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Archive for the ‘Winter’ Category

Turtle comes out of hibernation

Posted in Nature, Photography, Portraits, Reptiles, Winter, tagged brumation, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, hibernation, Huntley Meadows Park, turtle on February 16, 2013| 2 Comments »

The weather yesterday was so nice that turtles emerged from the mud for the first time in months to bask on logs and enjoy the warmth of the sun.

My understanding is that the turtles have been spending the cold winter months buried in the mud with their metabolism slowed way down. I would call this state “hibernation,” although there apparently is some argument in the scientific community about whether that term should be reserved for mammals and the term “brumation” used for reptiles, because the physiological processes are different. Whatever you call it, reptiles can move in and out of this state and seem to have moved out of it to soak up some sum.

The turtle in this photo looks like he has not had a lot of time to clean off the mud that fills all of the creases and crevices in his body and shell. He almost looks like he is smiling and he is definitely alert.

Most of the turtles that I have photographed previously at my marshland park have been Red-eared Sliders, but I can’t tell if this one is a member of that species or is a different type. I did note that there is a semi-circular pies missing from both the left and right front areas of the shell. Has something been gnawing on the shell? What would have caused the damage?

I looked around to see if I could see any frogs yesterday, but they are still in their wintering mode. I suspect that it won’t be long before the frogs and snakes are back and I’ll soon be keeping a look-out for my first dragonfly of the season.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Frozen waterfall

Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, ice, Potomac River, waterfall on February 13, 2013| 4 Comments »

This past weekend I hiked on the Potomac Heritage Trail, a trail that follows the Potomac River beginning near Washington D.C. on the Virginia side of the river, and is very narrow and rocky. In several places, I passed waterfalls as various streams fed into the river, including this one that was partially frozen that really caught my eye. Given that we don’t generally get much snow, this is about all I can muster for a wintery photo.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Northerners

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, Winter, tagged Anas acuta, Anas clypeata, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Huntley Meadows Park, northern, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler on February 13, 2013| 3 Comments »

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, I have an affinity for things from the north and was amused to find that two of my favorite birds from this past weekend are called “Northern”—the Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) and the Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata).

Sometimes it seems that I shoot subjects in cycles. At one point this past summer, I felt like I was shooting a lot of new and interesting subjects that turned out to have “Common” in their names. In addition to the two Northerners that I am featuring today, this winter I have also photographed Northern Cardinals, Northern Flickers, and Northern Mockingbirds.

The day that I took these photos was gray, misty, and overcast, which gave the water an interesting gray tinge. Fortunately there was enough light to cast interesting reflections onto the water’s surface.

I like the contrast between the body shapes and colors of these two ducks. The elegance of the long neck and understated, conservative colors of the pintail are quite different from the bold colors and the counter-culture look of the shoveler’s bill. In some ways, they seem to represent the establishment, on the one hand, and the rebel, on the other.

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Male Northern Pintail at Huntley Meadows Park

Male Northern Shoveler at Huntley Meadows Park

Male Northern Shoveler at Huntley Meadows Park

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Geese in the mist

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged birds in flight, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Huntley Meadows Park on February 12, 2013| 5 Comments »

I love the dreamy look of the morning mist that provided such a beautiful backdrop for the flight of these two Canada Geese this past weekend.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Singing blackbird in February

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, blackbird, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, cattails, Huntley Meadows Park, red-winged blackbird on February 11, 2013| 6 Comments »

This past weekend I had a chance to observe the singing techniques of a newly arrived Red-winged Blackbird in my local marshland park.

I was curious to watch the blackbird as he was singing and see if I could determine how he is able to achieve such amazing volume and duration in his calls. As a singer, I have been taught to concentrate on breathing from my diaphragm when I am singing, which fills up the lungs more completely than the shallow chest breathing that most people do. In practice, what this means is that you throw out your abdomen to allow more air in and then gently squeeze with the abdominal muscles to slowly expel the air.

It looks to me that the blackbird uses similar singing techniques. I could actually see his abdomen expand as he was getting ready to sing and he engaged his entire body when he was singing.

I have some images of blackbirds simply sitting on cattails from this weekend, but I thought it would be more interesting to share a couple of the ones in which the blackbird is singing.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Heron on a bad hair day

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, Portraits, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, bad hair, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Great Blue Heron, heron, Huntley Meadows Park on February 9, 2013| 8 Comments »

If you think that you are having a bad hair day today, check out the windblown hair of this Great Blue Heron.

It was cold and really windy today and it seemed like the small birds had sought shelter somewhere, because there were relatively few around. The bigger birds could handle the wind better and I saw lots of crows and geese and a number of vultures.

I also saw one Great Blue Heron, who was pretty far away from me. I watched him for quite some time as he stared down at the waters at the far edge of the beaver pond and I wondered if it would be possible for him to find anything to eat.

When I looked at some of my photos of the heron, I was struck by his hair. It looks like he is suffering from male pattern baldness and has grown his hair long in a vain attempt to hide that reality. Perhaps he has an artistically arranged comb over most of the time, but the wind caused his hair to go in all directions.

Do you think that they have a Hair Club for herons?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Stalking another Belted Kingfisher

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, Portraits, Winter, tagged Belted Kingfisher, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Holmes Run, kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon on February 9, 2013| 7 Comments »

Walking alongside a stream yesterday, I heard the unmistakable call of a Belted Kingfisher, a call that is usually described as a “piercing rattle.” Here is a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which has sound clips that you might find interesting if you have never heard a Kingfisher’s call in person.

A previous post chronicled my quest for an elusive female Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) at a little suburban lake that is stocked with trout. I made multiple attempts on different days to photograph that Kingfisher as she perched on tree branches overlooking the water.

Although the stream along which I was walking yesterday is only a half mile or so from the female Kingfisher’s fishing spot, I was surprised to hear a Kingfisher’s call, because there are no trees on the banks of the stream at that location. When I heard its call again, I turned my head in the direction of the sound and was surprised to see a male Kingfisher perched on a power line above the stream. (It’s really easy to distinguish a male Belted Kingfisher from a female, because the male has only a blue stripe on is chest and a female has blue and chestnut stripes.)

When I moved a little closer to him, he flew a short distance downstream and I located him again, this time perched on the railing of a railroad bridge over the stream. Over the course of an hour or so, he and I played a little game in which he would pose for a few minutes on the railing and then fly downstream. A short while later he would be back on the suspended power line. I would walk slowly in the direction of the power line and once I arrived there, the Kingfisher would return to the railroad bridge.

Although I was not able to get really close to the Kingfisher, I managed to get some pretty cool pictures, including several in-flight shots. I really like the industrial-looking setting of the railroad bridge, with its simple geometric structure and beautiful angular lines. In many ways, the bridge is a much a subject in the photos as the bird.

I confessed in a previous post that I was a stalker of Kingfishers, but maybe it’s time to elevate my status—perhaps from now on I will refer to myself as a member of the Kingfisher paparazzi.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Quite a mouthful

Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Huntley Meadows Park, squirrel on February 7, 2013| 9 Comments »

Although this looks like a fall shot, with the faded leaves still on the trees and the squirrel gathering materials to insulate his nest, I took the photo this past weekend.

When I first saw the squirrel, I couldn’t figure out what he had in his mouth, but I could see that it was bigger than the acorns on which I usually see squirrels gnawing. With our recent cold weather, I thought that perhaps the squirrel had become an omnivore and had snatched up a field mouse or other such creature to supplement his diet.

The reality is much more benign. It looks like he is merely gathering materials for his nest. According to Wikipedia, one of the breeding seasons for the Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) runs from December to February. It is likely that the activity that I photographed is related to preparations for the potentially imminent arrival of baby squirrels, which normally are born in February or March (or May to June).

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Winter geometry

Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged abstract, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, geometry, Huntley Meadows Park, ice, marsh, snow on February 6, 2013| 3 Comments »

I love the way that a small amount of snow brings out geometric shapes that might otherwise be hidden from view, like these sinuous curves at the edge of the marsh. The iced-over water has a darker tone that contrasts with the white of the snow and gives this photo an abstract quality that I really like. The texture of the wood in the foreground and its angular line add another element of contrast.

This shot is somewhat atypical for me in that it does not contain living creatures and is not a close-up—some days shapes and patterns and light and geometry are sufficient to attract my attention.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Emerging from the icy waters

Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged beaver, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Castor canadensis, Huntley Meadows Park, ice, icy waters, North American Beaver on February 5, 2013| 1 Comment »

I was fortunate enough this past weekend to be present as one of the beavers at my local marsh first emerged from the icy waters of the beaver pond and got a series of shots of that process.

It was late in the afternoon and a thin layer of ice covered the small area of open water that the beavers had cleared about 30-35 feet (9-10 meters) from their lodge. I could hear some activity in the beaver lodge and then I saw the shadow of a beaver swimming toward the hole in the ice.

When he reached the opening, the beaver stuck his head out of the ice and then more of his body. The beaver never did come out of the water completely, but seemed content to breathe in the cool, fresh air. From what I have been able to learn, the inside of the beaver lodge is pretty crowded and the air probably gets fetid, which may explain why fresh air was the beaver’s first priority.

I like all three of these shots, but the third one is my favorite. The beaver’s position is especially interesting, as he tips his head back and arches his back a little, as if to let in even more fresh air.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Marsh at dusk

Posted in Landscape, Photography, Winter, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, dusk, Huntley Meadows Park, ice, marsh, reflections on February 4, 2013| 2 Comments »

Preparing to leave “my” marsh yesterday afternoon, I looked over the frozen fields and waters and was struck by the beauty of the light and the reflections of the sky in the puddles. The scene was awash in shades of blue and gray. Somehow the photo of the scene is not quite as beautiful as I remembered, but I decided not to tweak it much. In addition to capturing the moment, this photo also provides you with a view of part of the marshland where I take so many of my photos.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Swimming muskrat

Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Huntley Meadows Park, muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus, swimming on February 4, 2013| 6 Comments »

In my last posting, there were photos of what might have been a muskrat or maybe a beaver—this time I know it is a muskrat, because I can see its skinny tail.

I watched as this muskrat ferried back supplies of what I assume is food from the cattail field to the area where he lives. I was standing on a boardwalk and was able to photograph him from above as he swam right toward me. Because of the size of the stalk he was carrying, he swam mostly above water, rather than swimming under water as he normally does.

Once he got closer to me, he dove and I lost sight of him.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Possible muskrat on ice

Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Huntley Meadows Park, ice, muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus on February 4, 2013| 3 Comments »

On days when I am trying to get photos of the beavers at my local marshland park, I sometimes see muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) swimming in the beaver pond. The muskrats seem to be swimming from the direction of the beaver lodge so often that I wonder if they are sharing the lodge with the beavers.

Today, there was a thin layer of ice on the beaver pond, but the muskrats had created an open-water channel that they seemed to be using to get to the cattails, one of the foods they eat. Frequently the muskrats will dive and swim away when they become aware of my presence.

Today, however, I was able to get a couple of shots of what I think is one of the muskrats partially out of the water on the ice. It was getting close to sunset and the animal was some distance away, so my photos ended up a a bit grainy and soft. The more I look at the photos, the more I am conflicted about whether this is a large muskrat or a small beaver. Since I haven’t seen a muskrat out of water, I am not sure about its body shape.

Whatever he is, I especially like the pose of the animal in the first image. In the second shot, he almost looks like he is praying—it was a Sunday, after all.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Winter mallard

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, Winter, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, duck, Huntley Meadows Park, mallard, mallard duck on February 3, 2013| 4 Comments »

It was cold and windy on Friday, but the sun was shining, permitting me to take this portrait of a resting male mallard. The subject is ordinary, but the lighting was wonderful and the bright colors of his head and bill really pop, including in his reflection in the brown waters of the beaver pond. I even managed to capture a little catch light in his eye.

It’s exciting to take photos of extraordinary subjects, but most often I am content to try to reveal some of the beauty in the ordinary things that I encounter every day.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Landing right in front of me

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, goose, Huntley Meadows Park, landing on February 2, 2013| 12 Comments »

As the insistent honking got louder, I scanned the horizon for approaching geese and saw none.

Suddenly a pair of Canada Geese swooped over a nearby treeline and headed right at me as I stood on the boardwalk at my local marshland park. They were closing so quickly that it was hard to get my focus to lock on. At the same time I also had to adjust my zoom lens. Normally I photograph birds at the far end of my 55-250mm zoom lens, but the geese were filling up so much of the frame that I had to zoom out.

This is my best shot from the encounter. The goose and I were able to look each other straight in the eye at that moment. The background has a nice blur, because I was shooting at f5.6, and a fair amount of the goose is in focus. I like the goose’s position too as he strains forward in preparation for the water landing. (Click on the photo to see more details)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Winter color in the woods

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, fungi, fungus, Huntley Meadows Park, mushrooms on January 31, 2013| 9 Comments »

Inspired by the marvelous posts of fellow blogger Allen of N.H. Garden Solutions, I decided to keep my eyes open for mushrooms and other such growths when I made my forays into the woods last weekend. Allen always seems to discover a veritable cornucopia of vegetation, mushrooms, lichens, and slime molds, but my “catch” was much more modest (and I can’t even really identify the items I saw).

The first photo depicts what I think is a somewhat weathered mushroom that was growing on a tree mostly surrounded by green vines with very sharp thorns. I really like the texture of the surface of the mushroom and its coloration.

The second photo shows some kind of mushroom, possibly a kind of turkey tail mushroom. I like the concentric multi-color pattern, which reminds me of the growth rings of a tree.

In many ways these mushrooms are as beautiful and as colorful as the flowers that will be coming up in a few short months—I will have to keep my eyes even more wide open when I am outdoors now.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Landing in a snowy field

Posted in Birds, Language, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, geese, Huntley Meadows Park, landing, snow, winter on January 31, 2013| 1 Comment »

Most of the time I like to focus on individual birds, but in this case I think I prefer this panoramic-style shot of Canada Geese coming in for a landing on a snow-covered field. The expansive white backdrop allows us to see better the different body and wing positions of the geese (and I recommend clicking on the photo to see the details).

The snow is now gone from Northern Virginia, a victim of warmer temperatures and heavy rains. For many readers, snow is much more an everyday reality of the winter, but it’s rare enough here that it has a special beauty (as long as I don’t have to drive to work in it, in which case I tend to forget its beauty and view more as a nuisance).

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Breaking through the ice from below

Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged beaver, breaking through the ice, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Castor canadensis, Huntley Meadows Park, ice, North American Beaver on January 30, 2013| 9 Comments »

The beaver had disappeared from the small open water area of the ice-covered beaver pond. Wondering if he would resurface, I stood in silent readiness with my camera still in my hand.

My eyes were focused on one area of the pond, but my ears detected a sound emanating from another location near the edge of the pond. Somehow I knew instantly what was about to happen—the beaver was about to achieve a breakthrough. The light had faded a bit and I couldn’t see well enough to focus perfectly, but I aimed at the source of the sound and got this shot of the beaver poking his head through a newly-created hole in the ice. From this perspective, it looks like the beaver is pretty small.

As I watched, the beaver placed his front paws on the ice, which appeared to be able to support his weight, and gradually pulled his body out of the water. Naturally, the small hole became a lot bigger as his large body came increasingly into view.

After the beaver was completely out of the water, he bent down over the opening that he had just created. Perhaps he was trying to decide if he needed to enlarge it further or was trying to free a tasty-looking stick from the ice. It almost looks to me, though, that he is peering into the water, wondering if one of his fellow beavers is going to be popping up to join him.

The beaver did not linger long at the new location. After a few seconds on the “outside,” he dove back into the icy waters of the pond.

There are few moments in life that are truly “once-in-a-lifetime” experiences, ones that would be impossible to replicate, but I have the sense that this was one of them. So many things had to work together to make these photos happen—the timing, the location, and the ice, to name a few.

It is supposed to get up to 70 degrees (21 degrees C) today and the ice will almost certainly be gone by the time I am able to return to the marsh this weekend. Perhaps I will get to observe the beavers eating or working or playing or maybe they will remain in the lodge. In either case, I can be happy, knowing that we shared a really special moment together.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Cute while eating

Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged beaver, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Castor canadensis, Huntley Meadows Park, North American Beaver on January 29, 2013| 6 Comments »

Who knew that a beaver could be so cute while he is eating?

I am still working on putting together a series of photos of the local beavers, but thought I’d post another one of my favorite images in the interim. I was surprised that the beaver did not notice me (or simply didn’t care) when I was taking this photo. Not only was I looking straight at him, but I also got as close to the level of the ice as I could to get this low-angle shot.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Swimming beaver

Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged beaver, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Castor canadensis, Huntley Meadows Park, ice, North American Beaver, swimming on January 29, 2013| 2 Comments »

I got down pretty low to take this shot of a beaver at my local marshland park as he swam in my direction. I especially like the the reflection of his face in the water and the fact that his tail is visible. The ice in the foreground helps to give some interesting context to the photo.

During other seasons, the beavers would immediately dive whenever they sensed my presence, but the last week or so the beavers have been much more wiling to tolerate me (and others). Maybe the ice on the pond forces them to stay closer to home and to venture out more during the daylight hours rather than at night.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Beaver in the winter

Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged beaver, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Castor canadensis, Huntley Meadows Park, North American Beaver on January 28, 2013| 9 Comments »

The beavers at Huntley Meadows Park, my local marshland park, have been unusually active during daylight hours the last few days and I managed to get some pretty good shots of them feeding. I am still going through my photos and probably will post some more later, but I thought I would give a sneak preview by posting this image. Spoiler alert—my photos today, which I am still uploading, included some shots of a beaver pushing its way up through the ice and I hope they look as good on my computer screen as they did on the back of my camera.

Here is a profile shot from this weekend of one of the beavers munching on a stick (more like a twig) in the icy waters of the pond outside their lodge. I love the delicate way the beaver is holding the twig in his front paws, which look a lot like hands to me. Be sure to check out the nails on the left paw—they look to me like they were manicured.

Who knew that beavers have lips (at least that’s what it looks like in this photo)?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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January full moon—another look

Posted in Landscape, Photography, Winter, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, clouds, full moon, moon on January 28, 2013| 3 Comments »

This is as close as I can get to showing you what the full moon looked like to me last night, with an orange tinged glow surrounding it. The image includes some tree branches on the right side of the photo in a mostly futile effort effort to frame the moonlit sky.

Last night I posted a photo that showed the moon and the clouds, but I wasn’t satisfied that it represented really well what my eyes had seen. So I went over the images again that I shot and came across this one. It required a bit of tweaking in Photoshop Elements to tone down the really bright light of the moon, but I had managed to capture some of the details of both the moon and the clouds.

I shot quite a few photos as I searched for a combination of f-stop and shutter speed that would capture the moment. This one was shot at f20 with a shutter speed of .8 seconds and was overexposed. Some of the other shots with faster shutter speeds rendered the moon well, but the sky was black and no amount of tweaking could bring out the clouds. Longer exposures, on the other hand, resulted in beautiful clouds, but the moon was a perfect circle that was pure white and, again, I couldn’t tweak the settings to get details.

As I was shooting, the light kept changing as the moon moved in and out of the clouds, which complicated my efforts. Learning from my previous efforts to shoot in the dark, though, I had a small flashlight with me to assist me as I repeatedly changed the settings on my camera.

I’m a little more content with this photo than the other one that I posted of the full moon but that doesn’t mean that I won’t be outside again this evening experimenting further with capturing this tricky subject.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Winter still life

Posted in Art, Flowers, Gardening, Landscape, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Huntley Meadows Park, still life, winter, withered plants on January 28, 2013| 1 Comment »

The tall plants in the marsh have withered and faded, but they are still standing, defiantly displaying their interesting shapes and textures against a snow-covered backdrop. Two pods are standing together and one is apart, three others are bent over in the center. The bits of orange add a touch of color and the silken strands to the left add a different texture. In a few months, brighter colors will return, but for now this serves as a reminder that there is still life in the winter.

still_life_blog

Click on the photo to see more details.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Study in gray and red

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, Winter, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, gray, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern cardinal, red on January 27, 2013| 6 Comments »

Simple in composition and simple in color palette, I find something really appealing about this photo of a male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis).

The backdrop is made up of the gray composite elements of the boardwalk that wends its way through the marshland area of Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, VA. The gray “wood,” with its horizontal and diagonal lines helps to give a little structure to the image.

The cardinal cooperated by cocking his head in an interesting way and giving me a sidewards glance. I believe that the red berry-like fruits are rose hips. The cardinals seem to enjoy eating the inside part of the fruit, but seem to discard most of its flesh. Several areas of the board walk are littered with these red remains.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Northern Flicker on ice

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, Winter, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Colaptes auratus, flicker, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Flicker, woodpecker on January 26, 2013| 5 Comments »

Against the backdrop of a frozen pond with a dusting of snow, the colors of this male Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) stood out even more brightly than usual yesterday morning. The flicker is perched on a rotted stump that is poking out of the beaver pond at my local marshland park.

I love the colors and the markings on this beautiful bird, who seems to be making a fashion statement by mixing stripes and polka dots and accenting the ensemble with touches of bright colors.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Wilson’s Snipe

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Gallinago delicata, Huntley Meadows Park, long bill, marsh, shorebird, snipe, Wilson's Snipe on January 26, 2013| 8 Comments »

Yesterday I encountered the strangest-looking bird I have ever seen in the wild.

As I was marveling at the fact that some of the water surrounding the beaver pond at my local marshland park had not frozen despite multiple days of temperatures in the 20’s (minus 4-6 degrees C), I heard a sound in the water. Most of the birds that I had seen earlier in the day were sparrows, pecking away in the undergrowth, but it was clear that this was no sparrow.

The bird was standing in the shallow water and was bent over. When he withdrew his bill from the water, I was amazed at its length—it looked to be almost freakishly long. When I first looked at my images on the computer screen, I though of a recent posting of fellow blogger Calee in which she comment that an orchid she had photographed looked like a cartoon character. Truly, this bird looked like he could have been playing the role of Pinnochio.

I think that this bird is a Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago delicata), judging from the information that I was able to find on the internet and in my Peterson’s guide. I really like the way that he blends in with the surroundings in which I found him. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology lists some fascinating facts about the bird’s extra-long bill, “The long bill of the Wilson’s Snipe is flexible. The tips can be opened and closed with no movement at the base of the bill. Sensory pits at the tip of the bill allow the snipe to feel its prey deep in the mud.”

It’s a bit early for the mating season, but it seems that the family life of the Wilson’s Snipes is as dysfunctional as that of some humans. According to the Cornell Lab, “The clutch size of the Wilson’s Snipe is almost always four eggs. The male snipe takes the first two chicks to hatch and leaves the nest with them. The female takes the last two and cares for them. Apparently the parents have no contact after that point.”

The range maps for this bird show that I am close to the northern edge of the wintering area for these migratory birds, so I am hoping that I’ll have a chance to see one again.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Playmate or prey?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged birds in flight, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, crow, hawk, Huntley Meadows Park on January 24, 2013| 8 Comments »

I was looking up in the sky watching a hawk soaring through the air this past weekend when I noticed that there was another bird there too, a black bird that I eventually identified as a crow. The two of them seemed to be soaring on the same updrafts, each virtually mirroring the movements of the other. My first thought was that they must be having a lot of fun, gliding along together. When I looked at my photos, though, I realized that a more serious drama probably had been taking place at high altitude.

Now, I have never had a hawk come rushing at me with talons flashing, but the crow seems to have decided that it was probably not a good idea to wait around and see what the hawk’s intentions are. The hawk began to chase the crow, it appears, and the crow took immediate evasive action. As far as I can tell, the crow got away. Here are some shots that I took of the chase. They are not very high resolution, but they help illustrate a fascinating encounter.

Since last weekend when I took these shots, I’ve done some research on the internet and learned that crows and hawks don’t get along very well and each has been known to pester the other. I’ll keep my eyes open now for any additional encounters between the two species.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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I want to soar like a vulture

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Black Vulture, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Coragyps atratus, soaring, thermals on January 23, 2013| 6 Comments »

The Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) needs to improve its public image and what could be better in these times of economic difficulty than emphasizing its energy efficiency? The Cornell Lab of Ornithology states that the Black Vulture “soars on thermals to gain altitude and to cover large distances with little energy expenditure.”

This past weekend we had warm weather and a breeze, which made it perfect for soaring. Normally I see Black Vultures very high in the sky and in groups, but this time I spotted a solitary vulture soaring at a a lower altitude, which permitted me to get some decent photos. The Cornell Lab notes that Black Vultures have a less well-developed sense of smell than Turkey Vultures and rely more on sight than smell to find carrion, which may be why they soar at greater heights than Turkey Vultures.

I propose that the Black Vulture become the new symbol for energy-saving practices. What do you think?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Stalking a Kingfisher

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Belted Kingfisher, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, kingfisher, Lake Cook, Megaceryle alcyon on January 22, 2013| 10 Comments »

I spent several hours on Sunday and Monday stalking a female Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon). Does that make me a bad person?

I first encountered this beautiful bird a couple of weeks ago and was immediately smitten. Like a paparazzi photographer, I started snapping photos frantically when I saw her. I included some of those photos in a previous posting that I creatively entitled “Belted Kingfisher.”

Now I have started to hang out what I think are some of her favorite places, hoping desperately to catch a glimpse of her. She is still quite standoffish and won’t let me get close, but perhaps she will get used to having me around. Maybe she has commitment issues.

Here are a few shots from my recent encounters, including two in which I captured her as she was flying away.

For now, it is a classic case of unrequited love.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Hybrid goose?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Branta canadensis, Cameron Run, Canada Goose, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, greylag goose, hybrid on January 20, 2013| 3 Comments »

Today when I was observing Canada Geese at Cameron Run, a tributary stream of the Potomac River, I noticed one goose that looked really different. His bill and his legs were pinkish in color, unlike his companions, who had black bills and legs; his cheek patch was brownish in color rather than bright white; and there was a black and white mottled area between his eyes and his beak.

I went searching through identification guides on the internet and it seems likely to me that this is a hybrid goose and not a separate species. One of the problems with hybrids, of course, is that there are lots of different combinations that are possible. I saw one photo that looked a little like this goose that was a probable hybrid of a Canada Goose and a Greylag Goose, but it was from the United Kingdom. Some of the photos of the dark morph of the Snow Goose also look a little like this goose.

If anyone has any ideas, I’d love to have assistance in identifying this goose.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Almost hidden

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Cardinalis cardinalis, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern cardinal on January 20, 2013| 4 Comments »

After a week away from home in a far-off city, it was great for me to get back to nature. Somehow my senses seemed to be heightened yesterday as I took in the sights, sounds, and smells of the little marshland park that has become a second home for me.

Even so, I almost missed this female Northern Cardinal, whose muted tones provided almost perfect camouflage for her in the vine-filled underbrush. A slight amount of movement and the bright orange color of her bill, however, were enough to permit me to see her despite all of the visual obstructions.

I realize that most people don’t get excited about photographing such ordinary subjects, but there was something comfortable and reassuring about returning to the familiar, like putting on a pair of my favorite jeans.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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