April 5, 2022 by Mike Powell
As we move deeper into spring, more and more flowers are popping up in the garden of my neighbor, fellow photographer Cindy Dyer. It is a fun adventure to walk over to the garden every few days to see what new bits of beauty have sprung forth out of the earth.
One of my favorites that I look forward to seeing each spring is the Lady Jane tulip (Tulipa clusiana var. ‘Lady Jane’), featured in the first photo below. It is a small tulip with pointed petals and a delicate pink and white coloration.
The red tulips are a bit more traditional in terms of their shape and coloration. I love to explore them from all angles and their bright, cheery color is a joy to behold.
Some more tulip buds are beginning to mature and it looks like there may be yellow tulips next. Spring is such a beautiful season.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Photography, spring, tulip | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 60mm, Cindy Dyer, Cindy's garden, Lady Jane tulip, Runnymeade, tulip, tulip "Lady Jane", Tulipa clusiana var. 'Lady Jane' | 9 Comments »
April 4, 2022 by Mike Powell
Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) were really vocal and active last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Most often, though, the ospreys were flying out of range of my lenses, so getting shots of them was a bit of a challenge.
Eventually I manage to get a shot of some perched ospreys. In the first and third photos, the osprey appeared to have a fish that it kept hidden from me. Perhaps it had had a recent experience with an eagle trying to steal its catch and consequently was hyper-possessive now. I think that attitude also explains why the bird was in a defensive, crouched position and would look around before taking a bite of the unseen fish.
The middle photo shows an osprey on a nest that is being constructed on a channel marker in the waters off of the wildlife refuge. In the past,I have photographed much larger nests on this same buoy—check out my blog posting entitle Defying gravity from last year to see a photo of a previous iteration of a nest at this spot.
In the last few days some local photographers have posted photos of warblers at this wildlife refuge, so I will be looking for small birds as well as the larger, more visible ones like these ospreys. Insect activity is beginning to pick up too, so it looks like April will be a busy time for me and my camera.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, channel marker, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, osprey nest, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 2 Comments »
April 3, 2022 by Mike Powell
I love water lilies and one of my favorite places to see them is Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, a National Park Service site located in the northeastern corner of Washington, D.C. My photography mentor Cindy Dyer photographed water lilies there that were featured in 2015 on US Postal Service stamps and I helped her during a presentation she did at the special dedication ceremony for the postage stamps—check out Cindy’s blog posting entitled Special dedication ceremony for Water Lilies Forever Stamps for additional information.
Yesterday I traveled with Cindy to Kenilworth Gardens to drop off some matted prints for the gift store and it was fascinating to see the aquatic gardens in the off-season. It is much too early for water lilies to be blooming, but I could see lots of lily pads floating on the surface of the small ponds.
The lily pads were mostly colored in shades of rust and orange and I was able to capture some “artsy” shots of them. Obviously there photos are different from my more typical wildlife shots, but I like mixing it up and challenging myself to photograph different subjects. It forces me to stretch myself creatively outside of my comfort zone, which I believe is a good thing.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in abstract, Flowers, Landscape, Nature, Photography, spring, Water Lilies | Tagged Canon 50D, Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, lily pad, lily pads, Tamron 180mm, Washington D.C., water lilies | 12 Comments »
April 2, 2022 by Mike Powell
I love seeing the differences between juvenile and adult Bald Eagles—the coloration and markings of the eagles change dramatically over time. Earlier this week I did a posting called Two eagles that showed two juvenile eagles perched in a tree. One of them was quite young and the other was almost an adult. It was really easy to see the differences between the two stages of development, with only the older one showing the distinctive white head feathers.
Today I am featuring in-flight photos of two eagles that I spotted last Monday while exploring Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The first photo shows a juvenile Bald Eagle that looks to be about two to three years old. The head appears to be dark and the there is a mottled mixture of white and brown feathers. The second image shows a mature Bald Eagle with a white head and uniformly dark feathers.
It is an awesome experience for me when eagles fly almost directly over me and I love trying to get shots of them. I never fail to be impressed by their amazing wingspans, which can reach more than seven feet (213 cm).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Bald Eagle, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 4 Comments »
April 1, 2022 by Mike Powell
Most of the times when I photograph an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), the bird appears to be long and lanky. The angle at which I photographed this osprey, however, distorted its proportions, making it seem more short and squat than normal. The spherical head and the osprey’s exaggerated expression of curiosity and surprise help to make this image feel comical and cartoonish—I can’t help but smile every time that I look at the photo.
There are quite a few ospreys now at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and quite soon they will be working on their nests. I hope to be able to capture some shots of that activity. Now that we have moved into April, I will start to switch some of my focus to searching for dragonflies. With a bit of luck, I will see my first dragonflies of the year with a week or two.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 12 Comments »
March 31, 2022 by Mike Powell
When it comes to aerial skills, Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) are some of the most agile fliers that I have ever observed. On Monday I watched in awe and amazement as a small group of tree swallows swooped and zoomed over the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The flight of these tiny birds was graceful and mesmerizing, full of acrobatic twists and turns.
It was a real challenge, though, to take photos of birds that are so small and so fast. I was especially happy when I managed to capture the first image that shows a pair of swallows with their wings fully extended. The second shot shows a swallow gliding low over the water—the shape of the bird reminds me of a stealth aircraft skimming low over the earth to avoid being detected by radar.
I did not realize that Tree Swallows had returned to our area. There are several nesting boxes at this wildlife refuge that Tree Swallows regularly use, so I will have to check them out soon. Sometimes there is a competition between Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds for the nesting boxes. I am not sure how they decide who will get to use the boxes, but somehow they figure it out. 
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged birds in flight, Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, swallow, Tachycineta bicolor, Tamron 150-600mm, Tree Swallow, Woodbridge VA | 4 Comments »
March 30, 2022 by Mike Powell
I was excited to spot quite a few Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It was especially cool because the eagles that I observed were at different stages of development. Bald Eagles are mostly brown in color when they are born and it takes almost five years for them to mature and develop the white feathers on their head that we associate with Bald Eagles.
The eagle on the left in both of the photos is a really young one. I initially thought it might be a fledging that was born this year, but it seems too early for one to have already reached this stage of development. Perhaps this eagle is a year old, judging from its coloration and markings.
I thought that the other eagle was the same one in both photos, but the markings in the first photo show some dark feather on the head and some mottled coloration on the body that seems to me missing on the adult bald eagle in the second photo. I would guess that the “other” eagle in the first photo is about four years old.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, juvenile Bald Eagle, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 6 Comments »
March 29, 2022 by Mike Powell
Now that it is spring, it is time for the crawling critters to reappear, like this little spider that I spotted last week while exploring in Prince William County. Some spiders overwinter as adults, so this spider may have just awoken from a long winter’s sleep. If so, the spider may have decided to go back to bed, because temperatures have dropped the last couple of days and it is currently about 25 degrees outside (minus 4 C)—it was 70 degrees (21 degrees C) when I photographed the spider last week.
UPDATE: Initial indications from an expert at bugguide.net suggest that this is a wolf spider.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Arachnids, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spiders, spring | Tagged Canon 50D, Prince William County VA, spider, spring spider, Tamron 180mm, wolf spider | 8 Comments »
March 29, 2022 by Mike Powell
I could not get an angle that let me see what this Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) was eating earlier this month at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but I was very much taken by the cute way that it had curled up its tail as it was eating. Normally I think of a squirrel with its long fluffy tail trailing behind it, so I was surprised to see the tail pulled into the squirrel’s body, making the small animal look even smaller.
In addition to the curious tail position, I like the way that I was able to capture the texture of the branch. The color of the branch was almost a perfect match for the squirrel’s fur and the brownish buds were almost the same color as the fur surrounding the squirrel’s eye.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sciurus carolinensis, squirrel, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 14 Comments »
March 28, 2022 by Mike Powell
In the springtime we often watch and wait in the garden, anticipating the beauty that is to come. Sometimes, as was the case with these tulip buds, we have a sneak preview of the coming colors, but often the blooms take us by surprise. I love those kinds of surprises.
As many of you know, I do not have my own garden. However, fellow photographer Cindy Dyer is one of my neighbors and she has an amazing garden, full of fun flowers to photograph.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, spring | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 60mm, Cindy Dyer, Cindy's garden, closed tulip, Runnymeade, tulip, tulip bud | 5 Comments »
March 27, 2022 by Mike Powell
One of the early signs of spring is the emergency of the tiny stalks of Grape Hyacinths (g. Muscari). As their name suggest, these spiky little flowers look a bit like bunches of grapes. Most of the time grape hyacinths are bluish in color, but they come in other colors too and sometimes, as you can see in the second photo, there may be multiple colors on the same flower stalk.
I captured these images in the garden of my dear friend and neighbor Cindy Dyer. Cindy is used to seeing me skulking about in her garden and I usually am able to keep her informed about what is blooming in her own garden.
Using my short macro lens, I was able to capture some of the interesting patterns of these grape hyacinths. In the first image you can see how the little “grapes” grow in a spiral pattern. The second image shows how the “grapes” open up at their ends as they mature. I really like the way that both images feature the raised three-petalled impression on so many of the grapes—the shape looks almost like it was embossed.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 60mm, Cindy Dyer, Cindy's garden, Grape hyacinth, Muscari, Runnymeade | 9 Comments »
March 26, 2022 by Mike Powell
As I was scanning my neighbor’s garden for new growth yesterday, a small bit of bright orange caught my eye. I moved closer to see what it was and was shocked to find a tiny ladybug crawling around one of the plants.
The ladybug was pretty active, moving up and down the leaf, so it was challenging to get a shot of it. Eventually, though, my patience paid off and I was able to capture this image. Later in the year photos like this will become more commonplace, but during the month of March I am overjoyed whenever I have a chance to photograph an insect.
I did not get a good look at the face of this insect, so I cannot tell if it is an Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis) or one of the native ladybugs, which are less common in most areas. Whatever the case, there is something whimsical about ladybugs that makes me smile, so I was happy to spot this one.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, spring, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 60mm, Cindy Dyer, Cindy's garden, Harmonia axyridis, ladybird, ladybug, Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, Runnymeade | 10 Comments »
March 25, 2022 by Mike Powell
I note the transition to spring in small ways, quite often in the reappearance of familiar species of plants, insects, and other living creatures. I was delighted on Monday to discover that tiny Virginia Spring Beauty wildflowers (Claytonia virginica) have already started to push their way up from the forest floor in Prince William County. According to Wikipedia, the individual flowers bloom for three days, although the five stamens on each flower are only active for a single day.
On the same day, I spotted an Eastern Comma butterfly (Polygonia comma), the first full-sized butterfly that I have been able to photograph this year. I was not able to get very close to the butterfly, but you can see the beautiful orange pattern of its inner wings in the middle shot below.
The final image shows a Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata) that I spotted last week. This species seems to be found only in shallow marshy areas and I rarely encounter one, so it was exciting to be able to photograph it.
We all celebrate different signs of spring at this time of the year (or of autumn if you live in the Southern Hemisphere). What indications do you look for that signal the change of the season?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Nature, Photography, spring, turtle, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Claytonia virginica, Clemmys guttata, Eastern Comma, Polygonia comma, Prince William County VA, Spotted Turtle, Spring Beauty, Tamron 180mm, Virginia Spring Beauty | 10 Comments »
March 24, 2022 by Mike Powell
I was happy on Monday to photograph my first butterfly of the year, which appears to be the appropriately named Spring Azure butterfly (Celastrina ladon). Earlier this season I have spotted several Mourning Cloak butterflies, but was not able to get a shot of any of them.
The Spring Azure butterfly is only about an inch (25 mm) in size, but has some wonderful details that I was able to capture. It is fairly nondescript in color until it opens its wings and reveals a beautiful shade of blue—you get a small glimpse of that wonderful blue in the second image.
I had to pursue this butterfly for quite a while before it finally landed. An outside observer might have have wondered what it the world I was doing, but chasing butterflies always makes me feel like a child again.
It won’t be long before I see much bigger and more colorful butterflies, but this one is special to me as the first butterfly of the spring that I was able to photograph.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Celastrina ladon, Prince William County VA, Spring Azure, Spring Azure butterfly, Tamron 180mm | 20 Comments »
March 23, 2022 by Mike Powell
It was sunny and warm on Monday, so I went off in search of dragonflies. There has already been at least one sighting of a dragonfly this month in Virginia, but it realistically is still a bit early for any to appear in the northern part of the state where I live. I searched diligently at a pond and at several small streams in Prince William County, but did not find any dragonflies or damselflies.
I was happy, however, to spot several Eastern Cricket Frogs (Acris crepitans crepitans). These frogs are tiny, with a length of about 5/8 to 1-3/8 inches (16-35 mm). One of the most distinctive things about this species is the male mating call that resembles the sound of two stones being hit together or perhaps is similar to the sound of a cricket.
According to the Virginia Herpetological Society, “This species prefers grassy margins of ponds, ditches and wetlands. Permanent bodies of water with emergent or shoreline vegetation and exposure to the sun are preferred habitat,” a perfect description of the locations where I spotted these frogs.
Each year I am confused when researching this species, because I see references to Eastern Cricket Frogs and Northern Cricket Frogs used almost interchangeably. If I understand it correctly Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans) is the species name and Eastern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans crepitans) is one of the subspecies.
As you can see from these images, cricket frogs blend in really well with their surroundings. If I had not seen these frogs jump to their new locations, I am pretty sure that I would not have seen them. I walked around all day with my 180mm macro lens attached to my camera and it served me well to capture some of the details on the bodies of the little frogs. I attempted to get as low as I could and to shoot from the side in order to get as much of the frog in focus as I could, so muddy knees were inevitably one of the “benefits” of getting these shots.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Amphibians, frog, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Acris crepitans, acris crepitans crepitans, Canon 50D, cricket frog, Eastern Cricket Frog, Northern Cricket frog, Prince William County VA, Tamron 180mm | 7 Comments »
March 22, 2022 by Mike Powell
I don’t see Ring-necked Ducks (Aythya collaris) very often, so I was happy to spot this little group of them last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Although this looks like a ménage à trois situation with a male duck in the middle of two females, there actually was another male who was out of the frame when I took this photo. Ring-necked Ducks are a migratory species that overwinters with us and I suspect that these ducks will soon be leaving our area for more northern locations.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Aythya collaris, Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Ring-necked duck, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 7 Comments »
March 21, 2022 by Mike Powell
Sometimes I feel compelled to throw back my head and sing at the top of my lungs, as this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was doing when I spotted it last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It might be somewhat of an exaggeration to call it “singing”—the eagle was calling out to its mate, I believe, in a somewhat unmelodious way, but it was a cool experience nonetheless.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology had the following description of a bald eagle’s calls, “For such a powerful bird, the Bald Eagle emits surprisingly weak-sounding calls—usually a series of high-pitched whistling or piping notes.” Check out this link to a Cornell Lab webpage that has several sound samples of an eagle’s call. According to a National Public Radio report, Hollywood movies often dub over an eagle’s call with a Red-tailed Hawk’s cry, which is much more majestic, so you may be surprised to hear what a bald eagle actually sounds like.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Music, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 50D, eagle song, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, screaming eagle, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 15 Comments »
March 20, 2022 by Mike Powell
Turtles were out in force on Wednesday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, including these three that appeared to be practicing social distancing. They looked to me to be different species—a Red-eared Slider, maybe a Northern Red-bellied Cooter, and one that I’m really not sure about.
I must confess that I am not very good at identifying different types of turtles, especially when they are covered in dried mud. The middle turtle was shockingly clean and had especially beautiful and colorful markings. Be sure to click on the image to get a better look at the turtles. If you know a lot about turtles, I would welcome your assistance in identifying the species of these three turtle that were basking in the sunlight on an unusually warm March day.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Nature, Photography, spring, turtle, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, red-bellied cooter, red-eared slider, Tamron 180mm, turtle | 4 Comments »
March 19, 2022 by Mike Powell
Early yesterday morning, I walked out of my house and captured this shot of the full moon. The full moon this month is primarily known as the Worm Moon, but has a lot of other names including the Lenten Moon, the Sugar Moon, the Goose Moon, and the Wind Strong Moon.
Although I love to photograph a full moon like this, I really do need to find a way to integrate some cool background elements in the shot. I haven’t yet been able to scout a location where I can catch the moon rising, but that is a future goal. In this case there was no pre-planning involved.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Landscape, moon, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, full moon, Tamron 150-600mm, worm moon | 9 Comments »
March 19, 2022 by Mike Powell
I spotted this tiny red tulip yesterday morning in the garden of my dear friend and photography mentor Cindy Dyer, my first tulip sighting of the year. One of Cindy’s passions is gardening and she deliberately plants a lot of flowers that she believes will be photogenic.
Last fall she planted bulbs for some large, frilly, multi-colored tulips that she hopes will bloom later this year. (See my posting from last spring entitled Fire-breathing dragon to see an example of one of those crazy-looking parrot tulips.) I will be looking for those exotic flowers, but I have to say that am often drawn more to the simple, spare elegance of a single bloom, like today’s tulip.
When I first started to get serious about my photography almost ten years ago, I imitated the type of photographs that Cindy was taking, with a lot of emphasis on macro shots of flowers. Cindy taught me a lot about photography during those early days, lessons that have stuck with me as I have ventured into other areas of photography.
One of those lessons was about the value of a well-composed, graphic image, like today’s simple shot. Anyone, in theory, could have taken this shot, but they would have had to be willing to get on their hands and knees in the dirt to do so, another one of Cindy’s lessons. (If you want to see more of Cindy’s tips, check out her article How to Grow Your Garden Photography Skills that was featured several years ago on the NikonUSA.com website.)
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 60mm, Canon 60mm macro, Cindy Dyer, Runnymeade, tulip | 16 Comments »
March 18, 2022 by Mike Powell
There was a lot of activity on Tuesday at the large Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I still cannot determine if any eaglets have hatched, but several times I observed an eagle fly into the nest or fly out of it. The nest is so deep that an eagle is often hidden from view when sitting on an egg—the only way to know for sure that an eagle is present is when one of them arrives or departs.
The eagle in the first photo was arriving and had spread its wings to slow down its speed and forward momentum. In the second photo, an eagle that was in nest had popped its head up and was looking towards a nearby tree where its mate was perched. After the eagle had reassured itself that everything was ready, the two eagles executed a changing of the guard ceremony—the eagle in the nest flew away and the perched eagle took its place. I captured the third image just as the eagle was taking off from its perch to take its turn watching over the nest.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 7 Comments »
March 17, 2022 by Mike Powell
I would not necessarily call this Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) handsome, but I am happy with the way that I was able to capture a bit of the bird’s personality in this close-up portrait shot. I spotted this vulture last week as it perched low in a tree just off the edge of a trail that I was following at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Some people are freaked out by the fact that vultures eat carrion, but most people acknowledge that these scavengers play a valuable role in our ecosystems. I am ok with a turkey vulture’s dietary choices, though I would probably refuse to join a turkey vulture in a meal if one of them made such an offer.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Portraits, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Canon 50D, Cathartes aura, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, turkey vulture, turkey vulture portrait, vulture, Woodbridge VA | 6 Comments »
March 16, 2022 by Mike Powell
My thoughts have already turned to spring, with visions of colorful flowers and dragonflies dancing in my head. However, it turns out that winter was not quite done and last weekend we had a couple of inches of snow, a final hurrah for the season of winter.
Here are a couple of shots of my “winter dragonfly,” a metal sprinkler in my front yard that I featured in a previous post that showed the intricate detail of the dragonfly. I am also including a shot of some of the green shoots in the garden of my neighbor and fellow photographer Cindy Dyer. I think some of these might be tulips, but must confess that I am pretty clueless when it comes to plants.
Many of you know that I am somewhat obsessed with dragonflies. In 2020 I saw my first dragonflies of spring on the 3rd of April, the earliest I have ever seen dragonflies—see my 6 April 2020 posting First dragonflies of the season. I will probably go out and search for them in earnest during the final week of March. There are a couple of early emerging local species that I will be searching for along with migrant species like the Common Green Darner that might be passing through our area.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, dragonfly, Flowers, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 60mm, dragonfly, dragonfly sprinkler, last gasp, Runnymeade | 16 Comments »
March 15, 2022 by Mike Powell
Some of the Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) that I spotted last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge seemed to be making early claims on the existing nests from last year, while others were simply perched on trees throughout the refuge. Mostly they kept their distance, though, so I had to be content with relatively distant shots of these recently returned raptors.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 5 Comments »
March 14, 2022 by Mike Powell
Last week I assisted fellow photographer Cindy Dyer in taking some headshots for a client and served as a test subject for the lighting setup. Cindy used a portable X-Drop background stand, several LED lights with soft boxes, a Westcott Eyelighter reflector, and a tall V-flat to achieve optimal results. Believe it or not, this is a relatively simple lighting setup.
Cindy and I share studio space with a video production company, so there is plenty of room for lighting setups like this one. I have very little experience with studio photography, so I learn a lot each time I assist Cindy. My job usually is to help set everything up, make adjustments to the lights as she is shooting, and engage with the subjects to keep them relaxed and comfortable. I marvel at the ease with which she poses the subjects to get wonderful results, a total contrast with the wildlife subjects that I normally photograph. I think it is good to stretch ourselves from time to time into new areas of exploration.
Cindy took these shots of the setup with her iPhone, but used a Nikon D850 for the actual headshots. If you want to see some examples of Cindy’s work, check out her portrait website at http://cindydyerportraits.com/portraits/.
Today is a big day for Cindy as the United States Postal Service releases another stamp with one of her photographs, a Global Forever stamp that features an African Daisy. This round, Global stamp can be used to mail a 1-ounce letter to any country to which First-Class Mail International service is available.
This new stamp is the eleventh image that Cindy has had published as a Forever® stamp. Previously, she had images for: Ferns 2014, Water Lilies 2015 and Kenilworth Park (as part of the National Park Service 100th Anniversary 16-stamp panel) in 2016. Check out Cindy’s blog posting for additional information on the African Daisy stamp, including a photo of the stamp itself. Congratulations, Cindy.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Photography, Portraits, studio photography | Tagged Cindy Dyer, Cindy Dyer portraits, studio photography | 7 Comments »
March 13, 2022 by Mike Powell
Quite a few ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) have returned to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and I spent a lot of time last Thursday trying to photograph them. Most of my efforts were focused on trying to capture images of them in flight.
Ospreys will fly in circles over the water and occasionally will hover and glide a little as they search for prey, which makes it somewhat easier to focus on them than on many other birds. However, it’s still a pretty formidable challenge to get shots in which the eyes are visible and in focus and in which the wing positions are good.
For the first image, I did not react quickly enough to zoom out when the osprey flew overhead, so I clipped its wings in the photo. I think that it is nonetheless a cool shot that provides a good look at the feather details of the osprey and at its eye and beak.
In the second shot, I captured the osprey at a moment when it had its wings fully extended. I like the way that the osprey’s yellow eye really stands out in the image.
I am sure that I will get lots of chances to photograph ospreys in the upcoming months, but it is always exciting me to them again for the first time each year—another sign that the seasons are changing.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter | Tagged birds in flight, Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 2 Comments »
March 12, 2022 by Mike Powell
A juvenile Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) tried to steal a fish from an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) on Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and chased it across the sky. It was quite an aerial dogfight. In the end, I think that the osprey dropped the fish and both birds ended up “empty-handed.”
Ospreys migrate away from my area for the winter and I was delighted to see that they had returned. I spotted at least a half-dozen or more ospreys and they were both active and vocal. Ospreys have high-pitched, distinctive voices that the Cornell Lab of Ornithology described in these words, ” Their calls can be given as a slow succession of chirps during flight or as an alarm call—or strung together into a series that rises in intensity and then falls away, similar to the sound of a whistling kettle taken rapidly off a stove.” Here is a link to a Cornell Lab webpage where you can listen to recordings of various osprey calls.
These three photos give you a general sense of the chase. In the first shot, you can definitely see the “prize,” the fish that the osprey had caught. In the second shot, the eagle has closed the distance separating it from the osprey. In the third shot, the osprey is doing its best to maneuver away from the eagle, but the eagle was able to match the osprey turn by turn. All of this took place over the water and eventually the two birds flew out of range.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, Winter | Tagged aerial dogfight, Bald Eagle, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, juvenile Bald Eagle, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 20 Comments »
March 11, 2022 by Mike Powell
This Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) definitely had something to say when I spotted it last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I think I may have been guilty of eavesdropping, though, because the eagle appeared to be calling out to its mate.
One of the things that I really like about this image is the way that I was able to capture a sense of the rough texture of both the bark on the tree and the feathers on the eagle’s body.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 1 Comment »
March 10, 2022 by Mike Powell
If you are anything like me, the current situation in the world can’t help but bring you down. I really encourage you to read the entire posting that I have re-blogged and to call the PepToc phone number. The sound of the voices of children offering creative ways to deal with the stresses of life is guaranteed to lift your spirits.
I didn't have my glasses on....
The kids at West Side Elementary in Healdsburg, Calif.,
handed out Peptoc hotline cards to help spread the word about the project
—
Amid a crush of heavy news from around the world, who couldn’t use some sage advice right now?
Call a new hotline, and you’ll get just that — encouraging words from a resilient group of kindergartners.
Kids’ voices will prompt you with a menu of options:
If you’re feeling mad, frustrated or nervous, press 1. If you need words of encouragement and life advice, press 2. If you need a pep talk from kindergartners, press 3. If you need to hear kids laughing with delight, press 4. For encouragement in Spanish, press 5.
Pressing 3 leads to a chorus of kids sounding off a series of uplifting mantras:
“Be grateful for yourself,” offers one student.
“If you’re feeling up high and unbalanced, think of groundhogs,” another chimes…
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March 10, 2022 by Mike Powell
Perched high atop the vegetation, this Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) posed for me during a recent portrait session at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The mockingbird could not decide which side was its best side, so I took profile shots with the bird looking in both directions.
I think the bird liked the results and tweeted them on Twitter.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Canon 50D, Mimus polyglottos, mockingbird, Northern Mockingbird, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 11 Comments »
March 9, 2022 by Mike Powell
Pushing out of the still dormant winter earth, several crocuses in the garden of my dear friend Cindy Dyer were shining brightly yesterday, a hopeful sign of the spring beauty that is yet to come.
For the first image, I shielded the sun with my body to avoid the harsh highlights that the sunlight was creating. I then changed my shooting position so that the sunlight was streaming from another angle, which caused the yellow parts of the flower to glow.
Please continue to pray for the people of Ukraine and for all those affected by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Nature, spring, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 60mm, crocus, crocuses, crocuses in bloom, Runnymeade | 6 Comments »
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