Winter | Mike Powell

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Heron wingspan

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 7D, Great Blue Heron, heron, heron takeoff, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 8, 2026| 7 Comments »

Some birds cooperate when I try to photograph them by posing, but often they fly away as soon as they detect my presence. Most often that results in a butt shot, which is not exactly the most flattering view of a bird (or a person for that matter).

Sometimes though, I get lucky and get an interesting shot of the bird as it is moving out of view. This past Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I captured some shots of a departing Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) that really showcased its impressively wide wingspan. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the wingspans of Great Blue Herons are about 5.5-6.6 feet (1.7-2.0 meters), an amazing size for a bird that weighs only about 5 pounds (2.3 kg).

I was zoomed in with my telephoto lens when the heron took off unexpectedly. As you can see in the first photo, I reacted a bit too slowly and was not quite ready when the heron extended its wings and jumped out of the water. The second shot shows the heron’s fully extended wings as it flew low over the pond before gaining some altitude (an I managed to capture the full wingspan). In the final shot, you can finally get a glimpse of the heron’s head and it has lifted its legs up against its body into more aerodynamic flight position.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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First birds of 2026

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Carolina Wren, Melospiza melodia, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, song sparrow, Tamron 150-600mm, Thryothorus ludovicianus, Woodbridge VA on January 7, 2026| 5 Comments »

I photographed this little Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) and this spherical Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) yesterday during a lengthy trek through Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The weather yesterday was cold and overcast, which mean that the conditions were less than ideal, but I was feeling a bit of cabin fever and was happy to be outdoors for my first photo trek of the new year.

I could hear a lot of birds singing in the trees and rustling about in the underbrush, but did not get very many clear views of them. Still, I was happy with the results that I achieved. I snapped off the first photo when the wren momentarily hopped up from the leaves in which it had been foraging and looked in my direction.

The sparrow in the second photo was a bit more in the open, but its head was most often turned away from me. I really like the way that the bird’s markings were an almost perfect match for the colors and the patterns in the background.

It felt good to be out with my camera and to experience the tranquility of nature that so often soothes my soul.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Happy New Year 2026

Posted in Birds, cross stitch, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged @pigeoncoopdesigns.com, Bombycilla cedrorum, Canon 7D, Cedar Waxwing, Festive Cardinal, Max Pigeon, New Year 2026, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Pigeon Coop Designs, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 2, 2026| 15 Comments »

It’s hard to believe that a new year has already started. Where did 2025 go? I had to really pay attention when I wrote the date on my first check of 2026 this morning—yes, I still write a few paper checks each month, though I am moving increasingly to paying most of my bills on line.

For a variety of reasons, I kind of backed off from photography a bit this past year. According to the stats portion of WordPress, I published 196 posts in 2025 for a total of over 34 thousand words. That may seem like a lot, but over the lifetime of this blog, I’ve probably averaged about 400 postings a year, with a high of 653 posts with a total of just under 100 thousand words in 2014. In case you are a stats nerd, my lifetime totals since my start in 2012 are 5502 postings with a total of 581988 views.

Strangely enough, the number of views in 2025 was an all-time high of over 89 thousand. Why? I think that the addition of an AI summary to Google searches may have brought forward a number of my posts to a broader audience and a sharp increase in the number of viewers from China (over 12 thousand views in 2025) may reflect the activity of bots or some other web tools.

I haven’t given up on wildlife photography, but during the second half of 2025 I averaged going out with my camera only about once a week. In late December I captured this image of a Cedar Waxwing bird (Bombycilla cedrorum) that was most hidden in the shadows. I was thrilled to be able to capture the distinctive crest of this really cool bird.

During this past year I have rediscovered my love of counted cross stitch and have devoted a substantial amount of my “extra” time to stitching. It’s a strange mix of hobbies to have one that is active and outdoors and another that is mostly sedentary. The second photo shows a recently completed project called Festive Cardinal, designed by Max Pigeon of Pigeon Coop Designs. I showed this project a while back when it was almost completed, but thought it would be fun to show it again in its finished form, because it shows the way that my photography interests and cross stitch interests overlap in terms of subject matter.

So what will 2026 hold for me? I really don’t do new year’s resolutions and am not much for planning—I came across a joke yesterday that new year’s resolutions are things that go in one year and out the other. Sorry. I’m hoping that I’ll achieve a better balance between these two primary hobbies, but I may go off on tangents with watercolor painting, knitting, or even sewing—maybe I’ll finally learn to use the sewing machine that a friend gave to me. I guess that the one thing that ties all of these interests together is a sense of wonder and curiosity and a desire to tap into a sense of creativity that was mostly suppressed during my working career.

Best wishes for a happy and healthy new year. Technically I am also wishing those of you who celebrate Christmas a Merry Christmas, because today is only the ninth day of Christmas (on which the well-known song indicates that my true love gave me nine ladies dancing).

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Yellow-rumped Warbler in December

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Setophaga coronata, Tamron 150-600mm, warbler, Woodbridge VA, Yellow-rumped Warbler on December 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Many different warblers pass through my area during the spring and the autumn, but the Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) is one of the few species that remains here for most of the winter. Their colors are pretty subdued during the winter season, but they do have small patches of bright yellow on their sides and on their rump. It is always a delight to spot their flashes of yellow as they forage in the trees.

I captured this shot of a Yellow-rumped Warbler in mid-December as it was peeking out from behind a tree at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Red-bellied Woodpecker in December

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Melanerpes carolinus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tamron 150-600mm, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, Woodbridge VA, woodpecker on December 27, 2025| 8 Comments »

When I am out in the wild with my camera, most of my senses are fully engaged. I am listening intently and scanning constantly, seeking audio or visual clues of the presence of potential subjects. During much of the year, sounds don’t help much, because the leaves on the trees hide the sources of the sounds. I marvel at the ability of some folks to identify birds by their calls, but I can do that with only a handful of species. So most of the time I rely on movement and to a lesser extent on color for me to acquire a target—if a bird (or insect) remains still, it often will remain invisible to me.

Last week when I was walking about at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I heard the gentle tapping sounds of a woodpecker. I looked in the general direction of the sounds and saw a distant snag, but did not see the woodpecker. Did I have the right tree identified? As I was focusing on the tree, a Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) poked its head out from behind the tree and I quickly snapped off a couple of photos before the bird disappeared again from view.

The woodpecker was pretty far away, even for my telephoto zoom lens, so I knew that I did not get the kind of close-up detailed image that I usually like to capture. However, when I was reviewing the photos on my computer, I found myself drawn to this profile shot of the woodpecker, surrounded by the wonderful texture of the lichen-covered bark of the tree. The image has a bit of an artsy, minimalist feel that I really like.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Last eagles of 2025?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle takeoff, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 26, 2025| 4 Comments »

When the leaves are gone from the trees, it’s a little easier to spot perched Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), like this one that I photographed last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I am blessed to live in an area where there are enough bald eagles that it is not uncommon for me to spot one. However, the eagles have much more developed senses that I do, so often my first indication of their presence is when they are flying away from me, as you can see in the first photo below.

In the case of the second photo, there was a good deal of vegetation between me and the eagle that partially hid my presence. I was able to manually focus my lens on the perched eagle through the vegetation and get a relatively clear shot of the eagle, which took off almost immediately after I had snapped a couple of photos.

I am not certain if I will be able to get out with my camera during the few remaining days of 2025, so these photos may well be my last shots of the year of these majestic birds.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Merry Christmas 2025

Posted in Christmas, counted cross stitch, cross stitch, Photography, Winter, tagged @pigeoncoopdesigns.com, Christmas, Christmas 2025, Festive Cardinal, Max Pigeon, Merry Christmas, Pigeon Coop Designs, St Martin de Porres, St Martin de Porres Episcopal Church on December 25, 2025| 15 Comments »

I realize that not everyone celebrates Christmas, but I wish the best for all of you during this holiday season. In the midst of all of the hype and activity surrounding this overly commercialized day, I hope that you can rediscover its simple message of joy and hope.

On Christmas Day, I can’t help but think of the final verse of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” which reaffirms that hope: “Then pealed the bells more loud and deep. God is not dead nor doth he sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.”

The first photo below shows my almost completed cross stitch project Festive Cardinal designed by Max Pigeon of Pigeon Coop Designs. The second photo shows the inside of my church, St. Martin de Porres Episcopal Church, during the afternoon of Christmas Eve, when we were practicing the music for the evening service. I tear up a little remembering the congregation in the darkened sanctuary singing Silent Night by candlelight at the Christmas Eve service last night—it is always one of the highlights of Christmas for me.

Merry Christmas to all of you.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Robin bath

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged American robin, bathing robin, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, robin, Tamron 150-600mm, Turdus migratorius, Woodbridge VA on December 24, 2025| 3 Comments »

Last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I spotted a small group of American Robins (Turdus migratorius) clustered around a large puddle. Some of the birds took their turns drinking from the puddle, while others took advantage of the opportunity to take a bath. Some of the birds merely flapped about a bit in the water, but the robin in the photo below seemed to enjoy soaking in the cold water.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Winter snack

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 7D, Great Blue Heron, Great Blue Heron fishing, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 22, 2025| 2 Comments »

Some birds, like Great Egrets and Green Herons, leave our area during the cold months to overwinter in warmer places. Great Blue Herons, however, remain with us throughout the year. I imagine that it is tough for them to find food, especially when the small ponds where I often spot them are frozen over.

I was happy last week to spot this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. There was ice on parts of the pond where the heron was standing, but there were still some open areas. I watched as the heron patiently scanned the water for potential prey and captured this shot as the heron was pulling a small fish out of the water.

It’s a really small fish and I encourage you to click on the image to enlarge it and get a better look at the fish. For the heron, the fish is probably only an appetizer, but at this time of year, food is scarce, so even tiny bits are undoubtedly welcome.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Field Sparrow

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Field Sparrow, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, sparrow, Spizella pusilla, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 20, 2025| 6 Comments »

I was thrilled on 18 December to capture this shot of a beautiful little Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla) during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I initially heard this bird as it was foraging in the underbrush and was searching for it when it unexpectedly hopped up onto a fallen branch. The little sparrow posed momentarily for me and I was able to capture this cool little portrait of it. Even though the background is pretty cluttered, the sparrow really stands out in the shot.

When I took the photo, I was not able to identify the sparrow species. However, the rust colored crown, orange-pink bill, and white eye ring as quite distinctive, so I was able to find the Field Sparrow in my identification guide. Still I was not absolutely certain of my identification, so I posted a photo to a Facebook birding group and several experts there confirmed that it was indeed a Field Sparrow.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Frozen waters in December

Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged frozen water, ice, iPhone 11, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Woodbridge VA on December 19, 2025| 1 Comment »

Although the weather was a bit warmer yesterday (18 December), there was still plenty of ice in the frigid waters off of the shores of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. For many of us here in the United States, winter does not officially begin until this Sunday, the 21st of December, but we have already had two snow storms with measurable accumulation and some periods of sub-freezing temperatures.

With rain in the forecast for the following couple of days, I ventured out yesterday to my favorite local wildlife refuge with my camera, looking primarily for birds.I did not have a huge amount of success in capturing images of these birds, but it was enjoyable nonetheless to be outdoors in the relatively comfortable temperatures of a beautiful December day.

I was happy that I remembered to take some landscape style shots with my iPhone to document the day—when I am carrying around my camera with a long telephoto zoom lens, I often forget to take some wide-angle shots like these ones.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Song Sparrow in December

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Melospiza melodia, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, song sparrow, sparrow, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, Woodbridge VA on December 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Now that I am focusing mostly on photographing birds rather than dragonflies or butterflies, I am having to reacquaint myself with my long telephoto lens (Tamron 150-600mm) and with the related differences in shooting techniques. During the warmer months, I spend most of my time looking downwards and scanning an area no more than 10 feet (3 meters) in front of me. When it comes to the colder months, I spend much more time looking upwards for bird activity, although some of the remaining birds forage on the ground, so I can’t totally forget to look down. I also scan areas that are much farther away from me, particularly because my long lens cannot focus on anything that is closer than 9 feet (2.7 meters) from me.

Last week I was delighted to spot this beautiful Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I am gradually learning the differences in coloration in the various sparrows in our area, though I must confess that sparrow identification is an ongoing challenge for me.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Carolina Chickadee in December

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Carolina Chickadee, chickadee, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Poecile carolinensis, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 9, 2025| 7 Comments »

During the wintertime, when the leaves are gone from the trees, I have a better chance of spotting tiny birds, like this Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) that I photographed last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It was sunny but cold when I photographed the chickadee. Like most birds that I encounter during the winter months, this chickadee looked almost round, having fluffed up its feathers in order to retain its body heat. I have the same body shape when I bundle up in my cold weather clothes and increasingly even without them.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Dragonfly in December

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Autumn Meadowhawk, Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly, Canon 7D, male Autumn Meadowhawk, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sympetrum vicinum, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 5, 2025| 7 Comments »

I was delighted to spot this Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum vicinum) on Wednesday, 3 December, at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Despite our recent cold nights, many of which have dipped below the freezing level, this hardy dragonfly managed to survive.

It is snowing out right this moment, so I am not sure how much longer I will be seeing these beautiful little creatures, but I’ll almost certainly be out with my camera next week to see what I can find.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Powdered Dancer damselfly

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, spring, Summer, Winter, tagged Argia moesta, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Powdered Dancer, Powdered Dancer damselfly, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on June 12, 2025| 5 Comments »

Most of the time that I see damselflies, they are perched in the vegetation. Powdered Dancer damselflies (Argia moesta), like this one that I spotted last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, however, like to perch on bare ground, emergent stones, and along trails. Immature male Powdered Dancers are tan to dark brown, turn darker with age, and becoming almost completely whitish at maturity.

The “powdered” color of this damselfly helped in to blend in almost perfectly with the sand and gravel on this trail at the wildlife refuge. If I had not seen it land, I suspect that I would have had real trouble spotting this Powdered Dancer damselfly.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Inquisitive osprey

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, inquisitive osprey, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 21, 2025| 2 Comments »

Something attracted the attention of this Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and it kept looking down at the ground. At first I thought that the osprey had caught a fish that it was trying to protect from competitors, but when I zoomed in, I did not see any fish.

Perhaps the osprey was looking for its mate or was merely curious to observe all the things that were going on. I don’t think that the osprey had spotted me when I took these shots, but that is also a possibility.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Heron Lift-off

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 7D, Great Blue Heron, heron, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 18, 2025| 9 Comments »

When Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) take off from the water, they really stretch out and usually I cut off part of their bodies when trying to photograph them in action. Last week, though, my timing was good and I captured this little sequence of images as a heron took to the air, flew for a short distance, and “stuck” its landing in the water.

I was really happy with the way that I was able to capture so many details, from the arc of the water droplets as the heron rose out of the water to the bird’s different-colored feathers. In the final photo, the spread wings, wind-blown “hair,” and the wonderful reflection combine to create a really cool mood in the image.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Put your hand on my shoulder…

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, turtle, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Chrysemys picta, Eastern Painted Turtle, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, painted turtle, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 17, 2025| 11 Comments »

I don’t know if thegroup of Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta)) was a family unit or merely good friends, but they seemed to be cooperating to maximize their exposure to the warmth of the sun last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. At some of the other wildlife parks in my area there are large logs on which the turtles will space themselves out as they bask in the sun, but flat dry land is limited at this refuge, so the turtles are willing to share the space with others.

As I was taking the first photo, several more turtles emerged from the pond, as you can see in the second photo below. Their wet shells are much darker than those of the first three turtles that have had a chance to dry out a bit.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Uncommonly beautiful

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged beauty is everywhere, Canon 7D, Common Grackle, grackle, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Quiscalus quiscula, Tamron 150-600mm, uncommonly beautiful, Woodbridge VA on March 14, 2025| 5 Comments »

When in the shadows, Common Grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) appear to be all black, but in the bright sunlight their iridescent feathers shine in an array of colors. I photographed this uncommonly beautiful Grackle as it perched in a dead tree on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Beauty is everywhere.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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First osprey of the season

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, first osprey, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 13, 2025| 7 Comments »

When does spring begin? If you use the meteorological calendar, spring begins on the first of March in the Northern Hemisphere. Most folks here in the United States, though, consider that spring begins with the vernal equinox that falls on 20 March this year.

I look for other signs that mark the beginning of the new season. Yesterday, for example, I saw a few blooming daffodils and crocuses, some of the first spring flowers to appear, and I also spotted some buds starting to open on trees.

On Tuesday, I spotted my first Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) of the season at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, a sure sign that spring will soon be here.The osprey in the photo was vigorously tearing into the flesh of the fish, stopping periodically to call out to another osprey. I wasn’t sure whether the other unseen osprey was a competitor or a mate, but suspect that it was the latter. A short time later, the osprey flew away to an elevated nesting platform, where I spotted three ospreys that appeared to be sharing the freshly-caught fish, as you can see in the second image below.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Over a half million views

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 7D, Great Blue Heron, Great Blue Heron fishing, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 11, 2025| 20 Comments »

I do not pay too much attention to the statistics that WordPress provides about my blog, but I could not help but notice this morning that, according to the “official” statistics, I have now had over a half million views since July 2012 of 5,33p posts. Wow! It’s a bit of a mystery to me how exactly WordPress counts those views, so I am not sure if the stats are fully accurate, but those numbers indicate a lot of effort on my time.

More than that, though, those statistics reflect an incredible amount of support and encouragement from so many of you. Thanks to all of you, whether you have followed my photographic wanderings for a day for for years. The second image below is a screen shot of the overall statistics for the blog this morning.

As you may have noticed, I have slowed my pace of posting a bit over the last six months as more of my free time has been increasingly devoted to other interests and activities. I’ll be keeping up with the photography blog, though, at least a few times a week and quite possibly more frequently than that as the weather warms up.

During a recent visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I captured this shot of a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in action. Most of the time these herons thrust their bills violently in the water in attempting to catch fish, but this one was doing so much more gently that normally. The water level was low because it was lot tide and the heron may have been trying to pluck a small fish out of the water. On this attempt, though, he was not successful, but the heron’s open bill made for a nice photo.

I thought about posting one of my “best” images for today’s blog entry, but decided instead to continue my habit of posting recent images that appeal to me. As many of you know, I am generally content to post photos of everyday creatures to highlight the beauty that surrounds us all of the time if we slow down and take the time to observe it. Beauty is everywhere.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hidden woodpecker

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Melanerpes carolinus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA, woodpecker on March 10, 2025| 1 Comment »

During a recent visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I caught a glimpse of bright red deep in the vegetation. I was pretty sure that it was some kind of woodpecker, but I wasn’t absolutely sure. I maneuvered around a bit and managed to determine that it was a Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus).

I was happy to capture this image that shows the head of the woodpecker clearly, even though most of its body is partially hidden. This gives you an idea of the kind of view I often get when I am out with my camera. Some photographers might not even try to get a shot of the subject under these circumstances, but I will give it a shot most of the time. Often my shots are blurry, but sometimes I get a decent shot that I like, like the one in this blog post.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Turtles in the sun

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, turtle, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Chrysemys picta, Eastern Painted Turtle, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, painted turtle, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 7, 2025| 5 Comments »

As the weather has warmed up and the sun has started to shine a bit more brightly, Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta) have emerged from the mud at the bottom of the ponds at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. These turtles used whatever objects they could find to pull themselves out of the water and bask in the sunlight. Sometimes their shells are washed clean of mud, but, as you can see in the final photo, some of the turtles were still covered in mud when I photographed them last week.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hungry chickadee

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Carolina Chickadee, chickadee, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Poecile carolinensis, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

It is still a bit early for trees to be budding with new growth, so birds like this little Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) have to be content to forage for seeds among the dried up vegetation from the previous growing season. Last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I spotted this chickadee that seemed to have struck the jackpot—there was an abundance of dried seeds on the tree on which the bird was perched.

The chickadee had to bend and stretch a bit to reach the seeds, but, as you can see in the second photo below, it had some success in finding food. Before long, spring will arrive and lots of fresher food should appear for the birds, including insects. Chickadees are omnivorous, but like most birds that stay with us during the winter, their diet is mostly a vegetarian one when the weather gets cold and most of the insects disappear.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cormorant reflection

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged cormorant, cormorant reflection, Double-crested Cormorant, Nannopterum auritum, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Woodbridge VA on March 5, 2025| 1 Comment »

Most of my recent photos of Double-crested Cormorants (Nannopterum auritum) has show the birds taking off. Indeed, cormorants tend to be quite skittish and react quickly when they detect my presence. Last Wednesday, I spotted a cormorant in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge that was so focused on repeatedly diving under that the did not notice me.

I was really happy with the photo that I captured of the cormorant, especially the way that it shows the bird’s beautiful rippled reflection. You may note that the cormorant is really low in the water, with most of its body submerged. As I noted in a recent post, cormorants’ feathers are not completely waterproof and can become waterlogged. For that reason, cormorants need to periodically come out of the water and stretch out their wings to dry them.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Portrait of a heron

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 7D, Great Blue Heron, heron, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, portrait, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 3, 2025| 9 Comments »

I see Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) quite often at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but generally they are far away from me. Last week, however, I was lucky to get close enough to a heron to be able to capture a portrait-like image of the big bird. How did I do it?

The heron was standing in the waters off of the shore of the refuge and was mostly hidden from view by the vegetation. I was walking along a trail parallel to the water and discovered a little break in vegetation that gave me a clear view of most of the heron. I twisted and turned my body, trying to make sure that no branches were blocking my view and zoomed in with my telephoto lens. I had to wait a little while and eventually the heron lifted its head and turned to the side, giving me a perfect profile pose.

Some wildlife photographers are always searching for new species to photograph, but most of the time I am content to photograph the same species over and over, capturing the changing seasons and environments in which I find these beautiful creatures.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Preparing for takeoff

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Nannopterum auritum, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 2, 2025| 2 Comments »

This past Monday I spotted some Double-crested Cormorants (Nannopterum auritum) in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and once again they took off immediately, even though I was quite a distance away from them. Fortunately I anticipated that this would happen and was able to react quickly enough to capture the action. The second photo below shows the way that cormorants bounce across the water, leaving a trail of small splashes, to gain the speed needed to lift off from the water.

The first photo, my favorite of the two, depicts the cormorant on its last bounce, making final preparations for takeoff with its feet just barely in the water. I really like the position of the extended wings in this image and if you zoom in and look at the face, you will get a look at the brilliant turquoise eyes of the cormorant.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bufflehead in late February

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bucephala albeola, bufflehead, bufflehead duck, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 28, 2025| 7 Comments »

I was delighted on Monday to photograph this male Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) duck in good light, which allowed me to see the beautiful purple-green iridescence on its head. Male Buffleheads have a large white patch that wraps around the back of their heads that makes them easy to identify from a distance. It is rare, though, for me to be close enough and in the right light to see the beautiful head coloration.

Buffleheads are small, large-headed ducks that migrate to my area of Northern Virginia during the winter and I often see some of them during my visits to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. During the summer, Buffleheads breed near ponds and lakes in boreal forest and aspen parkland of Canada and Alaska, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eagle on nest

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 7D, eagle, eagle nest, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 27, 2025| 2 Comments »

Every year in the late winter and early spring I try to keep an eye on the nests of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Several of the locations with nests that were used last year apparently are not being this year, but I have repeatedly observed eagle activity at one very large nest at the refuge.

On Monday, I spotted one eagle perched on the edge of that nest and another eagle in a nearby tree keeping watch over the nest. Does that mean that some eggs have hatched? Who knows? The nest is so deep that it is impossible to see what is going on inside of the nest. I watched the nest for quite a while, hoping I might see a tiny head pop up over the edge of the nest, but a baby eagle never appeared

I will continue to monitor this nest and a couple of other potential nesting sites and, with a little luck, may catch a glimpse of some eaglets in the upcoming weeks.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Late February Brown Creeper

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged brown creeper, Canon 7D, Certhia americana, creeper, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 26, 2025| 1 Comment »

On Monday I spotted this tiny Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) as it spiraled its way up several trees alongside a trail at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This little bird was somewhat frenetic in its movements, often disappearing behind the trunk of the tree, but somehow I managed to track it. As you can see from the photo, the creeper blends in well with the tree bark, so movement is key to detecting the bird.

I was happy to capture an image that shows off the creeper’s distinctive bill so well. Brown Creepers use their slender, downcurved bills to probe into crevices and pick at loose bark in search of insects. From what I have observed, creepers almost always move upwards in a tree, while nuthatches seem move only downwards.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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February kinglet

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Golden-crowned Kinglet, kinglet, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Regulus satrapa, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 25, 2025| 1 Comment »

The warmer weather yesterday was a welcome respite from our winter cold—temperatures rose above 50 degrees F (10 degrees C) and it is supposed to be even warmer today. During a lengthy walk at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I was delighted to spot this tiny Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa) on a tree with some visible buds.

Such signs are starting to appear—I can’t wait for spring to arrive with new growth, new colors, and new life.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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