October 22, 2023 by Mike Powell
I was thrilled yesterday on Thursday at Huntley Meadows Park, a local marshland park, when I finally spotted some Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum ambiguum), a stunning species that is one of my favorites, after searching in vain for them at other locations for over a month. The Blue-faced Meadowhawk is a late-season dragonfly that is somewhat similar in appearance to the more common Autumn Meadowhawk—males of both species have bright red bodies, but the Autumn Meadowhawks have brown eyes.
The females of both species are more muted in their coloration than their male counterparts, as is often the case with many dragonflies and birds, so they have more natural camouflage and are frequently more difficult to find. The second image shows a female Blue-faced Meadowhawk that I managed to spot in the same general area as the male in the first photo. I love the way that the female dragonfly appeared to be singing a song as she basked in the sunlight on some dried-out vegetation.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Blue-faced Meadowhawk, Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly, Canon 7D, Huntley Meadows Park, Sympetrum ambiguum, Tamron 150-600mm | 3 Comments »
October 21, 2023 by Mike Powell
I have always admired the beauty and artistry of spider webs. It is so amazing to me that they can create such intricate patterns out of bodily secretions. I stumbled upon this beautiful little web on Thursday at Huntley Meadows Park and was thrilled that I was able to capture an image of it. I encourage you to click on the image for a closer view of the web design.
In order to make sure that the web did not disappear into the background completely, I deliberately underexposed the image, and focused manually on the web—there was no way that my camera’s autofocus would focus on the web.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Arachnids, Art, Autumn, Nature, Photography, spiders | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 7D, Huntley Meadows Park, spider web, Tamron 150-600mm, web, web design | 9 Comments »
October 21, 2023 by Mike Powell
This late in the season, most of the large butterflies seem to be gone, but I continue to see some of the smaller ones, like this beautiful Variegated Fritillary butterfly (Euptoieta claudia) that I spotted on Thursday during a visit to Huntley Meadows Park, a county-run marshland park not far from where I live. Earlier in the year I encountered some Great Spangled Fritillaries, but I think this may well be my first sighting of a Variegated Fritillary in 2023.
The butterfly appeared to be basking in the sun as it perched with its wings wide open on some dried-out vegetation. I was using my Tamron 150-600mm telephoto zoom lens, which has a minimum focusing distance of almost nine feet (270 cm), so I was pretty far from the butterfly when I captured this image. I have read reviews that state that this lens is soft when fully extended to 600mm, but I have found that I can get acceptably sharp images if I pay a lot of attention to my focusing and shooting techniques, including remaining steady—in this case I was using a monopod.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 7D, Euptoieta claudia, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm, Variegated Fritillary, Variegated Fritillary butterfly | Leave a Comment »
October 20, 2023 by Mike Powell
I walked about for a couple of hours on Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and visited some of my favorite dragonfly sites, but managed to spot only three dragonflies. Of those three, the only one that I managed to photograph was this pretty little Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum).
Autumn Meadowhawks are quite small, about 1.3 inches (33 mm) in length, so they are not easy to spot, despite their bright red color. They tend to stay close to the ground, making short flights most of the time, so you have to be looking down to see them. At this time of the year, I focus a good amount attention on birds, so I end up alternating between looking up for birds and down for insects.
I really like the color and texture of the rocks on which the dragonfly chose to perch. Their cool muted tones contrast nicely with the red and brown colors of the dragonfly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Autumn Meadowhawk, Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sympetrum vicinum, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 7 Comments »
October 19, 2023 by Mike Powell
Like dragonflies, their larger “cousins,” damselflies have been rapidly decreasing in numbers this month. During recent visits to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I have seen only a few remaining damselflies. Therefore I was especially happy to spot this handsome male Familiar Bluet damselfly (Enallagma civile) last Tuesday.
The little damselfly seemed to be giving me a sideward glance as I carefully focused on him and I see a hint of what might be a smile. I really like the way that the background turned out in this image too—the colors and bokeh balls add additional visual interest without detracting from the primary subject.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Enallagma civile, Familiar Bluet, Familiar Bluet damselfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 3 Comments »
October 18, 2023 by Mike Powell
Many of the insects and plants that I now see show signs of the ravages of summer, like this damaged Common Buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia) that I spotted atop an equally damaged plant during a recent visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Nonetheless the beauty of the butterfly shines through and it appears to be fully functional.
Autumn is a time for harvest celebrations as we rejoice in the bounty of the growth that has taken place, but there is also a tinge of melancholy as we experience a sense of loss and the feeling that our lives our changing. Change, of course, is a constant in our lives, but most of us—and I definitely fit into this group—become creatures of habit and have trouble dealing with changes at times. Yet we eventually adapt and may even learn to appreciate the results of the change, even if the process of change is a bit uncomfortable.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Common Buckeye, Common Buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | Leave a Comment »
October 17, 2023 by Mike Powell
I endlessly tried to track several Wandering Glider dragonflies (Pantala flavescens) as they flew back and forth over a field at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge last Thursday and was thrilled when one of them finally landed some nearby vegetation, allowing me to capture this image.
Wandering Gliders, also known as Globe Skimmers or Globe Wanderers, are considered to be the most widespread dragonfly species on the earth, with a good population on every continent except Antartica, although they rare in Europe. According to Wikipedia, Wandering Gliders “make an annual multigenerational journey of some 11,200 miles (18,000 km); to complete the migration, individual Wandering Gliders fly more than 3,730 miles (6,000 km)—one of the farthest known migrations of all insect species.”
This modest image was technically quite challenging to capture. The vegetation in this field was dense and the autofocus on my camera kept getting confused by the stalks of vegetation, so I had to resort to manual focusing. I was reluctant to move about very much for fear of rippling the vegetation and disturbing the dragonfly and therefore had to crouch in an awkward position close to the ground. It is certainly not an award-worthy photo, but I am thrilled whenever I manage to get a decent shot of a dragonfly species that rarely perches.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Pantala flavescens, Tamron 18-400mm, Wandering Glider, Wandering Glider dragonfly, Woodbridge VA | 3 Comments »
October 16, 2023 by Mike Powell
This Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) was so well hidden that I could not tell if it was perched on a small raised portion of the ground or in a tree when I caught a glimpse of it during a recent visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. My view of the heron initially was mostly obscured by the thick vegetation, but I managed to get a somewhat clear shot of it by climbing on top of a conveniently placed park bench.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 7D, Great Blue Heron, Great Blue Heron in a tree, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 3 Comments »
October 15, 2023 by Mike Powell
This Bald Eagle was almost hidden in the foliage of a sweet gum tree when I spotted it on Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Normally I depend on the brightness of a bald eagle’s head to give away the presence of an eagle, but in this case the eagle’s head was in partial shade, making it stand out quite a bit less than it usually does.
The second shot shows a view of the eagle from a different angle. Even though this shot does not show as much detail as the first shot, which was actually taken after the second one, I like the way that it shows how the eagle was nestled on its perch amidst all of the branches.
In the upcoming months, many of the leaves will fall from the trees and it will become marginally easier for me to spot an eagle from a longer distance away. Of course, that will also make it easier for the eagles to spot me and my vision and reflexes are rarely a match for those of the eagles. Often my first indication of an eagle’s presence is when it takes to the air and flies away from me.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 7D, eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 3 Comments »
October 14, 2023 by Mike Powell
On Thursday I spotted this cool-looking Arrowhead Spider (Verrucosa arenata) , also known as a Triangle Orbweaver, at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This spider is one of the few known orbweavers that sits facing upwards in its web—all other species face downward.
Its distinctive triangle-shaped abdomen makes this species pretty easy to identify. If you look closely at the image, I think that you can see a couple of the spider’s large round eyes shining brightly in between several of the legs in the upper left portion of the spider’s body.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Arachnids, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spiders, wildlife | Tagged Arrowhead Spider, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Triangle Orbweaver, Verrucosa arenata, Woodbridge VA | Leave a Comment »
October 14, 2023 by Mike Powell
Although the name of this Orange Bluet damselfly (Enallagma signatum) sounds like an oxymoron, its colors are a perfect match for this autumn season. As the name suggest, most damselflies in the bluet family are blue, but they do come in other colors.
I photographed this handsome male Orange Bluet on 10 October at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and was thrilled to be able to capture a little autumn color in the background of the image.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Enallagma signatum, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Orange Bluet, Orange Bluet damselfly, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 1 Comment »
October 13, 2023 by Mike Powell
There were several Common Green Darner dragonflies (Anax junius) flying overhead on 10 October at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. One of them landed and perched momentarily low in the vegetation and I was able to capture this image.
I have been seeing fewer and fewer dragonflies on the ground as we move deeper and deeper into October, but in the air I have been seeing quite a few Common Green Darners, Black Saddlebags, and Wandering Gliders, the dragonfly species that migrate through our area. Many of the members of the surviving summer species appear to be faded and tattered, but the migrants appear to be bright and pristine.
The tangled grasses and vegetation where the dragonfly was perched were dried out and mostly void of color, which helps the green of the dragonfly’s thorax to really stand out in the photo. I also like the way that I was able to capture the transparency and details of the dragonfly’s wings.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Anax junius, Canon 7D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 3 Comments »
October 12, 2023 by Mike Powell
I spotted this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in a distant tree on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge at about the same time that it spotted me. I reacted quickly and managed to capture this first image as it prepared to take off. As you can see, there is already a bit of color in our autumn foliage, but the colors are relatively muted here in Northern Virginia, compared to what I would see when I was growing up in New England.
The second photo shows the eagle a few seconds after its takeoff as it rose above the trees. At that moment its feet were still dangling, but it raised its “landing gear” shortly after I captured the image.
It has been a while since I last posted eagle photos and it was wonderful to have a couple of sightings of these majestic birds on a beautiful fall day.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle takeoff, Canon 7D, eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 7 Comments »
October 11, 2023 by Mike Powell
I love bright colors and instinctively smile when I see the large patches of goldenrod that are still in bloom at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The insects seem to love these flowers too and last Tuesday I spotted a large Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and smaller Clouded Sulphur butterfly (Colias philodice) feeding on goldenrod.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Clouded Sulphur, Clouded Sulphur butterfly, Colias philodice, Danaus plexippus, Monarch, monarch butterfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 2 Comments »
October 10, 2023 by Mike Powell
I am always amazed by the skill and artistry of spiders that construct elaborate webs, like this little Orchard Orbweaver spider (Leucauge venusta) that I photographed last Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It is a bit of a challenge to capture an image of a web like this, especially in full daylight, but I managed to do so by focusing very carefully and deliberately underexposing the image so that the background appeared a bit darker than it was in real life.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Arachnids, Art, Autumn, Halloween, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Leucauge venusta, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Orchard Orbweaver, Orchard Orbweaver spider, spider web, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | Leave a Comment »
October 9, 2023 by Mike Powell
When the calendar turns over to October, I never know which dragonflies I will encounter. Many of them have disappeared, but some hardy survivors are still around. The weather was warm last week, with several days in the 80’s (27 degrees C), but this week, high temperatures are predicted to be in the low to mid 60’s (17 degrees C) with nighttime temperatures dipping to the upper 40’s (9 degrees C)—this cool weather is less than optimal for most dragonflies.
I was thrilled last Tuesday to spot this Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula pulchella) at the edge of a small pond at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I was especially pleased to be able to capture the beautiful patterns on this dragonfly’s wings as it perched in the reeds.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Libellula pulchella, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly, Woodbridge VA | 5 Comments »
October 8, 2023 by Mike Powell
What is going on in this photo? It is really cool to photograph the interaction between two species, but it is often difficult to interpret the nature of their exchange. Is it mere curiosity or are there more deadly and sinister intentions on the part of one of the actors? If so, which one is the predator and which one is the potential prey?
I captured this image this past Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I could not identify either of these insects, so I posted the photo and requested identification assistance on bugguide.net, a wonderful resource for insect identification. It did not take long before I received a response that the insects were an Orange Assassin Bug (Pselliopus barberi) on the left and a Milkweed Leaf Beetle (Labidomera clivicollis) on the right.
I may be giving too much weight to the “assassin” part of the name of one of these insects, but, judging from their individual postures, it seems to me that the orange bug is preparing to attack the black-and-red beetle. Who know? It is such a cool and creepy photo that perhaps I should have waited until Halloween to post it.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Labidomera clivicollis, Milkweed Leaf Beetle, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Orange Assassin Bug, Pselliopus barberi, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 3 Comments »
October 7, 2023 by Mike Powell
What signals the arrival of autumn for you? Perhaps it is the changes in the foliage, the cooling of the temperatures, or the shortening of the daylight hours. In recent years Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum vicinum) have become the harbingers of autumn, visible signs that the end of the dragonfly season is inexorably drawing near.
I spotted my first Autumn Meadowhawks this year on 2 October at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This species usually appears in late September and most years is the last dragonfly species to disappear—I have seen Autumn Meadowhawks as late as December some years and there have been some reports of them in early January.
A number of other dragonflies are still active, but by early November most of them will be gone. I will still be looking to photograph those hardy survivors in the upcoming months, but, as recent postings suggest, I will eventually be shifting a lot of my focus from insects to birds.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Autumn Meadowhawk, Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sympetrum vicinum, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 3 Comments »
October 6, 2023 by Mike Powell
I spotted this pretty little sparrow on Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. When I looked through my bird identification guide, I thought that it looked a little bit like a Chipping Sparrow. When I posted the photo below in a birding group on Facebook, however, some experienced birders identified this bird for me as a young White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys), a new species for me.
Sparrows can often be hard for me to identify, but the distinctive bill on this one helped me to narrow down the pool of potential species. A mature male White-crowned Sparrow has a black and white head and is easy to identify, but immature males and females of different species are often similar in appearance.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Winter | Tagged Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, sparrow, Tamron 18-400mm, White-crowned Sparrow, Woodbridge VA, Zonotrichia leucophrys | 1 Comment »
October 5, 2023 by Mike Powell
Each fall I face the same dilemma—I see the photos of other photographers indicating that migrating warblers are present in our area, but I have trouble spotting these elusive little birds. Part of the problem is that leaves are still mostly on the trees and I can often hear birds that remain invisible in the foliage. The other main problem is that many birds are now sporting their duller fall plumage, so they do not stand out as much as during the spring migration, when their breeding plumage is much brighter.
Given my normal experience, I was thrilled to spot several Palm Warblers (Setophaga palmarum) and Yellow-rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronata) during visits to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge earlier this week. The birds in the first two photos, I believe, are Palm Warblers, a relatively common warbler species that likes to poke around a lot on the ground.
The final two photos show Yellow-rumped Warblers, which are the most common warbler species in my area. In both of the photos you can see the yellow patch of feathers on the “rump” of the bird.
In a month or so I may switch over to my longest lens, a Tamron 150-600mm zoom lens, which will allow me to zoom in a little more on these tiny birds, but for now I am sticking with my Tamron 18-400mm lens, a more versatile lens that lets me get photos of butterflies and dragonflies as well as of birds. (The problem with the longer lens is that it has a minimum focusing distance of almost 9 feet (2.7 meters) and it is sometimes hard to focus on small subjects from that far away.)
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Palm Warbler, Setophaga coronata, Setophaga palmarum, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA, Yellow-rumped Warbler | 7 Comments »
October 4, 2023 by Mike Powell
I was thrilled to spot this handsome Russet-tipped Clubtail dragonfly (Stylurus plagiatus) last Wednesday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. I love the way that the dragonfly was clinging to the leaf, looking almost like it was peeping over the edge.
Russet-tipped Clubtails are a late season species and are seen most often in August and September in my area. Unlike many of the dragonflies that I see regularly that prefer pole-like perches or perch flat on the ground, Russet-tipped Clubtails like to hang from the leaves of vegetation at an angle or almost vertically—members of the genus Stylurus are sometimes called “Hanging Clubtails.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, Russet-tipped Clubtail, Russet-tipped Clubtail dragonfly, Stylurus plagiatus, Tamron 18-400mm | 1 Comment »
October 3, 2023 by Mike Powell
As I prepared to take a step closer to a pond last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I suddenly saw that there was a large snake in the vegetation right where my foot was about to land. My mind quickly processed the information and came to the conclusion that it was probably “only” a Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon), a non-poisonous snake that is quite common where I live.
Not wanting to disturb the snake, I backed off a little and captured this shot of the snake that was pretty well hidden in the vegetation. My mission completed, I continued on down the trail and the snake was able to resume its basking in the warmth of the autumn sunlight.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, snake, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Nerodia sipedon, Northern Water Snake, Northern Watersnake, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400, Woodbridge VA | 1 Comment »
October 2, 2023 by Mike Powell
As I was exploring Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge this past Friday, I spotted some colorful red and black bugs. I had no idea what they were, but I happened to be walking with a fellow dragonfly enthusiast and he told me that they were Florida Predatory Stink Bugs (Euthyrynchus floridanus).
Unlike most other stink bugs that feed on plants, Florida Predatory Stink Bugs feed on insects that attack plants and are therefore considered to be beneficial. According to the North Carolina Extension website, “Immature Euthyrhynchus have a strong tendency to aggregate, and they even attack larger prey in concert. Apparently, aggregation behavior allows them to successfully attack prey too large to be subdued by a single nymph. Sometimes adults aggregate with nymphs, although when times get hard, these bugs sometimes feed on smaller relatives! When the bugs jab their proboscis into a less fortunate insect, they inject a toxin that slowly immobilizes the prey. The predigested insides are then sucked out.”
When they are developing, these stink bugs go through five stages, known as instars. The two largest bugs in the photo below are adults, while the two in the middle are in some what earlier stages of development. I don’t know for sure what this group of bugs was doing, but wonder if there is some kind of prey beneath them that they are immobilizing together.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Euthyrynchus floridanus, Florida Predatory Stink Bug, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, stink bug, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 8 Comments »
October 1, 2023 by Mike Powell
As I was leaving Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge on Friday, I spotted this small band of Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) foraging on the side of a small hill. I captured this image while I was seated in the driver’s seat of my car. I was stopped with my blinkers on and fortunately there was no other traffic. I like the way that the turkeys had spaced themselves out in a military-style patrolling formation.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Meleagris gallopavo, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, turkey, Wild Turkey, Woodbridge VA | 3 Comments »
September 30, 2023 by Mike Powell
The weather is cooling off, but whenever there is the slightest amount of sunshine, I can count on seeing turtles basking in the warmth of the sun. This past Wednesday, I spotted these three turtles on a partially submerged tree branch in the small pond at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. I am pretty sure that the turtle on the right is a Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) and the other two may be Yellow-bellied Sliders (Trachemys scripta scripta).
I am always a fan of reflections and I love the way that we can see reflections of the turtles on the rippled surface of the water. It was an added bonus to have some patches of red, a sign of the changing season.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife | Tagged basking turtle, Canon 7D, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, red-eared slider, Tamron 18-400mm, Trachemys scripta elegans), Trachemys scripta scripta, yellow-bellied slider | 4 Comments »
September 29, 2023 by Mike Powell
On Wednesday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge I was thrilled to spot this rainbow-colored Handsome Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum pulchellum), which is probably my favorite insect. In addition to its multiple colors, I love its striking blue eyes and long antennae.
My title is a little misleading, because technically there are some differences between grasshoppers and katydids. One of the most visible differences is the length of the antennae—a katydid’s antennae are longer than the length of its body, while a grasshopper’s tend to be shorter. In the first photo, I cut off one of the antennae a bit when I cropped the photo, but if you look closely you can see that the antenna runs all the way to the left edge of the photo.
Shortly after I took the first photo, the katydid became aware of my presence and tried to hide from me. She stretched out her legs, which really elongated her body, and she was almost successful in concealing herself behind the stalk of grass.
How do I know that the katydid is a female? If you look closely at the tail end of the katydid in the first photo, you can see a red scimitar-shaped appendage. That is the ovipositor that the katydid uses to make a slit in vegetation in which to deposit her eggs.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Handsome Meadow Katydid, katydid, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Orchelimum pulchellum, rainbow grasshopper, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 12 Comments »
September 28, 2023 by Mike Powell
At this time of the year, many of the butterflies that I see are showing the ravages of a long summer season. That, however, was not the case with several Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) that I spotted last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge that appeared to be in perfect condition.
Perhaps these are newly emerged Monarchs that are now preparing for a long migration flight to warmer locations.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Danaus plexippus, Monarch, monarch butterfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 4 Comments »
September 27, 2023 by Mike Powell
The weather this past week has been cool, cloudy, and rainy, with high temperatures struggling to reach 65 degrees (18 degrees C). I fear that many dragonflies will not survive and so I celebrate each sighting of a dragonfly species, conscious that it could be the last one that I see this season.
Last Thursday I spotted this Needham’s Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula needhami) while I was visiting Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Its wings are tattered and its colors have faded, but it was still active.
Autumn often makes me pensive and I become more aware of the passage of time. Our lives are just as fragile and limited as those of the beautiful little insects that I am so fond of photographing. May we all find beauty, meaning, and love as we live our lives.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Libellula needhami, Needham's Skimmer, Needham's Skimmer dragonfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm | 2 Comments »
September 26, 2023 by Mike Powell
Can you identify this insect? At first glance it looks a little bit like a dragonfly, but if you look more closely you may notice that the wings and eyes are different from those of a dragonfly and this insect’s body is a lot hairier. This is a robber fly and I am pretty sure that it is a variety known as a Red-footed Cannibalfly (Promachus rufipes). Yikes!
Red-footed Cannibalflies are one of the coolest and creepiest insects that you can encounter in the wild. As their macabre moniker suggests, Red-footed cannibalflies usually feed on other insects, but they reportedly are capable of taking down a hummingbird. Thankfully I have never seen that happen, since I really like hummingbirds, but several years ago I did photograph a Red-footed Cannibalfly with a large Hummingbird Moth that it had captured (see my 2017 posting Demise of a hummingbird moth).
A posting that I did in 2013 entitled “Red-footed Cannibalfly” amazingly has been one of my most popular postings ever, with almost 3300 views to date. Apparently more people search for information about Red-footed Cannibalflies that I would have anticipated.
I captured this image last Thursday as I was exploring some of the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Northern Virginia.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged cannibalfly, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Promachus rufipes, Red-footed Cannibalfly, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 9 Comments »
September 25, 2023 by Mike Powell
I was happy last Thursday when a Black Saddlebags dragonfly (Tramea lacerata) that I had been tracking overhead at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge perched for a moment, allowing me to capture this first image. While it was flying, I attempted multiple times to get a shot of it, with minimal success. The second photo is my best one.
Some dragonflies spend a lot of their time perched, but Black Saddlebags are one of the species that spends most of its time in the air, so it is rewarding to be able to see one land and to get a shot of it. Black Saddlebags are also one of the few dragonfly species that are migrate although, according to the Dragonflies of Northern Virginia website, scientists do not fully understand why they do so and have been studying their migratory patterns.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Black Saddlebags, Black Saddlebags dragonfly, Canon 7D, dragonfly in flight, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Tramea lacerata, Woodbridge VA | Leave a Comment »
September 24, 2023 by Mike Powell
I almost always have trouble identifying shore birds, especially the different kinds of sandpipers. On Thursday, I spotted a single sandpiper-like bird in the shallow water of a pond at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Initially I thought it might be a Solitary Sandpiper, but when I got a good look at its legs, I leaned towards calling it a Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)—Solitary Sandpipers have greenish legs.
It was fascinating to watch the little bird move through the water, carefully raising its feet. On land, it seemed to prance a bit. In the final photo, the bird was flexing its wings as part of its grooming routine and seemed to be keeping an eye on me.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Lesser Yellowlegs, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Tringa flavipes, Woodbridge VA, yellowlegs | 1 Comment »
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Mike Powell 