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In the big nest

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 25, 2022| 6 Comments »

I had already spotted a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) sitting on a small nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge (see the final photo in my recent posting Out on a limb). However, until Wednesday I had been unable to determine if the eagles had started to sit on eggs in the much larger and prominent nesting sight. That nest is so large and deep that a nesting eagle is hidden from view most of the time.

We had unusually warm weather on Wednesday, so I felt compelled to leave my house with my camera and towards my favorite site for wildlife photography. As I walked past my normal viewing site for the nest, I wasn’t surprised that I could not see an eagle in it. As I continued to walk down the trail, however, I continued to keep my eye on the nest as I continued to walk down the trail. My view was partially blocked by trees, but looking through the trees, I suddenly spotted a small white head sticking out of the nest.

I don’t know if the warmer weather prompted the eagle to sit up higher in the nest than during cold weather, when the eagle would tend to hunker down to keep the eggs warm. Whatever the case, I welcomed this confirmation that the eagles were in the nest. The first image shows that the eagle was quite alert and keeping and eye on things. The second image helps to give you all a sense of the massive size of this nest.

As I write this posting, my heart is breaking as I continue to watch horrific events unfolding in Ukraine. I would simply ask that you pray for the brave Ukrainian people who are fighting and, in many cases, dying to defend themselves and their country.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cormorant takeoff

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Phalacrocorax auritus, takeoff, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 24, 2022| 8 Comments »

I have long been fascinated by the way that Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) take off from the water. The cormorants flap their wings and bounce across the surface of the water before they lift off into the air.

Yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I spotted a cormorant and was just beginning to focus on it when without warning it started to take off. I was happy to be able to capture a short series of images of the cormorant in action that show some of the stages of the cormorant’s takeoff.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Morning mood

Posted in abstract, Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, Bucephala albeola, bufflehead ducks, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, mood, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 23, 2022| 9 Comments »

How do you capture the mood of the moment? I really love the early morning, those moments when the wildlife is just waking up and becoming active and the sun is slowly rising. This winter, though, I have been kind of lazy and a little unmotivated. Consequently I have been generally sleeping through those magical moments or been seated in front of my computer rather than standing outdoors behind my camera.

Recently, though, I visited Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge just after dawn and captured these images, which give you a sense of what I was seeing and feeling on that occasion. In the first image a pair of Bufflehead ducks (Bucephala albeola) were flying past another duck in the foreground. As your eyes make your way across the color-tinged ripples towards the distant horizon, you can just make out successive rows of other water birds.

In the second image, a solitary Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) was already at work just off the shore, fishing for breakfast. Though the heron is almost a silhouette, you can just detect the warm sunshine coming from the right that illuminates its chest.

The light is the main subject in the final, almost abstract image. The light reveals the details in the grain of the wood and creates a wonderfully distorted reflection in the ripples of the water. In many ways this image represents photography reduced to its simplest, most elemental form—the interplay of light and shadows.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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White-throated Sparrow and sumac

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged white-throated sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis on February 22, 2022| 4 Comments »

Do you prefer static portraits or action shots? It is easy to see that my question is a false dichotomy that seems to limit this preference to and either/or choice. In real life, you can like both types of photos and most people would say that it depends on the merits of each individual photo.

Last week I spotted this White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) in a patch of sumac at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Frequent readers of this blog will undoubtedly remember that I have featured a variety of birds in this same patch, which provides berries during a time of the year when food sources are severely limited.

In the first photo, the sparrow was momentarily perched and I had the luxury of being able to compose my shot somewhat carefully. I moved about to get the best possible angle and checked my focus to make sure that the eye would be sharp. I really like the way that the little portrait turned out, with the angular line of the sparrow’s body mirroring the stalks and the muted tones of the background helping the yellow eye stripe and red berries to really “pop.”

The second and third images were my attempts to capture the sparrow in action. It was tough tp frame the shots, because I did not know how or when the sparrow would reach to snag a berry. In many of my shots, the sparrow’s eye was not visible, because it had turned its head or it was buried it in the vegetation. I wanted very much to get a photo of the sparrow with a berry in its mouth, but that too was difficult because of the speed at which the sparrow swallowed its food.

If I were super critical of the second and third shots, I would say they are a little softer than the first image and the exposures might have been slightly off, in part because the lighting situation was not as good as for the first image. However, I think that the dynamic nature of the final two images more than compensates for the technical “issues.”

One of the coolest things about photography is that it is a mixture of the technical and artistic considerations—both aspects play a role in creating your overall impression of an image. I watched a lot of Olympic figure skating coverage last week and was struck by the way that the skaters received different scores for technical merit and artistic impression. I think that I use a somewhat similar system in my mind when evaluating my own photos—some are more technically challenging, like attempting a quad jump, while others reflect the beauty and elegance of the subject.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Out on a limb

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 21, 2022| 12 Comments »

As we near the end of the month of February, we are moving into nesting season for the Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) that I regularly observe at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Some other wildlife photographers have photographed one of the eagle pairs mating, but when I visited the refuge last Wednesday, there was no such activity. The best images that I was able to capture were of a solitary bald eagle perched on the outermost tip of a branch overlooking the trail on which I was walking—as the first photo shows, the eagle was quite aware of my presence.

Later that same day, I spotted a bald eagle that appears to be sitting on one of the two nests that monitor. One of the nests is so large and high up in the trees that it is almost impossible to tell when an eagle is sitting on the nest. The other nest, which is the one shown in the final photo, is much smaller and a sitting eagle is quite visible. There are barriers blocking the road to keep eagles from being disturbed, because a trail runs right under the nesting tree, so I am able to capture images only from a distance.

I will be checking in on the nests as time passes and with a little luck will be able to share some images of any eaglets that I manage to spot.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Flicker in sumac

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Colaptes auratus, flicker, Northern Flicker, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, sumac, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 20, 2022| 22 Comments »

On Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, it was fun photographing this colorful Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) feasting in a field of sumac. The muted tones of the sumac really help the female flicker to stand out in this image, particularly because she turned to the side and revealed the patch of bright red on the nape of her neck.

In case you are curious, I can tell that she is a female, because she lacks the black “mustache” stripe that is present with males. If you want to see a male Northern Flicker for the sake of comparison, check out my post from December 2020 entitled “Flicker in December.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Playing with his food

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, Great Blue Heron fishing, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 19, 2022| 16 Comments »

I watched a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) snag a small fish on Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Herons like to swallow their catches head-first, so the heron tossed the fish in the air several times to reposition it.

In the final photo, the heron had finally flicked the fish into the proper position and was preparing to swallow it. I am pretty sure that he was successful in doing so, although the photo suggests that his aim was somewhat less than perfect. I have tossed popcorn, M&M’s, and other tasty treats into the air and tried to catch them in my mouth and can testify to the fact that it is not as easy as it looks.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mockingbird in February

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Mimus polyglottos, mockingbird, Northern Mockingbird, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 18, 2022| 3 Comments »

Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) have been quite active and visible during my recent visits to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Like many other species, the mockingbirds have discovered the sumac patches that are scattered throughout the refuge, as you can see in the second photo. I like the way that you can see the sumac berries and you also get a sense of the cluster of branches and stalks that conspire to keep me from getting clear looks at the birds feasting on the sumac.

From a photography perspective, though, I much more favor the first photo. I managed to isolate the mockingbird from the cluttered background and I really like the angular lines of the branches that are visible. One of my Facebook friends commented that it looked like the mockingbird was perched in the crow’s nest of a sailing ship—an image that tickles my imagination.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Carolina Wren in February

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Carolina Wren, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Thryothorus ludovicianus, Woodbridge VA on February 17, 2022| 7 Comments »

They are hard to spot, because they are often hidden in the underbrush, so I am happy whenever I manage to get an unobstructed look at a Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus). I was particularly delighted when I was able to photograph one in warm early morning sunlight during a recent trip to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, as you can see in the first photo. The light really helped to emphasize the warm shades of brown feathers on the wren’s body.

In the second image, the light was dimmer and cooler and the wren was in partial shade. As a result, the colors and details do not “pop” as much as in the first image, but I do like the dynamic pose of the bird as it was singing.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Immature eagle at dawn

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, sunrise, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, immature bald eagle, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 16, 2022| 9 Comments »

Through the distant trees, I spotted a shadowy shape in the early morning hours last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Was it a large bird or simply a malformed tree? It is a little embarrassing to admit it, but I often find myself taking photos of odd-shaped branches or leaf formations, thinking they might be birds.

In this case, though, it turned out to be a bird. When I zoomed in to get a closer look, I initially thought it might be a hawk, but the more I stared at the hazy form, the more I realized that it was almost certainly an immature Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

It takes almost five years for an adult Bald Eagle to develop its signature look, with its yellow beak, light-colored eyes, and white head and tail. In the interim the eagle’s plumage is flecked with white, rather than being a solid dark color, and the beak and eyes are darker than they will eventually become. Experts can tell the age of an immature eagle on the basis of its plumage pattern—I am definitely not an expert and would guess from what I have read on-line that this eagle is probably about a year old or so.

Although I was a long way away from the eagle, it seemed to sense by presence and took off shortly after I spotted it. As the eagle flew away, I was able to capture an image with a view of the mottled pattern of the feathers on the underside of its wings and its dark tail feathers

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Early morning heron

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, Great Blue Heron in a tree, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 15, 2022| 3 Comments »

The early morning sun was beginning to warm the Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) that I spotted in a tree last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, a perch where I suspected the heron had spent the previous night. I quickly got a few shots and quietly moved on—I think the heron dozed off again after I had passed by.

When I took these shots, I was close enough to the heron that I was able to zoom in with my telephoto lens and capture some wonderful details in the feathers. The sunlight was warm and beautiful during that early portion of the day, part of the so-called “golden hour,” when subjects take on a golden glow. I have gotten a little lazy about rising at dawn, but this day was a pointed reminder of the potential benefits of doing so.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bluebirds in February

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged bluebird, Canon 50D, Eastern Bluebird, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sialia sialis, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 14, 2022| 13 Comments »

As winter progresses, the sumac plants are slowly being picked clean by the birds at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but there are still plenty of berries that attract several species, including one of my favorites, Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis). Each time that I visit the refuge, I make sure to check out the patches of sumac at several different locations and last Tuesday I was delighted to spot some colorful bluebirds at one of them.

I love to watch the bluebirds zooming in and out of the stalks of sumac. Much of the time they have their heads down, mostly blocked from view, but occasionally I will get a clear shot of one when it lifts its head. I especially like the pose in the first photo, in which the bluebird has its head cocked to the side, giving us a wonderful view of its profile. In the second image, I like the way that you can see the blurry second bird in the background, which, based on its coloration, could be the mate of the male in the foreground.

Best wishes to you all for a Happy Valentine’s Day, however you choose to celebrate (or not to celebrate) this day—may your day be filled with love and with joy.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Fishing in February

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, Great Blue Heron fishing, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 13, 2022| 7 Comments »

On an unusually warm winter day when temperatures soared into the 60’s (16 degrees C), this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) was taking advantage of the conditions to fish in a small pond at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The heron struck repeatedly during the time that I watched him and appeared to be having a good deal of success, although the fish were all pretty small, like the one in the second image below.

It was wonderful to walk about in the warmth and sunshine of a spring-like day, a foretaste of things to come. As I write this posting, however, a cold rain is falling that forecasters predict might turn into a couple of inches of snow.

I personally have had enough of winter this year with an unusually snowy January and am ready for spring to arrive. I feel a little like a child in the back seat of a car during a long road trip, endlessly inquiring, “Are we there yet?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Sparrow and sumac

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, sumac, Tamron 150-600mm, white-throated sparrow, Woodbridge VA, Zonotrichia albicollis on February 12, 2022| 4 Comments »

This White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) was feasting on the abundant sumac berries when I spotted him on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. In recent weeks I have repeatedly seen bluebirds in this patch of sumac and I always check it now whenever I visit this location.

I see White-throated Sparrows quite often during the winter months, but this was this first time I have seen them in this field. Normally I spot them when they are poking about in the undergrowth of bushes and other vegetation.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Stand out or blend in?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Cardinalis cardinalis, male Northern Cardinal, Melospiza melodia, Northern cardinal, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, song sparrow, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 11, 2022| 18 Comments »

Is it better to stand out and be seen or to blend in and remain invisible? As with so many life questions, the answer to my simple query is complicated and depends on your personality, priorities, and perspectives.

The male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) takes a bold approach—with his brilliant red plumage, it is almost impossible for him to hide. He want to be seen and often perches in the open. Perhaps that helps him to attract a mate, but does it also make him more visible to those that could do him harm? Is there a risk associated with being bold?

The sparrow in the second image, which I think is a Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), takes an almost opposite approach—you almost can’t see it, especially when it is buried in the underbrush. Its nondescript coloration allows it to blend in? Does this bird feel more vulnerable? Is self-protection its primary motivation? Must it rely on non-visual factors, like its singing, to stand out?

What about you? How do you live your life? For most of my life, I have tended to favor conformity and security—I lived like the sparrow, fearful of standing out. Over the last decade of so, however, I have increasingly decided that the opinions of others don’t matter much anymore. I am now striving to live my life in an unapologetically authentic way and I am much more willing to put myself out there as visibly as the male cardinal.

Be bold today and be yourself. As the old proverb says, “you might as well be yourself—everyone else is already taken.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wren in winter

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Troglodytes hiemalis, Winter Wren, Woodbridge VA on February 10, 2022| 12 Comments »

Throughout most of the year, if I am fortunate enough to spot a wren, it is likely to be a Carolina Wren. During the cold months, though, there is a chance that I may find a Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis), a species that overwinters in my area. I have been trying to photograph one all winter and finally on Tuesday I managed to get a couple of shots of one during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

I really like the way the Audubon Guide to North American Birds describes the Winter Wren, “A secretive little bird of dense woods. It often creeps about among fallen logs and dense tangles, behaving more like a mouse than a bird, remaining out of sight but giving an occasional kimp-kimp callnote.” It is quite amazing to watch this energetic little bird as is crawls in and out of the undergrowth, rarely popping into view.

Normally Winter Wrens appear to be rather plump and round, as you can see in the second image. Something attracted the wren’s attention when I was taking the first shot that caused it to stretch out a bit, giving the bird a longer, more lanky look. The first shot also gives you a pretty good look at the varied patterns in the plumage of a Winter Wren—when the wren is in the shadows it looks to be a solid brown color, but there are actually a lot of speckles and stripes.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wind-blown heron

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, wind-blown heron, Woodbridge VA on February 9, 2022| 10 Comments »

We finally had a sunny day, so I ventured out yesterday to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge in search of subjects. I was happy to find an alert Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in the open. During my most recent trips to this refuge, the weather was usually cold and overcast, the heron was often hunched over at the far edge of a pond, doing its best to stay warm.

Despite the sunshine, the wind was kicking up periodically, ruffling the heron’s feathers in an almost comical way. His “bed head” reminded me of my youth. I often had a cowlick at the back of my head and I remember my Mom licking her fingers and trying to flatten it down with her saliva.

Unlike the Great Egrets that leave our area when the weather turns cold, Great Blue Herons remain with us throughout the wind. They somehow manage to survive through the frigid weather and occasional snow—I suspect that this heron was not at all bothered by a little wind.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Apollo

Posted in animals, Dog, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Apollo, collie, iPhone 11 on February 8, 2022| 14 Comments »

I was dogsitting for some friends this past weekend, so I did not have a chance to go out into the wild with my camera. So I decided to try to capture some images of Apollo, my weekend companion. Apollo was adopted from a shelter and is still a bit anxious and a little hyper, so I decided that it would be less disruptive for me to come into his environment than for him to come into mine.

In the first image, I captured one of the rare moments when Apollo, who I believe is some variety of collie, was relaxing. Most of the time he was really alert, as you can see in the second image. His favorite spot was in front of a sliding glass door that allowed him to keep a close eye on activity in the back yard. When we went outside, he seemed to think that it was one of his responsibilities to chase away any birds that dared to perch on the ground.

Over the course of our time together, Apollo warmed up more and more, though he does not appear to be a snuggling kind of dog. On Sunday morning, though, he curled up on one end of the sofa as I participated in a virtual church service while seated at the opposite end. I really like dogs and my time with Apollo was a welcome change to my pandemic routine—a different kind of encounter with wildlife.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Backlit eagle tail feathers

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 7, 2022| 7 Comments »

I was looking into the sun when I spotted this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in a tree during a recent visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The eagle took off before I could get into a better shooting position, but I was able to capture some of the sunlight shining through its tail feathers.

I wish I had been able to frame the photo a bit better, but it is always tricky when focusing on a perched eagle to figure out how much to zoom out in order to capture its entire wingspan. In this case, I was worried more about adjusting for the backlight, so that I would not have a silhouetted shot, and was not worrying about framing the photo.

It is amazing to realize how many different considerations were coursing through my brain as I tried to analyze the situation, predict the possibilities, and react to changes. I remember how overwhelmed and paralyzed I felt in this kind of a situation when I was just starting to get serious about my photography some ten years ago. Now I am much more comfortable with my gear and have a certain amount of muscle memory, so I am able to react more calmly and instinctively, without having to think consciously about all of the variables.

Every situation is different, though, and no matter how much I practice, there is still a spurt of adrenaline when a moment like this arrives and I realize I have to react instantaneously to take advantage of the situation. Things rarely works perfectly, but I am more than happy when they work as well as they did when I captured this image of the eagle’s takeoff.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mockingbird portraits

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Mimus polyglottos, Northern Mockingbird, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 5, 2022| 7 Comments »

Recently I have been seeing Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) fairly frequently at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The long tail and the coloration of this bird makes it fairly easy to identify.

Normally mockingbirds are quite vocal, with an amazing variety of songs, but the ones that I have seen recently have been surprisingly silent. On the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website, I learned that, “Northern Mockingbirds typically sing from February through August, and again from September to early November. A male may have two distinct repertoires of songs: one for spring and another for fall.”

I also learned that the most frequent singers are unmated males. “Northern Mockingbirds sing all through the day, and often into the night. Most nocturnal singers are unmated males, which sing more than mated males during the day, too.” I wonder if that means that the best singers cease singing once they have found mates and the ones that we hear most often are the second-tier singers.

I was happy with the little portraits that I captured of this handsome mockingbird. The first photo shows a bit of the environment in which I found the bird, a beautiful mixture of mostly shades of brown. I really like the way that the background came out, but found the small branches to be a little distracting.

I changed my shooting angle for the second shot and cropped a little close to focus attention on the subject. As you can probably tell, I also used Photoshop to remove the little branch from the frame. Some photographers are purists and won’t remove elements from their photos or even crop them, but I do edit my shots, though most of the time I make only a small number of changes and adjustments.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Sparrow shots

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Melospiza melodia, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, song sparrow, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 4, 2022| 3 Comments »

Sparrows are everywhere, it seems, but it is actually pretty difficult to get a clear of one. These little brown birds are hyperactive and super industrious, so they rarely seem to stop and pose. They also enjoy foraging in dense vegetation or in tall grass, further complicating my photographic efforts.

Last week I was happy to capture several decent images of sparrows. I think that they are both Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia), though I have low confidence in my ability to identify sparrow species correctly.

In the first photo, the sparrow was foraging on the ground, where it blended in so well that I sometimes lost sight of it when it stopped moving. The second sparrow perched briefly on a branch and I was able to take a shot while looking up at the bird. The angle of view gives the sparrow’s head a distorted shape that somehow reminds me of Darth Vader’s helmet—the bird’s expression also looks a bit imperious as it surveys its surroundings.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Smaller eagle nest

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 3, 2022| 11 Comments »

As many of you know, I have been keeping an eye on a pair of Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, waiting for the eagles to begin sitting on the nests. I featured one of the nests, an enormous one high in a tree, several times during January, but have not yet posted any shots of the smaller nest this year until now.

The most direct roads leading to this smaller nest are blocked off at this time of the year, because the nesting tree is located near the intersection of several major trails, including one on which cars are normally permitted to drive. However, I am able to take a circuitous route to reach one of the barriers that provides a distant view of the nest from which I can take some photos.

Several weeks ago I was delighted to photograph both members of an eagle couple perched together on a limb of the tree with the small nest that has been used in each of the past three years (and maybe even longer than that). As you can see in the first photo, one of the eagles is quite a bit larger than the other—generally the female is the larger one.

When I first started watching the nest that day, only the smaller eagle to the left was perched on the limb. As I pulled back on my zoom lens to be able to show the nest in the lower righthand corner of the photo, the second eagle flew in to perch next to her mate, and I captured that moment in the second photo.

The two eagles stayed together for a short while side-by-side, when suddenly the larger eagle took off. The final shot shows the eagle extending her wings and taking off from the perch, leaving the smaller eagle to keep watch over the nesting site.

I have been back several times to the site since this encounter, but have not seen the eagles there again. I am optimistic that they will soon be sitting on some eggs. In this smaller nest, the eagle is partially visible when she is sitting on eggs, whereas the other nest is so big and deep that a nesting eagle is hidden from view.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Abstract ice

Posted in abstract, Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged abstract, Canon 50D, ice, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 2, 2022| 18 Comments »

I never know what will catch my eye when I am out with my camera. On Monday I was struck by the way that the tide had piled up ice on the shoreline at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge—the pieces of ice looked like shards of broken window panes. There was an abstract beauty in the ice fragments that is hard to put into words.

Despite the beauty, my mind kept drifting to metaphorical thoughts as I gazed at the ice. The ongoing pandemic continues to shatter our lives, and the ice seemed to represent some of our hopes that have been dashed, our dreams deferred, and our futures foregone. With the passage of time, the sharp edges will eventually disappear and the ice will melt, bringing together again the broken pieces of our lives.

In the meantime, we should strive to be gentle with each other, never knowing for sure how fragmented and fragile the others may feel, despite their outward appearances of coping well.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Happy heron

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, happy heron, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 1, 2022| 8 Comments »

Smiling is contagious. I can’t say for sure that this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) was actually smiling when I spotted him in mid-January at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but he seemed so happy that I could not help but smile back at him. I really enjoy trying to capture the personality of the individual birds when I photograph them and sometimes my wildlife subjects will cooperate with me.

Great Blue Herons remain in my area throughout the winter. It has to be tough on them right now, when many of the smaller ponds have iced over, but somehow the herons manage to find some open water and hopefully are able to catch enough food to survive.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hanging on

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Carolina Chickadee, chickadee, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Poecile carolinensis, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 31, 2022| 5 Comments »

Carolina Chickadees (Poecile carolinensis) are energetic little birds and seem to be in motion a lot of the time. When I see them perched, they tend to perch on horizontal branches. I was therefore a little surprised when I saw this chickadee latch onto the vertical stem of a reed and hang there for several seconds in front of me.

It almost seemed like he was deliberately posing for me and I happily captured the chickadee’s portrait during a recent visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Be sure to check out the fascinating way that the chickadee is grasping the reed in the photo in a pincer-like grip.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cooper’s Hawk in January

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Accipiter cooperii, Canon 50D, Cooper's Hawk, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 30, 2022| 14 Comments »

As I was finishing up my walk through Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge last Wednesday, I spotted this hawk in a distant tree. The first thing that I noticed was the hawk’s long tail, which immediately suggested to me that it was a Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) and not a Red-shouldered Hawk, the hawk species that I am most accustomed to seeing at the wildlife refuge.

Cooper’s Hawks hang out in wooded areas rather than in open areas and when I see one, it is usually zigzagging its way through through the trees rather than flying above them. Although I was far away from the hawk, it had a clear view of me and took off shortly after I spotted it. As you can see from the second and third images, the hawk flew downwards towards the ground rather than rising up into the air.

As I was doing a little research on Cooper’s Hawks, I learned that life can be a little tricky for male Cooper’s Hawks—I am not sure if this one is a male or a female. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “As in most hawks, males are significantly smaller than their mates. The danger is that female Cooper’s Hawks specialize in eating medium-sized birds. Males tend to be submissive to females and to listen out for reassuring call notes the females make when they’re willing to be approached.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Brown Creeper portraits

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged brown creeper, Canon 50D, Certhia americana, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 29, 2022| 10 Comments »

Brown Creepers (Certhia americana) are strange little birds. They crawl upwards on tree trunks and large branches in a spiraling motion, pausing periodically to probe crevices for tiny insects with their slender, downcurved bills—they never seem to perch and they rarely seem to fly. Their mottled coloration helps them to blend in really well with the bark of the trees, so I rarely see a Brown Creeper, though I suspect they may be fairly common.

On Wednesday as I was walking along a trail at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, my eyes detected some moment in a tree just off of the trail. By the time I spotted the bird, which I was able to identify as a Brown Creeper, it was already high up in the tree. Fortunately I was able to track the creeper when it dropped from that tree down to the base of an adjacent tree to begin another upward creep.

I took dozens of photos as the bird circled around the tree and in most of them the bird was blocked or blurred. However, I did manage to get a couple of clear shots. In the first image, you can see the Brown Creeper in action as it investigates a crevice. Note the curve in the bill and the way that it has positioned its large feet for stability. The tail is supposed to be really stiff too and provides additional support.

The second image provides a good look at the long, lanky body of this Brown Creeper. You can see the white underparts of the bird that are usually hidden against the tree trunks. I am fascinated by the patterns in its feathers and the markings on the creeper’s heads and encourage you to click on the image to get a more detailed look at these features.

I love the description of this bird on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website that cited naturalist W.M. Tyler, who wrote in 1948 the following words:

“The Brown Creeper, as he hitches along the bole of a tree, looks like a fragment of detached bark that is defying the law of gravitation by moving upward over the trunk, and as he flies off to another tree he resembles a little dry leaf blown about by the wind.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Tufted Titmouse Takeoff

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Baeolophus bicolor, Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, takeoff, Tamron 150-600mm, titmouse, Tufted Titmouse, Woodbridge VA on January 28, 2022| 14 Comments »

Several noisy Tufted Titmice (Baeolophus bicolor) were frantically foraging in the trees on Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I tried to track them as they moved in and out of the branches, but they turned out to be remarkably swift and elusive. However, I am pretty persistent and eventually managed to capture several shots of these little gray birds with their distinctive crests.

The first shot below was a really lucky one. The titmouse had perched momentarily on an exposed branch and I pounced on the opportunity to get a clear shot. Just as I started to click the shutter release, the bird took off. Somehow I captured the moment when the bird’s wings were fully extended, but its feet were still on the branch. The titmouse appeared to be looking right at me in an almost defiant way, as though he were ready to challenge me.

The second shot provides a good look at the beautiful markings of the Tufted Titmouse. You can see its black forehead and the wonderful orangish wash under its wings. I also really like the titmouse’s pensive pose as it turned towards the sun, trying to absorb some of its warmth on a cold winter day.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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A few more bluebirds

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged bluebird, Canon 50D, Eastern Bluebird, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sialia sialis, sumac, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 27, 2022| 20 Comments »

If I had to list my favorite birds, Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) would certainly be near the top of the list. The color combination of blue and orange is so striking and so beautiful that it delights me every time that I am blessed to spot a bluebird. Without fail, I also recall a comment I received several years ago from a young reader, Benjamin, who noted that the birds had as much orange as blue in their feathers and wondered why they were not called Orange Bluebirds. Why indeed?

I already posted a few bluebird photos from a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge last week, but decided that there were a few more that I just had to share. When the subjects are this photogenic, it is so much fun to see how many different “looks” I can get by varying my shooting angle and composition. I love how each of these there photos has a distinctively different background and “feel.”

Do you have favorite birds too? It should come as no surprise to those of you who follow this blog regularly, that Bald Eagles are probably at the top of my list.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Female scaup

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Aythya affinis, Aythya marila, Canon 50D, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, scaup, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 26, 2022| 4 Comments »

This cool-looking bird is a female scaup—I love the white stripe on her face and her striking eyes. If I were a bit better at bird identification, I might be able to figure out is she is a Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) or a Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis). The differences between the two species are pretty subtle, especially when it comes to females, so I will generally identify them simply as “scaups.”

Throughout this month, I have seen quite a few scaups in flocks in the deep waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Scaups are diving ducks and therefore rarely seem to come as close to the shore as dabbling ducks like mallards and pintails. It is therefore quite a challenge to get a detailed shot of a scaup.

On the day when I took this photo, the wind was kicking up and the waters were rough, which slowed down the scaup enough for me to be able to capture this image—I recommend clicking on the image to get a good look at the facial features of this distinctive duck.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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In the crook of a tree

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 24, 2022| 14 Comments »

Sometimes Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) will perch out in the open on branches or in prominent trees where they are relatively easy to spot. At other times, though, they perch in the crooks of the trees, almost hidden from view. I encountered these two semi-hidden eagles last Tuesday as I was wandering the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

I really like the contrast between the two expressions and poses of the two eagles. The eagle in the first image seems stern and serious—I don’t think that I would want to mess with him. The eagle in the second image seems almost a little goofy with a whimsical smile and windswept hair—for some reason he reminds me of Big Bird from Sesame Street.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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