September 8, 2016 by Mike Powell
Today was a beautiful sunny day in Brussels, Belgium and I had some free time to explore the city. I have been in Brussels for short business trips a number of times in recent years and have already visited many of the attractions in the center of the city. Today I decided to look for some of the kinds of wildlife that I love to photograph, so I made my way to a park that leads to the Botanical Garden of Brussels.
I was encouraged a little when I saw some ducks and turtles in the small pond there and my level of excitement really soared when I spotted some dragonflies flying about. The only problem was that the dragonflies refused to land. When I have my normal DSLR and my favorite lenses, I’ll try to capture in-flight shots, but when I am traveling for work, I tend to leave all that gear at home and use a point-and-shoot camera. My current travel camera is a Canon SX50. It has an amazing zoom lens, but really is not responsive enough to photograph moving dragonflies.
A bit later, I made my way to the opposite side of the tiny pond and discovered the staging area for the dragonflies. Every now and then a dragonfly would perch very briefly on the vegetation. It took quite a few tries, but eventually I got a few shots. I don’t know anything about European dragonfly species, so I can’t really identify the ones that I photographed today. They look pretty similar to ones that I have seen at home and certainly they belong to the same families, but I’d sure welcome assistance in identifying the species.
Today was a day full of unexpected treats. I don’t expect to see bright days full of sunshine during trips to Europe and I didn’t really expect to find dragonflies in Brussel’s urban center.
UPDATE: I have done a bit more research on the internet and it looks to me like the dragonflies in the first two photos below may be Migrant Hawkers (Aeshna mixta).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Travel | Tagged Aeshna mixta, botanical garden of Brussels, brussels, Brussels Belgium, Canon SX50, dragonflies, dragonfly, Migrant Hawker | 11 Comments »
September 8, 2016 by Mike Powell
I am not sure why, but this Red-spotted Purple butterfly (Limenitis arthemis) decided to perch upside-down in the vegetation when I accidently spooked it recently at Jackson Miles Abbot Wetlands Refuge.
Please don’t ask me why “purple” is part of the butterfly’s name—I don’t see any purple either and for that matter,
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reservedthe red doesn’t really look like spots either. Who makes up these names anyways?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography | Tagged Canon 50D, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbot Wetlands Refuge, Limenitis arthemis, Red-spotted Purple, Red-spotted Purple butterfly, Tamron 180mm | 4 Comments »
September 7, 2016 by Mike Powell
An Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) was scampering across an open area at Green Spring Gardens last week. Suddenly it stopped, got up in its hind legs and turned to me with a half-smile. I think it was deliberately posing for me, so I took this shot.
The squirrel was so tall and upright in this pose that it looked like it was simply going out for a casual two-legged morning stroll through the garden, like so many of the people that were passing by us.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spiders | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Eastern Gray Squirrel, green spring gardens, Sciurus carolinensis, squirrel, Tamron 150-600mm | 10 Comments »
September 6, 2016 by Mike Powell
I’ll often try to get shots of butterflies with their wings wide open, but when they turn sideward, you can sometimes get an equally spectacular view of them slowly sipping nectar. I can’t identify the flower, but the butterfly definitely is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) that I chased about this past weekend at Green Spring Gardens.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, green spring gardens, Papilio glaucus, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto | 2 Comments »
September 5, 2016 by Mike Powell
Butterflies are always beautiful no matter what their condition, but there is something really special about seeing a perfect specimen with its wings wide open, like this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) that I spotted this past weekend at Green Spring Gardens.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, green spring gardens, Papilio glaucus, Tamron 150-600mm | 5 Comments »
September 4, 2016 by Mike Powell
The sun was shining through the wings of this Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) from behind, making the butterfly glow like a stained glass window on Friday at Green Spring Gardens.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, backlighting, Canon 50D, Danaus plexippus, green spring gardens, Monarch, monarch butterfly, Tamron 150-600mm | 7 Comments »
September 3, 2016 by Mike Powell
A flash of light among the flowers caught my eye yesterday as I wandered about at Green Spring Gardens and I managed to capture this shot of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). I don’t see any red on its throat, so I’m guessing that it is a female or an immature male.
When I looked at the EXIF data I realized how lucky I was to get this shot, for the shutter speed used was only 1/250 of a second. That shouldn’t be fast enough to capture a hummingbird in flight and it also is not really fast enough to be shooting with at 552mm handheld with my zoom lens, even with its built-in image stabilization.
As you probably suspect, I wasn’t intentionally shooting with such a slow shutter speed. I had been shooting flowers in aperture priority mode in bright sunlight and had lowered my ISO to 250 right before I spotted the hummingbird from a distance. The hummingbird was darting in and out of the light among the flowers (I think the flower in the photo is a type of salvia flower). I knew that I would have only a limited chance to get a shot, so I aimed and shot with the existing settings.
I’m glad that I have used my Tamron 150-600mm so much this past year, because I was somehow able to rely on muscle memory and instincts to help me get this shot, though I must acknowledge that luck played a huge role too.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Archilochus colubris, Canon 50D, green spring gardens, hummingbird, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, salvia, Tamron 150-600mm | 8 Comments »
September 2, 2016 by Mike Powell
Great Blue Herons (Ardea Herodias) are so motionless when they are fishing that they look almost like statues. The Great Blue Heron that I spotted this morning at the edge of a pond at Green Spring Gardens actually was a statue that looked pretty realistic from a distance.
I’ve noticed that dragonflies are not fooled at all and I sometimes see them perching on the heron.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Art, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, green spring gardens, Tamron 150-600mm | 6 Comments »
September 1, 2016 by Mike Powell
Butterflies fly so expertly that I often can’t tell that they have severe wing damage until I look closely. That was certainly the case this past weekend when I was observing a dark swallowtail at Huntley Meadows Park.
I didn’t get an absolutely clear look at it, but I think it might be a Spice Bush Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio troilus), judging from its colors and patterns. In the first photo, you can see only minor damage, but when the butterfly changed position, the extent of the damage became much more apparent.
I consider flight to be somewhat of a mystery in any case, but it is even more of a mystery how a butterfly can fly so well when one of its wings is almost completely detached from its body,
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, damaged wings, dark swallowtail, Huntley Meadows Park, Papilio troilus, Spicebush Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly, Tamron 150-600mm | 5 Comments »
August 31, 2016 by Mike Powell
It’s hard to get an Osprey ( Pandion haliaetus) to cooperate in posing. When I asked this osprey to smile for me this past weekend at Huntley Meadows Park, this was the best look that it would give me, which looks more like a smirk than a smile to me.
I was shooting from quite a distance away, waiting and waiting for the osprey to take flight. The osprey was in no hurry, however, and when I moved on, the osprey was still perched on the branch. I had the impression that the osprey wanted some solitude, because the osprey would periodically glare at me with this look, which suggested to me that my presence was not really welcome.
I am not sure how long the ospreys will remain with us. I have seen them off and on throughout the summer, but have never spotted a nest in the park. As we move into autumn, there will be a big turnover of birds, with some migrating south and others arriving to winter with us in Northern Virginia. Readers will probably notice too a changeover in the content of the blog postings, with fewer insects and more birds.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm | 5 Comments »
August 30, 2016 by Mike Powell
This past weekend I spotted an unusual-looking spider at Huntley Meadows Park. I took this shot from a distance, so I didn’t capture all of its wonderful details, but it looks to me like a Triangulate Orb Weaver spider (Verrucosa arenata), also known as an Arrowhead Spider.
The spider was hanging in mid-air, which helped a slight bit with focusing, but Arrowhead Spiders are less than a half inch in size (about one cm), so it was a bit of a challenge getting any kind of shot with my telephoto zoom lens extended to 600mm.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Arachnids, Nature, Photography, spiders, Summer | Tagged Alexandria VA, Arrowhead Spider, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm, Triangulate Orb Weaver, Triangulate Orb Weaver spider, Verrucosa arenata | 4 Comments »
August 28, 2016 by Mike Powell
Here’s a shot of another one of the colorful butterflies of Huntley Meadows Park. I spotted this Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) there this past Friday morning as it perched in a tree. What was the butterfly doing in the tree? It seemed to me that it was simply resting, though I suppose that it might also have been trying to attract a mate.
From a photography perspective, I really like the way that the background is divided into two separate colors, creating a kind of yin-yang effect.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, huntley meadows, Red Admiral, Red Admiral butterfly, Tamron 150-600mm, Vanessa atalanta | 6 Comments »
August 27, 2016 by Mike Powell
How do you measure popularity? WordPress keeps track of a lot of different statistics and one measure of a post’s popularity is the number of times that it has been viewed. For most of my blog postings, the majority of views come within a few days of the posting date. Occasionally I’ll have a few additional views when someone else posts a link to my post.
When I did a posting in November 2014 on the rescue of an injured bald eagle that I witnessed, a few news outlets in Washington D.C. ran a story with my photos and links to my blog. That posting has had 3396 view to date, far and away the most views for a single posting. In some ways I consider that post an anomaly, with much of the activity caused by the newsworthiness of the event that I photographed.
When it comes to “normal” posting, one that I did almost exactly three years ago stands head and shoulders above all others with 1327 views, including 244 within the last thirty days. The posting was simply called Red-Footed Cannibalfly and it has remained remarkably popular over an extended period of time. In fact, if you do a search for “Red-footed Cannibalfly” in Google, my posting has risen to the first page of results, occasionally rising as high as third place.
A lot of the spam I receive in WordPress informs me that there is a secret to getting your material higher in Google search results using Search Engine Optimization and the senders undoubtedly want me to pay them to share the secret with me. Sorry, guys, I seem to have stumbled on it by myself, though I am not sure I could replicate that success.
I was thinking about all of this yesterday when I spotted a Red-footed Cannibalfly (Promachus rufipes) while wandering about Huntley Meadows Park. I’d hesitate to call a Red-footed Cannibalfly beautiful, but there is something fierce and distinctive about its appearance and I love its macabre moniker. I captured this image from a distance with a long telephoto lens and I am happy that I didn’t get close enough for one to land on me—I can’t help but remember that this insect paralyzes its victims, liquefies their insides, and then sucks up the liquefied material.
The Red-footed Cannibalfly may be a bit creepy, but seems to be quite popularwith a lot of folks, judging from my blog statistics.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Promachus rufipes, Red-footed Cannibalfly, Tamron 150-600mm | 5 Comments »
August 26, 2016 by Mike Powell
Skipper butterflies normally do not get much attention because they are small and are not brightly colored. When you look closely at members of this large family of butterflies, however, you discover an amazing variety of colors and patterns.
Give some love to the skippers. (Click on any one of the images to see all of them full size in slide show mode, unless you are viewing the post in the WordPress Reader, in which, I believe, the images will be shown individually.)
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography | Tagged Canon 50D, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbot Wetlands Refuge, skipper, skipper butterfly, Tamron 180mm | 1 Comment »
August 25, 2016 by Mike Powell
On Monday I spotted this beautiful Swift Setwing dragonfly (Dythemis velox) at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetlands Refuge at Fort Belvoir, a nearby military base. When I observed one at the same location in June, it was the first time that one had been recorded in Fairfax County, the county in Northern Virginia where I live, so I was a little surprised to see that they are still around.
If you would like to see some photos of my initial sighting, check out my blog posting from June 25. The range of this dragonfly seems to be moving northward and it seems likely that I’ll be seeing this species again next year, since I suspect that mating and egg-laying have been taking place during the past two months.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer | Tagged Canon 50D, Dythemis velox, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbot Wetlands Refuge, Swift Setwing, Swift Setwing dragonfly, Tamron 180mm | 6 Comments »
August 24, 2016 by Mike Powell
This Common Buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia) was so focused on the goldenrod flowers that it was either unaware of my presence or simply didn’t care on Monday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetlands Refuge. I was therefore able to capture the beauty of the butterfly from a somewhat unusual angle that lets us see some of the wonderful markings on the body as well as on the wings.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography | Tagged Canon 50D, Common Buckeye, Common Buckeye butterfly, Fort Belvoir VA, goldenrod, Jackson Miles Abbot Wetlands Refuge, Junonia coenia, Tamron 180mm | 3 Comments »
August 23, 2016 by Mike Powell
My eyes were drawn yesterday to the bright yellow of a patch of goldenrod as I was exploring Jackson Miles Abbott Wetlands Refuge at nearby Fort Belvoir. From past experience I knew that goldenrod also attracts a wide variety of insects, so I moved in closer with my macro lens at the ready.
There were a lot of skipper butterflies, but what really caught my eye was a small, brightly patterned insect that was crawling around in the goldenrod. Based on its shape, I assumed that it was some kind of beetle, but I had not idea what kind it was. When I returned home and began to do a little research, I was a little shocked to learn that the insect in question was a moth, not a beetle. I am pretty sure that it is an Ailanthus Webworm moth (Atteva aurea).
The colors and patterns of this moth are so spectacular that I think it needs a name that is more descriptive and easier to remember. Any ideas?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer | Tagged Ailanthus Webworm moth, Atteva aurea, Canon 50D, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbot Wetlands Refuge, Tamron 180mm | 8 Comments »
August 22, 2016 by Mike Powell
The Great Egret (Ardea alba) was beautiful in the bright sunlight. Its wingspan was impressive and its flight was graceful as it took to the air.
Yes, the takeoff indeed was great.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea alba, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Great Egret, Huntley Meadows Park, takeoff, Tamron 150-600mm | 4 Comments »
August 21, 2016 by Mike Powell
Many of the dragonflies that I see this late in the summer have wings that are torn and tattered, yet they seem to still fly perfectly well. The dragonflies clearly are survivors—survivors of encounters with predators and thorny vegetation or even of overly energetic mating sessions.
Last Friday I spotted this Great Blue Skimmer (Libellula vibrans) as it perched on some bent stalks of grass. He is not a perfect specimen, but I can’t help but be drawn in by his beautiful speckled blue eyes.
Yes, he still deserves to be called “great.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Great Blue Skimmer, Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Libellula vibrans, Tamron 150-600mm | 2 Comments »
August 20, 2016 by Mike Powell
The last few years I haven’t seen many Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) and I have read reports of their declining numbers. I was therefore pretty excited when I spotted one yesterday at Huntley Meadows Park. As I approached, the Monarch got spooked and flew up into a tree. Fortunately I was shooting with my long telephoto zoom lens and I managed to get this somewhat unusual shot of the beautiful butterfly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Danaus plexippus, Huntley Meadows Park, Monarch, monarch butterfly, Tamron 150-600mm | 3 Comments »
August 19, 2016 by Mike Powell
I spotted this beautiful little butterfly while wandering through the woods at Huntley Meadows Park this morning. I think it might be an Appalachian Brown (Satyrodes appalachia), although there are a surprisingly large number of brown butterflies with eyespots, which complicates identification.
The woods were pretty dark in the area in which I first spotted the butterfly. However, luck was with me and the butterfly landed on a log that was in the sunlight. I tried to get as low as I could to get this shot, which is why you see the green moss in the foreground.
Update: One of my Facebook readers pointed out that this is probably a Northern Pearly-eye (Enodia anthedon), not an Appalachian Brown. My butterfly identification definitely need some more work.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, Appalachian Brown, Appalachian brown butterfly, Canon 50D, Enodia anthedon, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Pearly-eye, Northern Pearly-eye butterfly, Satyrodes appalachia, Tamron 150-600mm, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto | 3 Comments »
August 18, 2016 by Mike Powell
Blue Dashers (Pachydiplax longipennis) are one of my favorite summer dragonflies. I spotted this one recently at Huntley Meadows Park, perched on the railing of an observation deck in the obelisk pose.
The dragonfly was pretty cooperative and I was able to try few different angles and shooting positions. Although I had my camera’s aperture set to f/10, you can see that the depth of field was relatively shallow and I tried to take advantage of that to isolate the subject and the specific rail on which it was perched.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Blue Dasher, Blue Dasher dragonfly, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, obelisk pose, Pachydiplax longipennis, Tamron 180mm | 7 Comments »
August 17, 2016 by Mike Powell
Despite this summer’s scorching heat and high humidity, the bees of Green Spring Gardens were busy at work gathering pollen and sipping nectar during a recent visit to the gardens. I’m certainly no expert on bees, but it looks like there are several different varieties in the photos below.
I’m pretty confident that the bee in the final shot is a carpenter bee because its abdomen is bare and shiny, unlike that of the bumblebee, which has a hairy abdomen. If you look closely at that image, you’ll see that this bee appears to be a nectar robber—it is piercing the flower from the side to extract the nectar and thereby is not playing any role in pollinating the flower.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bees, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer | Tagged Alexandria VA, bees, Canon 50D, green spring gardens, Tamron 180mm | 5 Comments »
August 15, 2016 by Mike Powell
I spotted this Praying Mantis on Saturday at Huntley Meadows Park as it was crawling about on a nesting box for birds in one of the remote areas of the park. I am pretty confident that the nesting box, which was used by Tree Swallows earlier in the year, was no longer in active use—otherwise the mantis probably would not have survived for long. I was struck by the size of the insect, which seemed to be about six inches (15 cm) in length.
I think this may be a Mantis religiosa, one of the more common types of mantises, though Wikipedia notes that there are over 2400 species worldwide, so I could easily be incorrect in my identification.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, mantis, mantis religiosa, praying mantis, Tamron 180mm | 7 Comments »
August 14, 2016 by Mike Powell
This Great Egret (Ardea alba) seemed to be trying to minimize energy expenditure in the heat as it flew low and slowly from one location to another part of Huntley Meadows Park. The recent extreme heat must be tough on many of the inhabitants of the park—temperatures yesterday soared to 101 degrees (38 degrees C) in the Washington D.C. area, a new record for the date.
I have a tendency to crop my images to emphasize the subject, but I took these shots at pretty long range and like the way that they give you a sense of the environment at my favorite marshland park.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea alba, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Great Egret, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm | 6 Comments »
August 13, 2016 by Mike Powell
Yesterday afternoon at Huntley Meadows Park I captured this image of a female dragonfly as she hovered over the water, periodically dipping the tip of her abdomen into the water to lay eggs (and generate ripples).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, dragonfly, hovering dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 180mm | 3 Comments »
August 12, 2016 by Mike Powell
Although I enjoy watching the Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons at Huntley Meadows Park, the much smaller Green Herons (Butorides virescens) are my favorites. Green Herons just seem to have an amazing amount of personality packed in their compact bodies.
I think they deserve to have a “Great” in their name too.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Butorides virescens, Canon 50D, Great Green Heron, green heron, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm | 5 Comments »
August 11, 2016 by Mike Powell
The leaves of the lotuses at Green Spring Gardens were well past their prime, but they turned out to be fascinating subjects for a series of abstract images.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in abstract, Art, Flowers, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, green spring gardens, lotus, past their prime, Tamron 180mm | 2 Comments »
August 10, 2016 by Mike Powell
I don’t often see dragonflies in a garden, but spotted this female Eastern Amberwing dragonfly (Perithemis tenera) amidst the flowers earlier this week at Green Spring Gardens. There were lots of male Eastern Amberwings buzzing around the small ponds in another location at the gardens in hopeful expectation of finding a mate.
I have the impression that female dragonflies like to hang out in a different area from the males and then make an appearance at a time of their own choosing.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Eastern Amberwing, Eastern Amberwing dragonfly, green spring gardens, Perithemis tenera, Tamron 180mm | 8 Comments »
August 9, 2016 by Mike Powell
Hot, humid summer days may be a little tough on us, but butterflies seem to love them. I captured this shot of a spectacular Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) this past weekend at Huntley Meadows Park as it sipped nectar from what I think is Joe-Pye weed (g. Eutrochium). (I am a bit uncertain about the plant identification and wonder if it might instead be a kind of milkweed, but “Joe Pye” rhymes with butterfly and sounds cooler, so I’ll go with that as a possible identification.)
Unlike many butterflies that I see at this time of the year whose wings are tattered and torn, this butterfly seemed to be in perfect condition. The sun was shining brightly when I took these shots and I was really afraid of blowing out the highlights of this lightly-c0lored butterfly. I switched the metering on my camera to spot metering and was able to get a good exposure of the butterfly and the background went really dark, adding a bit of drama to the images.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, Eutrochium, Huntley Meadows Park, Joe-Pye weed, Papilio glaucus, Tamron 150-600mm | 1 Comment »
August 8, 2016 by Mike Powell
A Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) that I spotted on Saturday at Huntley Meadows Park seemed to be in an awkward feather phase that gave him an almost clown-like appearance.
I suspect that the cardinal feels as self-conscious as the average human male going through puberty.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Cardinalis cardinalis, Huntley Meadows Park, male Northern Cardinal, Northern cardinal, Tamron 150-600mm | 8 Comments »
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