers and their ability to perch on incredibly slender branches, as you can see in the second image. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, these little birds weigh only 0.4-0.5 ounces (12-13 g).

In the final photo, the warbler is poised to move on to its next perch. Yellow-rumped Warblers are not quite as hyperactive as some other species that I see at this time of the year, like Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, but they move around a lot as they forage for food.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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November dragonflies

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 4, 2023| 1 Comment »

And then there was one…

Now that the calendar has turned over to November, we have reached the point in the dragonfly season when there is essentially only one remaining species, the Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum). There is a chance that I will encounter a hardy survivor from some of the summer species or a migratory dragonfly species passing through our area, but in all likelihood, the only dragonflies that I am likely to see this month are the tiny red Autumn Meadowhawks.

This past Thursday I visited Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and spotted a total of about ten Autumn Meadowhawks at various points throughout the refuge. Unlike some species that require specific habitats, Autumn Meadowhawks seem to be pretty adaptable and I have found them in a variety of different environments.

The dragonfly in the first photo is a female Autumn Meadowhawk—you can tell it is female by looking at her terminal appendages, i.e. the tip of her “tail.” She was perching more or less in the open, so I managed to capture an obstructed shot of her.

Most of the time, though, Autumn Meadhawks perch low to the ground on fallen leaves and dried-up vegetation, as you can see in the final two shots. Both photos show male Autumn Meadowhawks. I love the lighting in the penultimate shot, although the cluttered background makes the dragonfly a little hard to see. In the final photo, I really like the way that the dragonfly appeared to be looking up at me with a sense of curiosity.

Autumn Meadowhawk

Autumn Meadowhawk

Autumn Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Woodland Box Turtle

Posted in Autumn, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, turtle, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 3, 2023| 10 Comments »

I encountered this Woodland Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) last Friday on a paved road at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The brown color of the eyes suggests that this is a female—males generally have red eyes. However, according to the Virginia Herpetological Society, “The color of the iris is sometimes considered indicative of a turtle’s sex, but it is not always reliable.”

The turtle was quite small, about the size of the palm of my hand. I normally try not to disturb wildlife, but I worried that this turtle might be hit by a car, so I picked it up and moved it off of the surface of the road. I was concerned that its claws might scratch me, but the turtle drew in all of its legs and its head as soon as I lifted it.

Hopefully this turtle will live to a ripe old age, but it definitely needs to stay out of traffic, according to the Virginia Herpetological Society, “Box turtles are notorious for living as long, or longer, than humans. An adult male with the date 1874 carved in its plastron was found in Rockingham County in August 1985 (Daily News Record, Harrisonburg), indicating an age of >111 years. It is difficult to confirm such sightings, however.” Yikes!

Woodland Box Turtle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Dramatic lighting

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on November 2, 2023| 4 Comments »

The sunlight coming from the back and side of this Clouded Sulphur butterfly (Colias philodice) produced a really dramatic effect in this image that I captured last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It looks almost like I had the butterfly posing for me in a photography studio, where I would have had full control over the power and direction of the light.

In situations like this, the settings on the camera are really important, because there is so much light that it threatens to blow out the highlights of the light-colored subjects. As a result, I deliberately underexposed the photo, which is why the background appears to be so dark, but I did retain a lot of the details in the butterfly and the asters.

For those of you who enjoy the geeky, technical aspects of photography, I was shooting with a Canon 7D DSLR and a Tamron 150mm-600mm telephoto zoom lens at 600m—I was using a monopod for additional stability. My camera was set to f/8.0, 1/1600 sec, and ISO 400 with negative 1.33 stops of exposure compensation.

Clouded Sulphur

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Scratching an itch?

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on November 1, 2023| 2 Comments »

Sometimes when you have an itch, you just have to stop what you are doing and scratch it. I have certainly had that experience and that seemed to be the case with this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) that I spotted last week at the edge of the water at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

If you zoom in on the photo, you can see that the heron has quite long claws on its toes that it was using along the length of its neck. I love the way that the feathers were all awry as the heron focused on scratching its itch.

Great Blue Heron

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

 

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Spooky bird

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Halloween, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on October 31, 2023| 5 Comments »

They are not as creepy as spiders or a black cats, but there is something eerie and unsettling about the pale yellow eyes of Rusty Blackbirds (Euphagus carolinus), like this one that I spotted last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The bird was in a really distant tree, so the image is not super sharp, but I really like the way I was able to create a mood in the shot and the subdued colors throughout the shot really help that eye to pop.

Happy Halloween!

Rusty Blackbird

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Foraging Starlings

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on October 31, 2023| 13 Comments »

A large flock of European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) was foraging in the trees at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge last Friday. Initially I thought that this might be a flock of crows or red-winged blackbirds, but when I zoomed in on the birds and saw their mottled iridescent feathers, I immediately identified them as starlings.

I captured these images as the birds feasted on some unidentified berries, plucking and ingesting them one at a time. I was hoping to get more shots of these birds, but without any visible warning, they all took off at the same time and flew away.

European Starling

European Starling

European Starling

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Autumn turtles

Posted in Autumn, Nature, Reptiles, turtle, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 29, 2023| 4 Comments »

I love the way these turtles were lined up on an upward-slanting log as they basked in the autumn sunlight last Tuesday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. One smaller turtle looked like it was trying to merge into the traffic on the log, but the other turtles, like drivers in the Washington D.C. area where I live, were not letting him in.

The reflections in the water were a nice bonus and few floating leaves add little pops of autumn color.

turtles

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Autumn cormorant

Posted in Art, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on October 28, 2023| 8 Comments »

Do you imagine a photo in your mind and then try to create it? Most of the time I am an opportunistic wildlife photographer—I react to the situations in which I find myself and try to make the best possible photo to capture the subject, the action, or the mood. Sometimes, though, I look at a spot and think, “Wouldn’t it be great if my subject moved into that light or onto that photogenic perch?”

On Wednesday I watched a lone Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) as it repeatedly dove into the water in a small suburban pond not far from my townhouse. Generally I encounter cormorants at larger bodies of water, but I know that this manmade pond is deep and is suited to birds that dive for food—some species of migratory diving ducks, for example, overwinter there.

The cormorant would spend quite a while underwater and I never knew where it would pop up next. I kept hoping it would surface in an area where the reflections of the fall foliage were especially colorful and eventually it did. The cormorant was quite far away, but I captured the kind of imagine that I had imagined, with colorful rippled patterns on the surface of the water as the cormorant swam into the frame. I encourage you to click on the imagine to see the details of the first image.

The second image was one of my earlier attempts. The cormorant surfaced closer to me than in the first shot, but the surface of the water was not as colorful as I wanted. However, the shot provides a really good look at the striking aquamarine eyes of this beautiful bird. Wow! Those eyes never fail to startle and delight me.

It is a fun challenge to try to incorporate the fall foliage into my photos and I have had an unusual amount of good luck in doing so this past week with a variety of subjects. I am starting to see more and more leaves on the ground, so I know that this period is transitory. Carpe diem!

Double-crested Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorant

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

 

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Autumn kinglet

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 27, 2023| 10 Comments »

This tiny Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula) glared down at me as I photographed it on Wednesday in a tree overhanging a stormwater retention pond in Kingstowne, a suburban community only a mile or so from where I live. The autumn foliage surrounding the pond had several patches of  impressively colorful leaves and I was delighted to be able capture some of the beautiful autumn color in the background of these two images.

In the first photo, you can see a portion of the kinglet’s “ruby crown,” a feature of the males that is often hidden from sight. The second image gives you a better overall view of the little kinglet, which only about four inches (10 cm) in length and weighs about .3 ounces (9 grams).

Ruby-crowned Kinglets are generally hyperactive, so it was unusual when this one paused for a moment in its foraging efforts and “posed” for me in the open.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

 

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More Autumn Meadowhawks

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on October 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Now that Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum vicinum) have become the only dragonflies that I see regularly, I have been paying a great deal of attention to their perches when I am photographing them—when there are a limited number of subjects available, I try to make each encounter count. During a recent trip to Huntley Meadows Park, a county-run marshland park only a few miles from where I live, I managed to capture images of these colorful little dragonflies perching on a variety of different types of vegetation.

Often I have to choose between zooming in close to show the details of my subjects or pulling way back to show the environment in which I found them. In the case of these Autumn Meadowhawks, though, the images balance those competing priorities quite well, in part, I believe, because the dragonflies were so immersed in their environment, i.e. they do not choose high perches that produce “dragonfly on a stick” photos that isolate the subject too much from its surroundings.

Autumn Meadowhawk

Autumn Meadowhawk

Autumn Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Autumn Camouflage

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 25, 2023| 2 Comments »

The red bodies of male Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum vicinum) make them relatively easy to spot.  However, when they choose to perch on foliage that matches their coloration, they can sometimes be well camouflaged.

The first photo shows an Autumn Meadowhawk perched on some kind of red vegetation (Virginia Creeper ?) at Huntley Meadows Park last Thursday. The red leaves really help to give the image a feel of autumn.

In the second image, the dragonfly stands out a bit more, but the dying leaves provide an artistically pleasing backdrop for the beautiful little dragonfly—I love this composition a lot.

Autumn Meadowhawk

Autumn Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Clouded Sulphur and asters

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 24, 2023| 9 Comments »

Lots of wildflowers still in bloom as we move deeper into autumn here in Northern Virginia. Last night we had our first frost warning of the season, but I don’t think there was any frost this morning in my neighborhood—a hard frost may speed the demise of many of the remaining butterflies and dragonflies. I was therefore delighted last Thursday to spot this Clouded Sulphur butterfly (Colias philodice) feeding on the flowers of what I believe is a White Heath Aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides) plant at Huntley Meadows Park.

Although part of the butterfly is obscured by the stem and the leaves in the foreground of this image, I like the way that I was able to capture the details of the butterfly’s green eyes and its extended proboscis.

Clouded Sulphur

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Kingfisher in autumn

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 23, 2023| 6 Comments »

I will often strive to photograph my wildlife subjects from as many different angles as I can in order to take advantage of the lighting or to highlight the details of their bodies. When I spot a subject, though, I initially try to capture whatever shot I can before I work to get a better shot—any of my subjects are skittish and there is always the chance that my initial shot will be my only one.

I spotted this perched male Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) last Thursday at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, Virginia and one of my initial shots was the third one below. The perch was sticking out of a pond that was surrounded by a marshy wetland, so there was really no chance for me to get closer to the kingfisher—there was no way to work the angles in my usual way.

So what did I do? In the background I noticed there were some patches of colorful fall foliage, so I decided to see if I could include some of those colors in my images to give them an autumn vibe. By bending, twisting, crouching, and kneeling I was able to vary my shooting angle, while remaining more or less in the same spot, and eventually managed to get some photos that included portions of that autumn foliage. The kingfisher remained in place, but cooperated by changing his head position from time to time.

Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue-faced Meadowhawks

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 22, 2023| 3 Comments »

I was thrilled yesterday on Thursday at Huntley Meadows Park, a local marshland park, when I finally spotted some Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum ambiguum), a stunning species that is one of my favorites, after searching in vain for them at other locations for over a month. The Blue-faced Meadowhawk is a late-season dragonfly that is somewhat similar in appearance to the more common Autumn Meadowhawk—males of both species have bright red bodies, but the Autumn Meadowhawks have brown eyes.

The females of both species are more muted in their coloration than their male counterparts, as is often the case with many dragonflies and birds, so they have more natural camouflage and are frequently more difficult to find. The second image shows a female Blue-faced Meadowhawk that I managed to spot in the same general area as the male in the first photo. I love the way that the female dragonfly appeared to be singing a song as she basked in the sunlight on some dried-out vegetation.

Blue-faced Meadowhawk

Blue-faced Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

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Variegated Fritillary Butterfly in October

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

This late in the season, most of the large butterflies seem to be gone, but I continue to see some of the smaller ones, like this beautiful Variegated Fritillary butterfly (Euptoieta claudia) that I spotted on Thursday during a visit to Huntley Meadows Park, a county-run marshland park not far from where I live. Earlier in the year I encountered some Great Spangled Fritillaries, but I think this may well be my first sighting of a Variegated Fritillary in 2023.

The butterfly appeared to be basking in the sun as it perched with its wings wide open on some dried-out vegetation. I was using my Tamron 150-600mm telephoto zoom lens, which has a minimum focusing distance of almost nine feet (270 cm), so I was pretty far from the butterfly when I captured this image. I have read reviews that state that this lens is soft when fully extended to 600mm, but I have found that I can get acceptably sharp images if I pay a lot of attention to my focusing and shooting techniques, including remaining steady—in this case I was using a monopod.

Variegated Fritillary

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Meadowhawk on the rocks

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 20, 2023| 7 Comments »

I walked about for a couple of hours on Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and visited some of my favorite dragonfly sites, but managed to spot only three dragonflies. Of those three, the only one that I managed to photograph was this pretty little Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum).

Autumn Meadowhawks are quite small, about 1.3 inches (33 mm) in length, so they are not easy to spot, despite their bright red color. They tend to stay close to the ground, making short flights most of the time, so you have to be looking down to see them. At this time of the year, I focus a good amount attention on birds, so I end up alternating between looking up for birds and down for insects.

I really like the color and texture of the rocks on which the dragonfly chose to perch. Their cool muted tones contrast nicely with the red and brown colors of the dragonfly.

Autumn Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Familiar Bluet in October

Posted in Autumn, damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 19, 2023| 3 Comments »

Like dragonflies, their larger “cousins,” damselflies have been rapidly decreasing in numbers this month. During recent visits to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I have seen only a few remaining damselflies. Therefore I was especially happy to spot this handsome male Familiar Bluet damselfly (Enallagma civile) last Tuesday.

The little damselfly seemed to be giving me a sideward glance as I carefully focused on him and I see a hint of what might be a smile. I really like the way that the background turned out in this image too—the colors and bokeh balls add additional visual interest without detracting from the primary subject.

Familiar Bluet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Tattered autumn

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Many of the insects and plants that I now see show signs of the ravages of summer, like this damaged Common Buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia) that I spotted atop an equally damaged plant during a recent visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Nonetheless the beauty of the butterfly shines through and it appears to be fully functional.

Autumn is a time for harvest celebrations as we rejoice in the bounty of the growth that has taken place, but there is also a tinge of melancholy as we experience a sense of loss and the feeling that our lives our changing. Change, of course, is a constant in our lives, but most of us—and I definitely fit into this group—become creatures of habit and have trouble dealing with changes at times. Yet we eventually adapt and may even learn to appreciate the results of the change, even if the process of change is a bit uncomfortable.

Common Buckeye

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Perched Wandering Glider

Posted in Autumn, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 17, 2023| 3 Comments »

I endlessly tried to track several Wandering Glider dragonflies (Pantala flavescens) as they flew back and forth over a field at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge last Thursday and was thrilled when one of them finally landed some nearby vegetation, allowing me to capture this image.

Wandering Gliders, also known as Globe Skimmers or Globe Wanderers, are considered to be the most widespread dragonfly species on the earth, with a good population on every continent except Antartica, although they rare in Europe. According to Wikipedia, Wandering Gliders “make an annual multigenerational journey of some 11,200 miles (18,000 km); to complete the migration, individual Wandering Gliders fly more than 3,730 miles (6,000 km)—one of the farthest known migrations of all insect species.”

This modest image was technically quite challenging to capture. The vegetation in this field was dense and the autofocus on my camera kept getting confused by the stalks of vegetation, so I had to resort to manual focusing. I was reluctant to move about very much for fear of rippling the vegetation and disturbing the dragonfly and therefore had to crouch in an awkward position close to the ground. It is certainly not an award-worthy photo, but I am thrilled whenever I manage to get a decent shot of a dragonfly species that rarely perches.

Wandering Glider

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Hidden heron

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 16, 2023| 3 Comments »

This Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) was so well hidden that I could not tell if it was perched on a small raised portion of the ground or in a tree when I caught a glimpse of it during a recent visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. My view of the heron initially was mostly obscured by the thick vegetation, but I managed to get a somewhat clear shot of it by climbing on top of a conveniently placed park bench.

Great Blue Heron

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

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Hidden eagle

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 15, 2023| 3 Comments »

This Bald Eagle was almost hidden in the foliage of a sweet gum tree when I spotted it on Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Normally I depend on the brightness of a bald eagle’s head to give away the presence of an eagle, but in this case the eagle’s head was in partial shade, making it stand out quite a bit less than it usually does.

The second shot shows a view of the eagle from a different angle. Even though this shot does not show as much detail as the first shot, which was actually taken after the second one, I like the way that it shows how the eagle was nestled on its perch amidst all of the branches.

In the upcoming months, many of the leaves will fall from the trees and it will become marginally easier for me to spot an eagle from a longer distance away. Of course, that will also make it easier for the eagles to spot me and my vision and reflexes are rarely a match for those of the eagles. Often my first indication of an eagle’s presence is when it takes to the air and flies away from me.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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Arrowhead Spider

Posted in Arachnids, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spiders, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

On Thursday I spotted this cool-looking Arrowhead Spider (Verrucosa arenata) , also known as a Triangle Orbweaver, at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This spider is one of the few known orbweavers that sits facing upwards in its web—all other species face downward.

Its distinctive triangle-shaped abdomen makes this species pretty easy to identify. If you look closely at the image, I think that you can see a couple of the spider’s large round eyes shining brightly in between several of the legs in the upper left portion of the spider’s body.

Arrowhead Spider

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Perfect autumn damselfly

Posted in Autumn, damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 14, 2023| 1 Comment »

Although the name of this Orange Bluet damselfly (Enallagma signatum) sounds like an oxymoron, its colors are a perfect match for this autumn season. As the name suggest, most damselflies in the bluet family are blue, but they do come in other colors.

I photographed this handsome male Orange Bluet on 10 October at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and was thrilled to be able to capture a little autumn color in the background of the image.

Orange Bluet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Green Darner in October

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 13, 2023| 3 Comments »

There were several Common Green Darner dragonflies (Anax junius) flying overhead on 10 October at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. One of them landed and perched momentarily low in the vegetation and I was able to capture this image.

I have been seeing fewer and fewer dragonflies on the ground as we move deeper and deeper into October, but in the air I have been seeing quite a few Common Green Darners, Black Saddlebags, and Wandering Gliders, the dragonfly species that migrate through our area. Many of the members of the surviving summer species appear to be faded and tattered, but the migrants appear to be bright and pristine.

The tangled grasses and vegetation where the dragonfly was perched were dried out and mostly void of color, which helps the green of the dragonfly’s thorax to really stand out in the photo. I also like the way that I was able to capture the transparency and details of the dragonfly’s wings.

Common Green Darner

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Autumn Eagle Takeoff

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on October 12, 2023| 7 Comments »

I spotted this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in a distant tree on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge at about the same time that it spotted me. I reacted quickly and managed to capture this first image as it prepared to take off. As you can see, there is already a bit of color in our autumn foliage, but the colors are relatively muted here in Northern Virginia, compared to what I would see when I was growing up in New England.

The second photo shows the eagle a few seconds after its takeoff as it rose above the trees. At that moment its feet were still dangling, but it raised its “landing gear” shortly after I captured the image.

It has been a while since I last posted eagle photos and it was wonderful to have a couple of sightings of these majestic birds on a beautiful fall day.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Feasting on goldenrold

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 11, 2023| 2 Comments »

I love bright colors and instinctively smile when I see the large patches of goldenrod that are still in bloom at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The insects seem to love these flowers too and last Tuesday I spotted a large Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and smaller Clouded Sulphur butterfly (Colias philodice) feeding on goldenrod.

Monarch

Clouded Sulphur

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Orchard Orbweaver web

Posted in Arachnids, Art, Autumn, Halloween, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on October 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I am always amazed by the skill and artistry of spiders that construct elaborate webs, like this little Orchard Orbweaver spider (Leucauge venusta) that I photographed last Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It is a bit of a challenge to capture an image of a web like this, especially in full daylight, but I managed to do so by focusing very carefully and deliberately underexposing the image so that the background appeared a bit darker than it was in real life.

Orchard Orbweaver

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Twelve-spotted Skimmer in October

Posted in Autumn, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 9, 2023| 5 Comments »

When the calendar turns over to October, I never know which dragonflies I will encounter. Many of them have disappeared, but some hardy survivors are still around. The weather was warm last week, with several days in the 80’s (27 degrees C), but this week, high temperatures are predicted to be in the low to mid 60’s (17 degrees C) with nighttime temperatures dipping to the upper 40’s (9 degrees C)—this cool weather is less than optimal for most dragonflies.

I was thrilled last Tuesday to spot this Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula pulchella) at the edge of a small pond at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I was especially pleased to be able to capture the beautiful patterns on this dragonfly’s wings as it perched in the reeds.

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Assassination attempt?

Posted in Autumn, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on October 8, 2023| 3 Comments »

What is going on in this photo? It is really cool to photograph the interaction between two species, but it is often difficult to interpret the nature of their exchange. Is it mere curiosity or are there more deadly and sinister intentions on the part of one of the actors? If so, which one is the predator and which one is the potential prey?

I captured this image this past Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I could not identify either of these insects, so I posted the photo and requested identification assistance on bugguide.net, a wonderful resource for insect identification.  It did not take long before I received a response that the insects were an Orange Assassin Bug (Pselliopus barberi) on the left and a Milkweed Leaf Beetle (Labidomera clivicollis) on the right.

I may be giving too much weight to the “assassin” part of the name of one of these insects, but, judging from their individual postures, it seems to me that the orange bug is preparing to attack the black-and-red beetle. Who know? It is such a cool and creepy photo that perhaps I should have waited until Halloween to post it.

Orange Assassin Bug Milkweed Leaf Beetle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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