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Bluebird in the fall

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged bluebird, Canon 50D, Eastern Bluebird, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sialia sialis, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on November 7, 2018| 22 Comments »

Some days the birds seem to keep their distance from me, so I do my best to capture modest images of them in their environment, like this Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) that I spotted in a field last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

I hesitated a little about posting this image, but I kept coming back to it when I thought about the shots that I wanted to share. I could enumerate technical reasons why this is a somewhat flawed photo, but there is something about the mood of the image that I find appealing. In the end, I decided to follow my basic approach of posting images that I like and letting others decide for themselves how they feel about the shots.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cedar Waxwing in autumn

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Bombycilla cedrorum, Canon 50D, Cedar Waxwing, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on November 6, 2018| 3 Comments »

A small flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) was active last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. They stayed high in the trees, but I did manage to get this shot of one of these distinctive and very cool-looking birds as they foraged among the plentiful berries.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Looking up at a Bald Eagle

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 50D, eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on November 4, 2018| 17 Comments »

As I rounded a curve on a trail at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge one morning last week, I spotted a fierce looking Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) almost directly overhead in a tree. I wasn’t sure if the eagle had seen me, but when it looked down and glared at me, I realized it was quite aware of my presence.

In several earlier postings I have mentioned that this is a tough time of the year for spotting birds, because most of the leaves are still on the trees. Often I can hear birds, but I can’t see them. It turns out that the leaves on the trees can also hide me from the birds sometimes. I think that is how I ended up almost directly below this eagle, forced to shot upwards at a somewhat uncomfortable angle.

It wasn’t long before the eagle decided that it had had enough of me and it took off. Alas, I was not able to capture any in-flight shots, but I am definitely happy with the shots I managed to get of the perched bald eagle.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Juvenile Turkey Vulture

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Cathartes aura, juvenile turkey vulture, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, turkey vulture, vulture, Woodbridge VA on November 3, 2018| 5 Comments »

Several years ago, I received some advice that I continue to follow to this day. I was told that if a vulture is circling overhead, as this one was doing earlier this week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, make sure you move from time to time.

When I first spotted this vulture, I was a little confused. It looked like a Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura), but the bird lacked the distinctive red head that I am used to seeing on a Turkey Vulture. After doing a little research I learned that juvenile Turkey Vultures have an ashy-gray head that transitions to red as they mature.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Re-blog: Powell’s Place

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Powell's Place, Sable Clubtail, Sable Clubtail dragonfly, Stenogomphurus rogersi, Walter Sanford on November 3, 2018| 8 Comments »

It’s fun to remember the carefree days earlier this year that I spent hunting for dragonflies. Fellow dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford recently did a posting about a location where I photographed a Sable Clubtail dragonfly, one of the rarest species in our area, a place that he christened “Powell’s Place” after he too visited it and found a Sable Clubtail.

Be sure to check out his posting and I encourage you also to explore his blog for some amazing photos and information about dragonflies and other wild creatures.

walter sanford's photoblog

A single Sable Clubtail dragonfly (Stenogomphurus rogersi) was spotted perched alongside a small stream located in Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

I nicknamed a segment of the stream “Powell’s Place” in honor of Mike Powell, my good friend and photowalking buddy, who spotted the first Sable observed at this part of the stream. “Powell’s Place” is located downstream from Hotspot No. 1, where the stream re-emerges from an underground concrete pipe.

This individual is a male, as indicated by his indented hind wings and terminal appendages. Some dragonflies tend to be creatures of habit, returning to the same spot day-after-day. Perhaps this is the same individual spotted by Mike. Who knows?

I like the juxtaposition of complementary colors in the first photo.

12 JUN 2018 | Fairfax County, VA | Sable Clubtail (male)

The next photo shows the dragonfly perched deep within a shaded hidey-hole.

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Out on a limb

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, out on a limb, Setophaga coronata, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA, Yellow-rumped Warbler on November 2, 2018| 8 Comments »

Are you a risk-taker? How often do you go out on a limb?

If you were a Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) you literally would be doing it all of the time. I love the texture, color, and shape of the branch so much that this image is as much about the branch as it is about the bird—that is the primary reason why I did not crop the image any closer.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Final Halloween Pennant Dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Halloween, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Ben Brenman Park, Canon 50D, Celithemis eponina, Halloween, halloween pennant, Halloween Pennant dragonfly, Tamron 180mm on October 31, 2018| 7 Comments »

I never got around to posting a shot of my final Halloween Pennant dragonfly (Celithemis eponina) of the 2018 season, so today seems an appropriate time to do so. I spotted this tattered beauty on 29 September at Ben Brenman Park, a small suburban park not far from where I live in Alexandria, Virginia.

Happy Halloween!

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Preparing for takeoff

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Setophaga coronata, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA, Yellow-rumped Warbler on October 31, 2018| 4 Comments »

Sometimes it is better to be lucky and to react quickly than it is to be skillful and systematic. As I was tracking a Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) recently at Occoquan Bay Wildlife Refuge, it suddenly took off.

In and of itself, this was not unusual, because these small birds are in almost constant motion, weaving their way in and out of the vegetation. Instinctively I snapped off a short burst of shots. I thought I had missed the shot and the empty frames at the end of the sequence indeed showed that I was a bit late in reacting.

However, one of the initial shots was this fun image that shows the warbler raising its wings to prepare to provide propulsion while its feet are still attached to the branch. I was shooting in aperture-preferred mode, which meant that the camera chose the shutter speed. There was enough light that the shutter speed of 1/1600 froze most, but not all, of the bird’s motion.

Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to take off into the air like this little warbler, free to fly off to new destinations in search of new adventures?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mourning Dove in Autumn

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, mourning dove, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, pittsburgh, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA, Zenaida macroura on October 30, 2018| 8 Comments »

I read the newspaper this morning before I looked at the photos I took yesterday. This image of a Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge seems to reflect my innermost feelings at this moment about the senseless slaughter of innocents in Pittsburgh.

My heart goes out to all of those mourning their losses.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Attraction of a red head

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Melanerpes carolinus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on October 29, 2018| 6 Comments »

It’s hard to ignore a red head. No matter whether it is on a human or a woodpecker, it simply attracts your eyes. I spotted this handsome male Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

You might wonder why this woodpecker is not called a Red-headed Woodpecker. That name is reserved for a woodpecker that has a completely red head. For comparison purposes, I am attaching an image from 2016 of a Red-headed Woodpecker. If you’d like to see more shots of the Red-headed Woodpecker, check out the 2016 posting Red-headed Woodpecker in late January.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hiding in plain sight

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Autumn Meadowhawk, Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly, Canon 50D, female Autumn Meadowhawk, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sympetrum vicinum, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on October 28, 2018| 4 Comments »

There are not a great number of dragonflies still around in my area, and those that are present can sometimes be really hard to spot. That was definitely the case with this beautiful female Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum vicinum) that blended in almost perfectly with the fallen leaves and other debris on the ground at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge this past week.

I initially spotted this dragonfly as she was flying and watched her land, but I couldn’t see her at first. Once I saw where she was, I had to back off, because I was shooting with my 150-600mm zoom lens that has a minimum focusing distance of almost 9 feet (270 cm).

Autumn Meadowhawks are only 1.2 to 1.4 inches in length (30 to 35mm) and spotting the tiny dragonfly from 9 feet away was a challenge to me and to the focusing system on my camera. I think that I was pretty much at the extreme end of the resolving power of the lens when I took this shot, i.e. it is tough to capture a subject with any detail that is much smaller than this.

I have already had to scrape frost from my windshield a couple of times this autumn, so the number of insects will inevitably continue to decrease. Past experience has shown me, however, that Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies are hardy survivors and I expect to continue to see them for another month or so.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Camouflaged Bald Eagle

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 50D, eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on October 27, 2018| 13 Comments »

If its head feathers were not so white, I probably would not have spotted this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) amidst all of the leaves still on the trees at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge earlier this week.

A short while later, I spotted a second bald eagle, possibly the same one, in a different leafy perch near the top of some trees.

It is rare for me to have the chance to photograph a perched bald eagle at what qualifies as close up (though I was shooting at the long end of my 150-600mm lens) and I was incredibly thankful to have two separate opportunities to do so in a single day.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Buckeye butterfly in autumn

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Common Buckeye, Common Buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on October 26, 2018| 7 Comments »

The brightly colored summer butterflies have mostly disappeared, but Common Buckeye butterflies (Junonia coenia) still accompany me in great numbers as I walk the trails of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The subdued, earthy shades of this beautiful butterfly seem a perfect match for the autumn season.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Young bald eagle in autumn

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, birds in flight, Canon 50D, eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, juvenile Bald Eagle, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on October 25, 2018| 3 Comments »

It has been quite a while since I last got a shot of a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), so I was really happy when I saw this young one in the distance earlier this week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Experienced birders can tell the age of a Bald Eagle by its coloration. All I know for sure that it is less that five years old, the age at which the head feathers turn white, though I have the impression that it is pretty young.

As is often the case, the eagle spotted me right afterwards and took to the air, but I managed to get a shot as the eagle flew off. When it comes to eagles, it is always a challenge to get a shot, because the eagle’s eyesight is so much better than mine and its reaction time so much quicker. I therefore have to react almost instantly when I see one and then hope that luck is on my side.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Silhouettes of a heron

Posted in Art, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, Nik Collection, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, silhouette, silhouettes, Silver Efex Pro 2, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on October 24, 2018| 17 Comments »

I suspected that this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge would be silhouetted because I was shooting into the light. I was going to make some adjustments to my camera settings, but it took off before I could do so and I captured a cool series of images.

I liked the way that a few details of the feathers were visible in the images and the pink and blue streaks in the background were a nice touch. I decided, however, to play around with one of the images and opened the second shot in SIlver Efex Pro 2, a black and white conversion software program that is part of the Nik Collection.

One of the filters turned the heron into a completely black silhouette—with some birds, identification would be a problem, but the shape of the heron is unmistakable here. Another filter created the effect of a pinhole camera and you can see the result in the final images. There is something about that final image that really appeals to me.

I tend to strive for realism in my photos and normally do only a minimal amount of post-processing. I had so much fun, though, playing around with the different effects you can achieve with software that I suspect I will consider doing so again in the future.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Strutting turkey

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Meleagris gallopavo, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, turkey, Wild Turkey, Woodbridge VA on October 23, 2018| 5 Comments »

I spotted this large Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) strutting about at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge this past weekend with about a dozen of his close friends. It was hard to get a group shot, so I focused instead on the largest turkey in the group and captured this image.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bluebird and katydid

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged bluebird, Canon 50D, Eastern Bluebird, Handsome Meadow Katydid, katydid, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Orchelimum pulchellum, Sialia sialis, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on October 22, 2018| 7 Comments »

Initially I couldn’t figure out what large insect this Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) had captured on Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. When the bluebird turned to the side, however, I realized that it was a Handsome Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum pulchellum), one of my favorite insects. The bluebird beat the insect against the log on which it was perched, presumably to subdue the katydid or to break open its hard shell, before consuming it.

It is hard to truly appreciate the beauty of the multi-colored katydid from a distance, so I am including a close-up photo of a Handsome Meadow Katydid from a posting that I did in August 2013 that was entitled “Rainbow grasshopper.” Check out my thoughts and feelings in that post about one of my initial encounters with such a katydid.

Still, bluebirds have to eat too, so I experienced only a brief moment of sorrow at the demise of this beautiful little creature.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Monarch and asters

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Danaus plexippus, Monarch, monarch butterfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on October 21, 2018| 4 Comments »

Despite the cooler autumn temperatures, there are still quite a few butterflies fluttering about, like this Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)that I spotted last weekend at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I think that the little flowers are some kind of aster—they seem to be going strong at a time when most other flowers are wilting and turning brown.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Dragonflies are still with us

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Autumn Meadowhawk, Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly, Blue-faced Meadowhawk, Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly, Canon 50D, Eastern Pondhawk, Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly, Erythemis simplicicollis, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sympetrum ambiguum, Sympetrum vicinum, Tamron 150-600mm, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA on October 21, 2018| 5 Comments »

Although we are well into October, some of my beloved dragonflies are still hanging on at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Here are some dragonfly shots from the past 10 days of (1) a male Blue-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum ambiguum); (2) a female Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis) with a hoverfly in her mouth; and (3) a female Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum).

I hadn’t really noticed before I aggregated this shots that all three of the dragonflies were perching on leaves. During the summer months, a significant number of the dragonflies that I photograph are perched higher on stalks of vegetation or on branches. In addition to these smaller dragonflies,

I have also recently spotted Common Green Darners, Wandering Gliders, and Black Saddlebags patrolling over the fields. Unfortunately, none of them paused long enough for me to get shots of them. All three of those species are migratory species and they may have been fueling up for a long journey ahead.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Leafy crown

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Belted Kingfisher, Canon 50D, female Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, queenfisher, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on October 20, 2018| 6 Comments »

Every monarch needs a crown and this female Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) seemed to be wearing a leafy one yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Maybe I should be calling her a Belted Queenfisher. 🙂

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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A change in diet

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, poison ivy, poison ivy berries, Setophaga coronata, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA, Yellow-rumped Warbler on October 20, 2018| 10 Comments »

Yellow-rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronata) eat mostly insects in the summer, but when the weather gets colder they switch to seeds and berries. This past week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I captured a number of shots of Yellow-rumped Warblers as they munched on what I think are poison ivy berries.

In the past, I have seen birds eating these berries only during the coldest days of the winter, leading me to think they were the only available food source. Who knows, maybe poison ivy berries are a real delicacy—though I am not willing to try them to see if that is true.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bluebirds in October

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged bluebird, Canon 50D, Eastern Bluebird, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sialia sialis, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on October 19, 2018| 6 Comments »

When the lighting is perfect, the blue and orange colors of an Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) are incredibly saturated and beautiful. Alas, lighting conditions were far from ideal when I spotted three bluebirds earlier this week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and the bluebirds were elusive.

I was able to capture some images that give at least a hint of the beauty of the bluebirds, a species that I am always happy to see.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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I’m not your steppin’ stone

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Chrysemys picta picta, Eastern Painted Turtle, I'm not your steppin' stone, Monkees, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, painted turtle, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on October 18, 2018| 12 Comments »

When I spotted this turtle from a distance earlier this week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, it was so elevated that I thought it was standing on a log or a rock. It was only when I zoomed in on this Eastern Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta picta) that I realized that it was standing on the back of another turtle. Yikes!

You have to be pretty old—probably about my age—if you remember the song whose name I used as the title for this blog posting. No, it was not sung by The Turtles.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Family of cormorants

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, family of cormorants, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Phalacrocorax auritus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on October 18, 2018| 5 Comments »

I spotted this little family of Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge this past Monday. The adult seemed bothered by something and initIally cried out before finally taking off, leaving the younger cormorants temporarily by themselves.

I am not actually completely certain that this is a family unit, but I think it is a pretty safe assumption when I look at the way that the smaller ones are paying attention to the larger cormorant. It also appears to me that the the adult was potentially reacting to a perceived threat and flew off as a way of protecting the younger ones.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Yellow-rumped Warblers in October

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Setophaga coronata, Tamron 150-600mm, warbler, Woodbridge VA, Yellow-rumped Warbler on October 17, 2018| 8 Comments »

At this time of the year Yellow-rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronata) are probably the most numerous warblers in our area. You can often seem them in constant motion flitting about high in the trees. They rarely stay still for more than a moment and it is unusual to get a clear view of the entire body of one.

I have spent a lot of time this week patiently tracking these little birds at several locations at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and managed to get a few shots that I really like. The first image shows a Yellow-rumped Warbler perched at ground level on the trunk of a tree that had fallen across the road and had been cut up and moved to the side. I particularly like that it shows the tiny feet of this bird that is about 5 inches in length (13 cm). The little yellow streaks just under the wings help to identify this as a Yellow-rumped Warbler.

The second image, possibly my favorite, shows the yellow patch on the bird’s rump that is responsible for its name. The intense focus of the warbler as it looks upward help to give this image a dynamic element that is absent in many images of perched birds.

The final image has a studio-like feel to it, because the sky was completely overcast and turned white as I was processing the image. I had tracked the bird when it entered into the vegetation and managed to get this shot when it finally popped up at the top of the tree and stretched its neck to look around.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Great Blue Heron and tiny fish

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Fish, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Ardea herodias, blue heron, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, heron, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on October 16, 2018| 14 Comments »

I have seen Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) catch fish so big that I was sure that they would not be able to swallow them, but I don’t think I have ever seen one catch fish as small as the ones this heron was pulling out of the water yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

The Great Blue Heron was standing on the shore rather than in deeper water. As I watched, the heron periodically would catch and swallow one of these tiny fish and then return to scanning the water. It struck me that it would need to catch a lot of these little fish to make a satisfying meal.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Palm Warblers in October

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Palm Warbler, Setophaga palmarum, Tamron 150-600mm, warbler, Woodbridge VA on October 15, 2018| 6 Comments »

In the autumn, various species of warblers fly through our area as they migrate south and I spent a large amount of time this past Friday trying to get shots of what I believe were mostly Palm Warblers (Setophaga palmarum). Warblers in general are tough for me to identify, even in the spring when the colors and patterns on the birds are bright and distinctive. At this time of the year, however, all of the colors and patterns are muted and many species look really similar to me.

Palm Warblers are a little easier to spot than most warblers to identify, because they often can be found pecking away on the ground rather than in trees, as you can see in the second shot. Although I usually strive to get unobstructed shots of my subject, the first image is my clear favorite of the three in this posting. The branch in the foreground that partially blocks the bird helps in the composition, I think, and reinforces the sense of the elusiveness and caution of this little warbler.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cuckoo in October

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Coccyzus americanus, cuckoo, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA, Yellow-billed Cuckoo on October 14, 2018| 9 Comments »

I am always shocked by the length of the tails of Yellow-billed Cuckoos (Coccyzus americanus), like this one that I spotted on Friday morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It is pretty rare for me to get an almost unobstructed view of a cuckoo—usually they either fly away as I approach or are hidden in the foliage.

In the second shot, the cuckoo had shifted its body and the the new perspective has the effect of making the tail look a bit shorter and the body a bit chunkier.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Milkweed bugs on milkweed

Posted in Autumn, Christmas, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, large milkweed bugs, milkweed, milkweed bug, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Oncopeltus fasciatus, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA on October 13, 2018| 4 Comments »

I was really struck by the contrast in color and texture between this cluster of large milkweed bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus) and the milkweed on which they were perched at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge during a visit earlier this week.

The color combination seems appropriate for a Christmas card, though the subject matter would be considered untraditional, to say the least, and might not be met with enthusiasm by all recipients.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Knock, knock

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon SX50, Downy Woodpecker, Dryobates pubescens, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Picoides pubescens, Woodbridge VA on October 12, 2018| 7 Comments »

It seems like we are at a time in the year when the number of birds has increased. I can hear them everywhere when I walk along the wooded trails of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The problem, though, is that most the leaves are still on the trees, so I am having huge problems spotting the birds and if I can’t see them, I can’t photograph them.

Earlier this week, I heard the familiar knocking sound of a woodpecker at work. I could see some movement in a tree amidst the foliage. I tracked the movement until suddenly the woodpecker popped into the open for a brief moment as it reached the top of the dead tree. I was able to capture this one shot of what appears to be a male Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)—only males have the red patch of feathers on the back of their heads. (The Hairy Woodpecker is similar in appearance to the Downy Woodpecker, but is larger and has a longer bill—the angle of this shot makes it tough for me to be absolutely certain of my identification.)

Downy Woodpeckers are the smallest woodpeckers in Northern America, but what they lack in size, they seem to make up in energy. They always seem to be super energetic and industrious and are one of the birds that I am able to spot throughout most the entire year.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wood Ducks in early October

Posted in Autumn, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Aix sponsa, Canon SX50, female wood duck, male wood duck, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, wood duck, Woodbridge VA on October 11, 2018| 8 Comments »

I love Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa), but haven’t seen any for quite some time. I was therefore really happy when I spotted this pair swimming in the distance in a creek at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge earlier this week.

The male Wood Duck, as shown in the first image, is one of the most colorful and distinctively patterned birds in our area—there is no other bird that looks even vaguely similar. The duck stopped swimming for just a moment and I was able to capture this shot of him getting a drink of water.

The female Wood Duck shown in the second image is not quite as colorful as her male counterpart, but has an equally distinctive look with her windswept “hair” and prominent white eye ring.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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