December 26, 2013 by Mike Powell
With the temperature in the 20’s (-5 C) the last few days, it’s hard to remember that we had record-breaking temperatures less than a week ago, when temperatures soared to 72 degrees (22 C).
During a trip to my marsh on one of the warm days last Saturday, I was a little shocked to see some frogs out of the water, which not long before had been covered with a thin sheet of ice. I thought they would be in a hibernation state by now. The frogs were in the reeds and the ones that I could see were Southern Leopard frogs (Lithobates sphenocephalus), like the one in this photo.
I figured that frogs buried themselves completely in the mud like turtles do, but was surprised to learn that is not the case. According to an article in Scientific American, aquatic frogs, like the leopard frog, do hibernate underwater, but they would suffocate if buried in the mud. Instead they remain on top of the mud or only partially buried.
In addition to the frogs, a lot of small turtles took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and could be seen sunning themselves on logs in the marsh. Unfortunately, there were no cameo appearances by dragonflies—my fellow photographer and blogger Walter Sanford and I searched diligently for Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies, which we had seen earlier in December, but we came up empty-handed.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Amphibians, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, frog, Huntley Meadows Park, leopard frog, Lithobates sphenocephalus, Southern Leopard frog | 5 Comments »
December 25, 2013 by Mike Powell
“Joy to the World, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing…”
In this case, “nature” is a Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) that I photographed one recent morning, singing with all of its might.
On Christmas Day, many of us recall the message of the angels, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Yet sometimes I feel like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow must have felt when he wrote the words, “And in despair I bowed my head. “There is no peace on earth,” I said. “For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, goodwill to men.”
My prayer this Christmas Day, is that we will all be encouraged and blessed and filled with love for one another. Longfellow did not conclude his poem, “Christmas Bells” in despair, but instead ended with these words:
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Merry Christmas to all of you.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Birds, Christmas, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Carolina Wren, Christmas, Christmas Bells, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, joy, Thryothorus ludovicianus | 3 Comments »
December 24, 2013 by Mike Powell
It’s a bit of a cliché, but I really want to capture an image of geese in flight against the backdrop of a beautiful sunset.
There is certainly no shortage of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) around here and they seem to take off and land so often at my local marsh that it sometimes seem as busy as a regional airport. Beautiful sunsets, though, are harder to come by and many of our days seem to simply fade into darkness. Getting the geese to fly in a proper formation is an additional complication.
This is my most recent attempt at my aspirational image of geese at sunset. There are a few streaks of color and the formation is a little ragged. It’s not quite what I envisioned in my mind—I’ll keep working on bringing that image to life.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Branta canadensis, Canada Geese, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park | 5 Comments »
December 24, 2013 by Mike Powell
Last night I made a trip into Washington D.C. with some friends to see the National Christmas Tree. Despite the fact that I have lived in this area for more than 20 years, this was the first time that I had seen it live—I have seen the tree-lighting ceremony on the news many times.
The large Christmas tree, which is a live tree, is surrounded by 56 smaller decorated live trees, representing the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the unincorporated territories of the United States. Underneath the tree was an elaborate set-up of model trains, reminding me of my childhood.
It’s the day before Christmas and most of us are in high gear for the coming holy day. Best wishes to all of you for a joyous Christmas and a wonderful and blessed New Year.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Christmas, Travel, Urban, Winter | Tagged Canon A620, Christmas, National Christmas Tree, Washington D.C. | Leave a Comment »
December 23, 2013 by Mike Powell
This past week I have observed female Belted Kingfishers (Megaceryle alcyon) at a couple of different locations at my marshland park and tried to capture them in flight as they dove into the water from their perches in the trees. It was challenging, because the kingfishers were pretty far away, but I did get a couple of decent shots (with a fair amount of cropping).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, Belted Kingfisher, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon | 4 Comments »
December 22, 2013 by Mike Powell
The beavers have moved out of the lodge right under the boardwalk that made it possible for me to get relatively close-up shots of them last winter. This weekend I was determined to get a photo of them and had to wait until it was almost dark to catch sight of one of them swimming in the distance. There was just enough light to focus and I had to crank up the ISO to 1600 (with the resulting increase in noise), but I was able to get a recognizable image.
This completes an incredible week for me of photographing mammals in the wilds of my suburban marshland oasis—I managed to get shots of an otter, a raccoon, a fox, and a beaver. I also saw a few deer, but didn’t get any photos of them. What’s next? I have been told that we have coyotes in the park, but I refuse to follow the advice I heard that the best way to draw in the coyote is to go walking in the park with a small dog after dark. Meanwhile, I can only hope that I am fortunate enough to see the same animals again and get better shots.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, beaver, Canon 50D, canon 70-300, Castor canadensis, dusk, Huntley Meadows Park, North American Beaver | 2 Comments »
December 22, 2013 by Mike Powell
Like a sprinter, this Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) seems to be lunging forward toward a finish line, pushing hard to be the first to break that invisible tape.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Sports, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, finishing line, Huntley Meadows Park, sprinter | 4 Comments »
December 22, 2013 by Mike Powell
I continue to be amazed at the diversity of the wildlife at Huntley Meadows Park, the local marshland park where I capture most of my wildlife photos. Monday, as I stood at the spot where I had previously spotted an otter, I caught a glimpse of this beautiful red fox (Vulpes vulpes) as it walked around part of the perimeter of a beaver pond.
This was the first time that I had seen a fox in the wild and the wonderful red coloration was breathtakingly beautiful. I was amazed too at the bushiness of the tail. Wow!
The first photo was actually the last one in the sequence, but I really like the way that it helps to show you the setting, with the cattails surrounding the beaver pond (there are woods beyond the cattails).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, beaver pond, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, fox, Huntley Meadows Park, red fox, Vulpes vulpes | 20 Comments »
December 21, 2013 by Mike Powell
Yesterday, I returned to the pond where I had previously seen the river otter, hoping to see it again. As I stood silently at the water’s edge, I heard something pretty big moving about in the underbrush, something that seemed to be bigger than an otter.
I was surprised to see a raccoon emerge—generally they are nocturnal and previously I had seen them only at twilight. The raccoon seemed to be rooting around, looking for food. He didn’t seem to be aware of my presence and as I watched it move about, I managed to get a few clear shots before it moved away into the deeper brush.
It you are of a certain age, you remember the fun little Beatles song “Rocky Raccoon”—every time that I see a raccoon, that song comes to mind.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, Beatles, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Procyon lotor, raccoon, Rocky Raccoon | 7 Comments »
December 20, 2013 by Mike Powell
Peering through my telephoto lens at this tiny bird, I couldn’t help but smile—its energetic personality, round body, and tiny wings and tail were cartoon-like. It looked like a wren, but it certainly didn’t resemble the Carolina Wrens that I am used to seeing.
I did a little research and have concluded that this is probably a Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis). According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, these little birds are “incomparably energetic in voice” and per unit weight deliver their songs with ten times more power than a crowing rooster. I can only imagine groups of scientists with tiny scales and microphones conducting the research to back up that statement.
I noted on the statistics page of my blog that this will be posting number 1,000. I never imagined how much I would come to enjoy the process of blogging when I started this blog on July 7, 2012 with a photo of a Blue Dasher dragonfly. The support and encouragement from innumerable readers has helped to sustain me on my journey into photography. Thanks to all of you.
The journey continues.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Carolina Wren, Huntley Meadows Park, Thryothorus ludovicianus, Troglodytes hiemalis, Winter Wren, wren | 26 Comments »
December 19, 2013 by Mike Powell
In the weak early morning light, the sky and the water merged together, providing an uncluttered backdrop for this portrait of a Great Blue Heron.
I’ve taken quite a few photos of Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias), but rarely have I encountered one as cooperative as this one was early on Monday morning. He looked to be cold and may have been trying to snooze as he huddled near the edge of the boardwalk. He let me get pretty close to him and didn’t seem to object to my presence, though he did follow me with his eyes. As a result of his tolerance, I was able to capture more detail in the heron’s feathers than I usually can manage.
After a few shots, I left him in peace to catch a few more winks.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, early morning, Great Blue Heron, heron, Huntley Meadows Park, reflection | 19 Comments »
December 18, 2013 by Mike Powell
On Monday I was checking out what looked to be a beaver lodge at one of the ponds at my local marsh, when suddenly a head popped out of the water. It was not a beaver–it was a Northern River Otter (Lontra canadensis laxatina). I was amazed (otterly amazed, you might say), but had the presence of mind to capture the moment with my camera.
I had been told that otters occasionally had occasionally been sighted at the park and that very day I overheard part of a conversation about otter scat, but I never expected to actually see an otter myself. (The conversation revolved around some scat on the boardwalk, and how it was almost certainly from an otter, because of the fish scales and shells in in it).
The otter turned his head in all directions, surveying the situation. Then all too quickly, the otter submerged itself and swam away.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, beaver, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Lontra canadensis laxatina, Northern River Otter, otter | 21 Comments »
December 17, 2013 by Mike Powell
Even when the weather is cold and overcast, I can usually count on finding sparrows in the marsh and in the field, cheerfully pecking about in the undergrowth. Their positive, hard-working approach and predisposition to spontaneously breaking out in song never fails to lift my spirits.
I have gotten to the point where I can identify some sparrows, but many of them continue to confound me. I think the one in the first photo is a Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana), but I am not sure of the identity of the rotund little sparrow in the second photo.
I remember when I used to categorize all sparrows as “little brown birds,” but have grown to appreciate their beauty and individuality.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, December, Huntley Meadows Park, Melospiza georgiana, sparrows, swamp sparrow | 4 Comments »
December 16, 2013 by Mike Powell
Do you have a list of subjects that you really want to photograph? I do and ever since I caught sight of a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) through the window of the visitor center of my local marshland park, I have been possessed with an overwhelming desire to photograph one. That first time, the woodpecker was hanging from a suet feeder usually used by nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers and I was impressed by its size and its beauty.
Last month, a year after the initial sighting, I finally got a photo of one and featured it in a posting My First Pileated. The photo was a little blurry and the bird was partially obscured by branches, but it was clearly a Pileated Woodpecker. This past Saturday, I came upon another one as I was walking through the woods. Not surprisingly, I heard the woodpecker before I caught sight of it high in the trees, barely visible.
The dry leaves crackled loudly as I tried to get closer to the woodpecker and it flew to other trees several times during this protracted process. I had heard from others that Pileated Woodpeckers sometimes work on fallen logs, but this one never left the higher reaches of the trees. Eventually it flew out of sight.
I ended up with a slightly better photograph of a Pileated Woodpecker, but am confident that I can do much better this winter as I continue to stalk “big game,” which for me includes this woodpecker, hawks, and maybe even an owl.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Dryocopus pileatus, Huntley Meadows Park, Pileated Woodpecker, woodpecker | 13 Comments »
December 15, 2013 by Mike Powell
It is pretty cool that a website (cracked.com) chose to use one of my photos in an article entitled “6 Insanely Colored Versions of Normally Boring Animals.” It is this photo that I took during the summer of my favorite insect, the Handsome Meadow Katydid and I featured in a posting called Rainbow Grasshopper.
Check out the article at http://www.cracked.com/article_20811_6-insanely-colored-versions-normally-boring-animals.html .
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Handsome Meadow Katydid, Huntley Meadows Park, katydid, rainbow grasshopper, Tamron 180mm macro lens | 37 Comments »
December 15, 2013 by Mike Powell
How do you capture speed? Sometimes I will pan the camera and track the moving subject, as I did yesterday with the flying Canada Goose (Branta canadensis). Usually the background is a little blurry, but this time the background became abstract, almost like a painting, an effect that I really like.
What happened? Generally, I shoot in aperture priority mode and I had my camera set on f/5.6, as wide open as I could get at the far end of my telephoto zoom. The weather was cold and gray with the threat of precipitation—it eventually rained for hours—so I set my ISO to 500. It turned out that I would have needed a much higher ISO to stop the motion completely, for my camera provided me with a shutter speed of only 1/60 of a second. That is why there is some motion blur in the wings.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, panning | 11 Comments »
December 14, 2013 by Mike Powell
Back home from a week overseas in Vienna, I felt the need to reconnect with nature and headed off to the marsh at Huntley Meadows Park early this morning. The weather was cold and gray, but I was able to get some shots of birds, like this Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus), surveying the frozen pond from an overhanging branch.
It’s nice to be home.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Carolina Wren, frozen, Huntley Meadows Park, ice, Thryothorus ludovicianus, wren | 14 Comments »
December 13, 2013 by Mike Powell
The streets in the pedestrian area of Vienna have spectacular displays of lighting for Christmas that are simple and elegant. Each of the streets has its own motif that is repeated in white or gold lights. My favorites are the giant chandeliers in one of the main streets, but others are equally impressive. Do you have a favorite?
I am including a selection of photos in a gallery to show you some of the different lighting schemes—click on a photo to see the photos in the gallery at higher resolution.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Christmas, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged Canon A620, Christmas, lights, night photography, Vienna, Vienna Austria | 15 Comments »
December 12, 2013 by Mike Powell
There are so many beautiful, historic buildings in Vienna that I often walk around with my eyes looking upward (fortunately I haven’t run into anything yet). These are shots of a couple of elements of the Hofburg Palace, a former palace that is right in the center of the city. Vienna does a nice job of lighting up many of these buildings at night, which makes for some nice opportunities for me to hone my skills in night photography.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged Canon A620, Hofburg Palace, night photography, Vienna Austria | 8 Comments »
December 10, 2013 by Mike Powell
It finally stopped raining in Vienna and I was able to take a walk through the Christmas market in front of the Rathaus (City Hall). There are rows and rows of stalls set up with all kinds of products and food.
In the midst of all of the artificial lights, I was struck by the beauty of the moon, which kept peeking in and out of the clouds.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Christmas, Landscape, Portraits, Travel | Tagged Canon A620, Christmas, Christmas market, moon, Vienna Austria | 5 Comments »
December 9, 2013 by Mike Powell
It was windy and rainy all day in Vienna and I got drenched during a short walk today. Fortunately I was able to get this shot of a carriage that ferries tourists around the city—I think they are known as fiacres. The horses were had on some kind of blankets, but were otherwise unprotected from the weather. The driver was nowhere to be seen, though I suspect he was inside the carriage or maybe inside one of the nearby coffee houses.
I took this shot outside of the Volksgarten, a beautiful garden in the center of Vienna that has a wonderful rose garden with hundreds of different species. The rose bushes are now covered with individual burlap coffee bags for protection.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Gardening, Photography, Travel | Tagged Canon A620, carriage, fiacre, horses, rain, Vienna Austria | 5 Comments »
December 8, 2013 by Mike Powell
I was a little jetlagged, but managed to take a short walk through part of the city this afternoon, the day of my arrival, and got these photos of some of the notable buildings in Vienna, Austria.
There are so many beautiful and interesting buildings in Vienna that you could easily spend weeks photographing them. I have been in this wonderful city quite a number of times, so many of these buildings are familiar to me. I realize, however, that is not the case for most of my readers, so I thought I would share some of that beauty in a few photos from the point-and-shoot Canon that I have with me during this business trip.
Burgtheater, Vienna
Detail of Austrian Parliament Building, Vienna
Detail of Rathaus (City Hall), Vienna
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Art, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged architecture, Austrian Parliament, Burgtheater, Canon A620, Rathaus, Vienna, Vienna Austria | 7 Comments »
December 7, 2013 by Mike Powell
It rained all day yesterday, so it was especially nice to see the sun rise this morning. I didn’t get a photo of today’s sunrise, but thought I would share this shot from two week’s ago.
I was sitting at my computer in my bedroom in the top floor of my townhouse, early in the morning, when I happened to glance out the window. The colors of the sunrise were spectacular in the distance. Although the temperature was close to freezing, I ran out of the house with flipflops on my feet to try to capture the fleeting effects of the rising sun. I searched for a gap in the trees and the townhouses and managed to get this image at a moment after the sun had risen (I missed the peak moment), when the sunlight was reflecting off of the clouds.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Landscape, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Runnymeade, sunrise | 5 Comments »
December 6, 2013 by Mike Powell
This Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) was circling around me last week, so I followed the advice given to me by one of my fellow photographers—I made sure that I moved periodically as I captured shots of this large bird with an impressive wingspan.
I will be away from home on a business trip starting tomorrow and I am not sure how often I will be able to update my blog. I wanted to alert readers in case they are concerned if they don’t see any movement for me for a number of days—the vultures probably have not made a meal of me yet. 
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Cathartes aura, Huntley Meadows Park, turkey vulture, vulture | 9 Comments »
December 5, 2013 by Mike Powell
Do you ever sit by a window and daydream as you look out into the world with unfocused eyes? Somehow that was what came to mind when I spotted this Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) perched on a branch, framed by the trees. The dove seemed gentle and pensive, unlike so many of the birds (and people) in this area that are so driven, always intense and tense.
There is a real value in slowing down and daydreaming more in order to recharge my creative batteries. Sometimes I need a gentle reminder.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Birds, Inspiration, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Cameron Run, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, dove, mourning dove, window, Zenaida macroura | 4 Comments »
December 4, 2013 by Mike Powell
I looked up at her from below and then she cocked her head and looked down at me. Our eyes met and we shared a brief, magical moment together. Then it was over, my all-too-short encounter with a beautiful female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern cardinal | 1 Comment »
December 3, 2013 by Mike Powell
Although it is exciting to search for new birds or for unusual interactions, I love to return to familiar subjects, like this male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) that I photographed last week.
There is nothing complicated about this image, a blackbird perched on a cattail, but the small details make it special for me. I like the angled body and the turned head. The feathers seem unusually glossy and the eye is shiny too. There are a few wispy feathers that are matched by the “fluff” from the cattail. The background is brown, but there are a wide variety of shapes and shades.
What does it take for you to be satisfied as a photographer? For now at least, I am content to stay relatively close to home and photograph whatever I can find as well as I can. Life doesn’t have to be complicated all of the time.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife | Tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, Alexandria VA, blackbird, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, cattail, Huntley Meadows Park, red-winged blackbird | 11 Comments »
December 2, 2013 by Mike Powell
Do seagulls hunt ducks? That’s a crazy question, but that was the first thing that came to mind when a Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) started aggressively chasing a Hooded Merganser duck (Lophodytes cucullatus) with what appeared to be hostile intent.
I was walking along Cameron Run, a tributary of the Potomac River, when the scene started to unfold in front of me. The gull flew toward the dusk with its legs extended, like it was trying to snatch the duck out of the water. The duck immediately started bounding across the water (as you can see in the third photos) in an effort to escape the gull, but did not take to the air. When the duck got close to the bank of the stream, the gull turned away and left the duck in peace.
Was this merely a cranky gull or maybe a bully? Was it a territoriality thing? All I know is that it provided me a fascinating moment as I treated to a brief interaction between these two very different species of birds.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Cameron Run, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, duck, Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, Potomac River, Ring-billed Gull | 19 Comments »
December 1, 2013 by Mike Powell
I suspect that I may qualify as a stalker, because I spent over thirty minutes on Friday sitting on a fallen tree, observing every movement of a juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) high in the oak trees.
The small branches and the shadows made it almost impossible to get a clear shot of the little bird, but they did not keep me from trying. I was really fortunate to get this shot of the woodpecker as it took off from one of its perches with an acorn in its mouth and gave me a glimpse of its beautifully-patterned wings. As I understand it, when the Red-Headed Woodpecker becomes an adult, its wings will be pure black and white, so I am glad that I was able to get the shot of the black dots.
After I posted this photo, I noticed that there is a least one acorn jammed into a crack in the bark just above the top edge of the bird’s tail, mostly likely a snack that it has cached for future consumption.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Red-headed Woodpecker, woodpecker | 6 Comments »
November 30, 2013 by Mike Powell
Why was this Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) pecking so feverishly at the top of this broken tree? It certainly did not look like a good spot to find insects.
A few seconds later, I got an answer to my unspoken question, when the woodpecker pulled an acorn out with its beak (at least that’s what I think it is). After a bit of research on the internet, I learned that these woodpeckers eat plant materials, like acorns, as well as insects and that they sometimes use cracks in trees to store food for use at a later time.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Melanerpes carolinus, Red-bellied Woodpecker, woodpecker | 6 Comments »
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