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Archive for the ‘Winter’ Category

Growing in January

Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on January 6, 2021| 14 Comments »

Not all plants wait for the spring to start growing. Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetid) starts growing in the winter and can generate its own heat and even melt snow around it when the ground is frozen. According to Wikipedia, skunk cabbage “is notable for its ability to generate temperatures of up to 27–63 °F (15–35 °C) above air temperature by cyanide resistant cellular respiration in order to melt its way through frozen ground, placing it among a small group of thermogenic plants.” I spotted these skunk cabbage plants this past Saturday at Occoquan Regional Park.

So why am I interested in this plant? Several types of dragonflies, including the Arrowhead Spiketail dragonfly and the Gray Petaltail dragonfly can be found in the kind of forest seeps where skunk cabbage grows. I am conducting advance reconnaissance of locations to explore when dragonfly season finally arrives. Last year I spotted my first dragonflies in early April, so I have “only” three months to wait for the opening of the 2021 dragonfly season.

skunk cabbage

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Portraits of a bluebird

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on January 5, 2021| 22 Comments »

I spotted this handsome Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and surprisingly he was willing to pose for me—normally bluebirds fly off as soon as I move close to them with my camera.

We started off with a formal pose against a solid backdrop and then moved on to a more casual pose. We were both really happy with the final images—he plans to use them on his social media, especially Twitter.

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Bluebird

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Unconventional wisdom

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on January 4, 2021| 21 Comments »

In the distance I heard the unmistakeable call of a Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) during a recent at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. My eyes tried to follow my ears and I was finally able to locate the elusive bird, almost hidden against a backdrop of tangled trees. Was it worth taking a shot?

All photographers are taught to avoid cluttered backgrounds, because they make it difficult for viewers to focus on the primary subject—that is the conventional wisdom and it often makes sense, except when it doesn’t. The more I take photos, the more I realize that the “rules” are merely loose guidelines that need to be challenged regularly. When in doubt, I believe it is best to take the shot even when the lighting is bad, the shutter speed is too slow, or the background is too busy.

In this case, the small branches form an almost irregular pattern that more or less fades away for me, leaving me with the skeleton structure of the darker branches and the bird itself. The colors of the bird contrast so much with those of the branches that it stands out even though it is only a small part of the photo.

Does the image “work?” It is definitely not the “normal” kind of shot that I take, but I really like the way that it turned out. Sometimes it can be good to ignore the limitations of the rules and just go for it.

belted kingfisher

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Winter robin

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on January 4, 2021| 12 Comments »

I grew up thinking of American Robins (Turdus migratorius) as springtime birds, but in the area in which I live robins are with us throughout the year. I photographed this robin this past Saturday at Occoquan Regional Park when it turned towards me with a quizzical look. The little bird seemed more curious about my presence than disapproving, though the inflexible bills of birds makes facial expressions a bit hard to judge.

American Robin

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wolf spider in January

Posted in Arachnids, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on January 3, 2021| 9 Comments »

It was unseasonably warm yesterday, so I was out in the wild looking for late season dragonfly survivors. I came up empty-handed for dragonflies, but did spot this cool-looking wolf spider (g. Gladicosa) at Occoquan Regional Park.

Several years ago fellow dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford spotted an Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly in early January, so I knew that it was at least a theoretical possibility that I might see one. According to Walter’s blog posting about his sighting in 2016, the temperature was 51 degrees (10 degrees C) when he spotted the dragonfly and it was even warmer yesterday—58 degrees (14 degrees C). I scoured all kinds of locations where the sunlight was shining, anticipating that a dragonfly likely would be basking in the sun.

I spotted this spider in a sunlit area strewn with fallen leaves. I suspected that it was some kind of wolf spider, but relied on experts in several Facebook groups for confirmation. One of the experts was even able to identify the genus of the spider, but not the specific species. According to Wikipedia, wolf spiders “are robust and agile hunters with excellent eyesight. They live mostly in solitude and hunt alone, and do not spin webs. Some are opportunistic hunters pouncing upon prey as they find it or even chasing it over short distances. Some wait for passing prey in or near the mouth of a burrow.”

I doubt that I will see any dragonflies this month or even any more spiders, but I will keep looking for a little while longer, especially on days when the temperatures rise this high above the freezing level.

wolf spider

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Self-esteem

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 2, 2021| 9 Comments »

At this time of the year I am always looking for birds in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, like this scaup, a small diving duck, that I spotted on Monday. There is a Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) and a Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) and they are quite similar in appearance.

For the sake of identification, I am going to assume that this is a “Greater” one—I do not want to damage its self-esteem by calling it “Lesser.”

scaup

scaup

scaup

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

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Still hunkered down

Posted in Birds, Nature, new year, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on January 1, 2021| 18 Comments »

And so the new year begins. In many ways I feel like this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) that I spotted on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, alert and wide-eyed, but hunkered down alone on the sidelines, cautiously waiting until it is safe to engage more fully.

The Great Blue Heron in the second image was the final bird I photographed in 2020—I captured this image yesterday afternoon. This heron appeared to be fishing, standing motionless for a long time, watching and waiting and hoping. Perhaps there is a lesson for us here as well as we begin 2021. Patience has been in somewhat short supply this past year and we could all use more of it this year.

Happy New Year to all of you and to your loved ones.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

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Kinglet with attitude

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on December 31, 2020| 11 Comments »

This tiny Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa) seemed to have puffed himself up to look larger and more menacing as he defiantly stared at me from the underbrush last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. His bright yellow Mohawk hairstyle enhanced his non-conformist vibe—it would not surprise me to learn that he has tattoos and body piercings.

Generally I try to avoid head-on shots of birds, but somehow it worked out pretty well in this case and allowed me to photograph this kinglet with an attitude. I encourage you to click on the image to get a closer look at this cool little bird.

Happy New Year in advance to all of you.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eagle perch

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , on December 30, 2020| 16 Comments »

The last time that I posted a photo of this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) couple, they were sitting apart on the platform that is sometimes used by ospreys during nesting season at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. When I spotted them last week, they had moved much closer together and were perched on the small surface at the top of the post. Is love in the air?

The tree in which these eagles generally nest is not very far away. Part of their rather small nest there seems to have disappeared over the last year, perhaps as a result of a fallen branch, and it will be interesting to see if they will rebuild the nest at the same location.

As I was observing the eagles, I realized that I had never provided you with an overall view of this preferred platform, so I zoomed back and captured the second image below. As you can readily see, the platform is quite tall and I believe that the eagles like the commanding view from their perch, a view that includes the tree in which their nest is located.

Bald Eagles

 

Bald Eagles

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Feasting on berries

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on December 29, 2020| 12 Comments »

Homemade cranberry sauce made a wonderful complement to the turkey at the Christmas Day feast that I shared with the other two members of my “pod.” Many birds are also feasting on berries at this time of the year, though I cannot recommend that you taste the poison ivy berries that they are consuming.

Last week I spotted this White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and watched as it picked berries one by one from a cluster of poison ivy and consumed them in place. Most of us do not like to have our photos taken while we are eating, but this pretty little sparrow was so focused on its feast that it did not seem to mind.

white-throated sparrow

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eagle nest

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on December 28, 2020| 5 Comments »

It won’t be long before it is nesting season at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge for Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). I know of two nests that have been used the past few years. One of them is close to a trail that the refuge authorities block off when nesting is taking place. The other, pictured below, is high in a tree that is visible in the distance from a trail but is inaccessible to human traffic.

You can’t help but notice how large this nest is, especially when you compare it with the size of the bald eagle that I managed to photograph early one morning last week. Every year the eagles add on to the nest and now it is so deep that I am unable to see the eagles when they are sitting in the nest.

I will be keeping an eye on the eagle nest in the upcoming months and will be sure to give a progress report if/when I see additional activity.

eagle nest

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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His Eye Is On The Sparrow

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter on December 27, 2020| 19 Comments »

“I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free. For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” These are some of the words of one of my parents’ favorite hymns and I think of them whenever I see one of those little birds, like this Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) that I spotted last Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

I love the background of this photo so much that there was no way that I was going to crop in closely. The plants form an almost grid-like pattern that find really appealing and the muted browns are a good complement to the earthy tones of the sparrow. Even the light was cooperative, highlighting the subject without blowing out the lightest areas.

What do you think?

Song Sparrow

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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December sunrise

Posted in abstract, Landscape, Nature, Photography, sunrise, Winter, tagged , , , , , on December 27, 2020| 16 Comments »

The electric gates at my favorite wildlife refuge slide open at seven o’clock in the morning and sometimes I will be sitting in my car waiting for the parting of the gates to maximize my chances of seeing the sun rise. Traffic was a little heavier than I had anticipated last Tuesday and the gates were already open when I drove into Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge a few minutes after seven.

Dark clouds were covering much of the sky and although some color was starting to appear in the few open patches, it was clear that I was not going to see the sun itself rise. I rushed down the trail toward the water as it grew lighter and lighter, racing against the rising sun. I never did see much of the sun itself, but the reflected light was amazingly beautiful. At times it seemed like the skies were aflame with an orange flow and a few minutes later the skies were tinged with a softer pink.

Forecasters can tell me at what time the sun will rise, but they cannot predict the look and feel of any sunrise. For that, I have to be there in person, waiting expectantly with my heart full of hope. It is a wonderful way to start a new day.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (Psalm 19:1)

 

winter sunrise

winter sunrise

winter sunrise

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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Hidden in plain sight

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , on December 26, 2020| 20 Comments »

Can you spot the bird in this photo? Its white underparts help to give away its position, but otherwise the Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) is pretty well camouflaged. I rarely see these little birds (about 5 inches (13 cm) long) because they blend in so well and are constantly in motion, poking and probing as they spiral their way to the top of the trees.

I really like the way that the Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes these small birds—”Brown Creepers are tiny woodland birds with an affinity for the biggest trees they can find. Look for these little, long-tailed scraps of brown and white spiraling up stout trunks and main branches, sometimes passing downward-facing nuthatches along the way. They probe into crevices and pick at loose bark with their slender, downcurved bills, and build their hammock-shaped nests behind peeling flakes of bark. Their piercing calls can make it much easier to find this hard-to-see but common species.”

I spotted the Brown Creeper this past Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge early in the morning when the light had a golden tinge that made everything look particularly beautiful. I tried to track the bird as it made its way up the tree and took quite a few photos. This is one of the few in which I got a relatively clear view of the entire bird, including its stiff tail that it uses for support.

Brown Creeper

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Not gone away

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , on December 25, 2020| 18 Comments »

I love all kinds of Christmas songs whether they be traditional carols, secular songs, or contemporary hits. One of my favorites is Winter Wonderland, though I must confess that it sometimes leaves me confused. The second verse says, “Gone away is the bluebird, here to stay is a new bird. He sings a love song as we go along, walking in a winter wonderland.” The bluebirds have not in fact gone away—I saw Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) multiple times this past Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

I love these cheerful, colorful little birds and hope that they are here to stay as I walk about in my own winter wonderland.

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Bluebird

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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A single Christmas bloom

Posted in Christmas, Flowers, Photography, Winter, tagged , , , , , on December 25, 2020| 18 Comments »

Despite my benign neglect, my Christmas cactus surprised me by pushing out a single bloom just in time for Christmas. Some words of the beloved carol “Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming” come to mind when I contemplate its beauty—”It came, a flow’ret bright, amid the cold of winter, when half spent was the night.”

Merry Christmas to all of my friends and family who are celebrating this blessed holy day.

Christmas cactus

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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House Finch and Sweetgum

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on December 24, 2020| 6 Comments »

This is the first year that I have really noticed how many different birds work to extract the seeds from the spiky seedpods of the sweetgum tree. In the past month I have done postings featuring chickadees and goldfinches. Today I am spotlighting a beautiful House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) that I spotted on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

The brilliant red color on the finch’s head and shoulders seems so perfect for the season as many of us prepare to celebrate Christmas. I initially thought that the bird’s large conical beak was buried in the the seed ball, but was happy to see that it is visible. The finch uses that powerful beak to crack open all kinds of seeds as it engages in nature’s own nutcracker suite.

Merry Christmas to those celebrating Christmas and happy holidays and best wishes to all in this joyous season. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)

House Finch

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Ruby-crowned Kinglets

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on December 22, 2020| 18 Comments »

It is quite a challenge to get a clear shot of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula). Why? Ruby-crowned Kinglets are one of the smallest birds in my area, about 4 inches (10 cm) in length and 0.2-0.3 ounces (5 to 10 g) in weight. Additionally they are almost constantly moving. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology described them as, “restless, acrobatic birds that move quickly through foliage, typically at lower and middle levels. They flick their wings almost constantly as they go.”

I have spotted these tiny birds multiple times this season but only recently did I manage to get some reasonably clear images of them during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This images show pretty well their prominent white eye-rings and the beautiful pattern on their wings. Unfortunately I did not get a glimpse of the the “ruby crown” of a male kinglet, a characteristic that is only occasionally visible.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mockingbird in December

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , on December 21, 2020| 13 Comments »

A common bird in a simple setting—that is all of the prompting that I need to capture an image. Nature photography for does not require exotic subjects or locations.

This past Saturday I spotted this Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) perched in a young tree. The position did not look very comfortable, so I suspected the bird would not stay in it for long. I focused quickly and was really happy with the result—a nice little portrait with a very limited palette of subdued colors.

Northern Mockingbird

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Local cormorant

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on December 20, 2020| 14 Comments »

Although we had only about an inch of snow last week, it has hung around on cars and in shady areas. Despite the continuing cold and overcast weather, I decided yesterday that I needed to get outdoors with my camera. I had several places in mind, but my plans were thwarted when I ran into a traffic jam on the interstate. I took the first exit and decided to visit instead a small suburban pond not far from where I live.

Several species of ducks overwinter at this pond and I spotted Hooded Mergansers and Ring-necked Ducks in the center of the pond, out of range of my telephoto zoom lens. As I continued circling the pond on a walking trail, I was thrilled to spot several Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) standing in the shallow water not far from the shore. Some bushes separated me from the cormorants, so I had to bend and twist a bit to get a clear shot, but I managed to capture this image of one of them before they turned their backs to me and swam away.

The bright orange color of the cormorants’ bills always captures my attention, but it is the beauty of their brilliantly blue eyes that keeps me transfixed. Wow! Be sure to double-click on the photo to get a closer look at that amazing blue color.

As it turned out, I did not need to travel far to find beauty—figuratively speaking it was in my back yard. It would be cool to have an actual pond in my back yard, but it would have to be a tiny one and my townhouse homeowners’ association would certainly complain about it.

Double-crested Cormorant

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Chickadee and Sweetgum

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on December 19, 2020| 15 Comments »

Smaller birds seem to enjoy foraging for Sweet Gum seeds while the seed pods are still hanging on the trees, like this Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) that I spotted last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Many of you may recall a somewhat similar posting last month featuring goldfinches. If you have not yet seen it, check it out at Goldfinch and Sweetgum.

Although I enjoy photographing raptors, like the Bald Eagle that I showcased yesterday, I derive an equal amount of pleasure observing and attempting to photograph tiny birds like this chickadee. Beauty is everywhere.

Carolina Chickadee

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Side-lit eagle

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on December 18, 2020| 20 Comments »

When I first spotted this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) last Saturday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, it was mostly hidden from view, perched rather low on a broken-off tree and surrounded by a thick tangle of vegetation. When I finally maneuvered around to a position where I had a relatively clear line of sight to the eagle through the bushes, I realized that I had another problem—the light was shining brightly from the side, causing the white head of the eagle to be overexposed on one side with a resultant loss of details.

I moved a little from side to side to improve the lighting situation and waited for the eagle to move its head too. As I reviewed my shots afterwards, I was delighted to see that the side lighting had helped to reveal the beautiful layers of feathers on the eagle’s body. The eagle seemed to be giving me a disapproving look in the second shot, but amazingly it remained in place. As I was moving away I looked back at the eagle and silently thanked the majestic bird for our shared moments together.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Female Bufflehead

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , on December 17, 2020| 3 Comments »

She never approached the shore for the close-up that I was craving, but I was happy to capture this image of a pretty little female Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Later in the winter I am likely to spot small flocks of Buffleheads in the deep waters, but on this day this one was all by itself.

Bufflehead

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Towhee in December

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on December 16, 2020| 16 Comments »

I am often fooled by Eastern Towhees (Pipilo erythrophthalmus). Whenever I see a flash of rusty brown feathers on a dark bird, I assume that it is an American Robin. If a towhee stays still long enough, it is easy to tell that it is not a robin—the color pattern and the bill shape are completely different from those of a robin. The problem is that towhees are often in constant motion, foraging about in the undergrowth, so it is hard to get a good look at one.

I was fortunate last week when an Eastern Towhee popped out of the brush at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and perched for a moment on the branch of a small tree, allowing me to capture a shot of this very colorful sparrow.

Eastern Towhee

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Resting eagles

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , on December 15, 2020| 14 Comments »

During nesting season ospreys build a nest atop this tall platform at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but at other times of the year Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) like to use it as a resting spot. On a recent day when the weather was cold and windy, I spotted this eagle couple resting together. I suspect that the larger eagle on the lower level is the female and the one keeping watch is the male, although the sharp upward angle at which I was shooting makes it a little difficult to judge their relative sizes.

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Turkeys in December

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on December 14, 2020| 7 Comments »

If I wander the trails of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge for a long enough period of time, I am quite likely to encounter some Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). I have seen them in almost all parts of the refuge and suspect that there are several flocks that reside there.

Last Monday I encountered a small flock that appeared to include a half-dozen or so turkeys. They were scratching about at the edge of one of the trails and did not seem to notice me as I slowly made my way forward. All of the sudden, one of the turkeys flapped its wings a little as if to sound an alarm, as you can see in the second image below. All of the turkeys started to move and slowly disappeared into the underbrush. I was thrilled to capture the first image as they were striding away.

Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Slender Spreadwing in September

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged , , , , , , on September 23, 2020| 6 Comments »

Most damselflies fold their wings above their bodies when they are perched. There is, however, a small group of fairly large damselflies, known as spreadwings, that hold their wings partially open when perching.

I do not see spreadwing damselflies very often, so I was excited to spot this one on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I managed to capture shots from a couple of angles before it flew away, but did not get a shot that showed the thorax markings, which can help a lot with identification. I can tell for sure that the damselfly is female, but it is difficult to determine with certainty its species.

I posted the photos in a Facebook dragonfly forum and even the experts were not certain—females tend to lack the distinctive markings of the males and generally are harder to identify. They narrowed it down to a few possibilities and if I had to guess, I’d say this is a female Slender Spreadwing damselfly (Lestes rectangularis).

Slender Spreadwing

Slender Spreadwing

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Powdered Dancer

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, Winter, tagged , , , , , on June 28, 2020| 3 Comments »

Bright, saturated colors can be wonderful, but in large doses they can overwhelm the senses and confuse a viewer’s eyes. I am often drawn to simple scenes with a limited palette of colors, scenes in which light and shadows and shapes and textures play a more prominent role than colors.

Those were my thoughts when I started to review my images of this male Powdered Dancer damselfly (Argia moesta) that I spotted on Thursday while exploring a stream in Fairfax County with fellow dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford. The Powdered Dancer is the closest that we come to having a monochromatic dragonfly or damselfly—the thorax and tip of the abdomen of males becomes increasingly white as they age.

I love the way that the coolness of the white on the body contrasts with the brownish-red warmth of the branch, the leaves, and the out-of-focus rocks in the background of the initial image. I like too the texture in the images, particularly in the bark in the first photo and in the rock in the second one. Shadows help to add some additional visual interest to both of these images, drawing a viewer’s attention to the damselfly’s head in the first image and to the details of its entire body in the second.

Powdered Dancer

Powdered Dancer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Muddy turtles in May

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, spring, turtle, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , on May 27, 2020| 13 Comments »

Last week I featured an actual mud turtle, but today’s muddy turtles  are actually Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta) that appear to have been painted with a coating of mud. The last few months we have had a lot of unusually cool weather, and I think the turtles have been spending a lot of time in the mud at the bottom of the ponds. Last week the weather improve  and there were turtles in all kinds of places at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge trying to absorb the warmth of the sun.

The pose of the first two turtles brings to mind a well-known scene from the movie Titanic in which Jack and Rose (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) were standing at the railing at the prow of the ship. I must confess that I spent 4+ hours watching the movie on television last Sunday night, which may be why the scene is so fresh in my mind. Yeah, I’m a bit of a romantic.

I encountered the second Painted Turtle as it was slowly making its way across a trail at the wildlife refuge. In addition to noting the large amount of fresh mud still on its shell, I was delighted by the way the two little leaf fragments on its shell matched the yellow markings on its neck.
Painted Turtle

Painted Turtle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eastern Mud Turtle

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, spring, turtle, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 15, 2020| 7 Comments »

On Friday I spotted this small turtle as it was crossing one of the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It is not a species that I see very often, but I think it is an Eastern Mud Turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum) Appropriately enough its back half appears to be covered in mud.

I generally think of turtles as being slow-moving, but this one was scrambling so quickly across the trail that it was a challenge to keep in within the camera’s viewfinder after I had zoomed in all the way with my telephoto lens. In case you are curious, Eastern Mud Turtles are only about four inches in length (10 cm).

 

Eastern Mud Turtle

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Eagle couple in a nest

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , , , on March 2, 2020| 13 Comments »

There are at least two Bald Eagle nests (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the location where I take many of my wildlife photos. One of them is located adjacent to a popular trail and most years the authorities close nearby trails during eagle nesting season. There has been a lot of construction at the refuge over the past few months and, although I saw an eagle couple at that nesting site on several occasions, it looks like they may not have occupied that nest this year (and the trails have not been closed).

The second nest, pictured below, is in a more remote location—it is visible through the trees from one of the trails, but is surrounded by dense vegetation, so the eagles are more insulated from human activity. On a recent visit to the refuge, I was pleased to spot both members of an eagle couple in the nest. I am pretty sure that the eagle on the left is the male, because male eagles tend to be considerably smaller than their female counterparts.

With a bit of luck I hope to be able to spot some eaglets here in the upcoming months, although I noted last year that it is a real challenge to do so, because the wall of this large nest appear to be quite high and effectively hide the eagles from view.

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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