June 10, 2025 by Mike Powell
Last Monday I spotted this beautiful Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I thought that this was my first encounter with this bird species, but a search of my previous blog postings revealed that I got some long distance shots of one in 2022.
Many of the migrating warblers that are passing through my area have various yellow markings, so I assumed that this was simply another warbler. The reality, however, is hardly simple. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “The Yellow-breasted Chat has always been a mystery to taxonomists—it looks similar to warblers but is larger, with a more varied repertoire of songs and calls, and also has other differences in behavior and anatomy. The species was placed in the warbler family (Parulidae) for decades, but in the late 2010s was given its own family (Icteriidae), in recognition of these differences.”
If that were not confusing enough, the name “chat” is used for a number of different birds throughout the world. According to Wikipedia, “Chats (formerly sometimes known as “chat-thrushes”) are a group of small Old World insectivorous birds formerly classified as members of the thrush family (Turdidae), but following genetic DNA analysis are now considered to belong to the Old World flycatcher family (Muscicapidae). The name is normally applied to the more robust ground-feeding flycatchers found in Europe and Asia and most northern species are strong migrants.”
All of this scientific explanation leaves me utterly confused. The only thing I know for sure is that the Yellow-breasted Chat that I photographed was a real treat for me—its bright yellow color immediately brought a smile to my face and lifted my spirits. For me, that is more than enough—I’ll leave the arguments about taxonomy and classification to others.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, Summer, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Icteria virens, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA, Yellow-breasted Chat | 5 Comments »
June 9, 2025 by Mike Powell
When I photographed this bird last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I really had no idea what it was. Some aspects of its overall coloration reminded me a little of a Tufted Titmouse, but its shape and size were not right. Its mottled and patchy color suggested to me that this might be an immature bird and I wondered if it might be some kind of warbler.
When I returned home I searched though my identification guides and looked at lots of photos on-line and concluded that this was probably an immature male American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). Some folks on Facebook confirmed my identification, which was helpful, considering that I had never before seen this species. As I suspected, this Redstart is a New World warbler—apparently there is also an Old World Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) that is completely unrelated to the one that I spotted.
Each spring I am absolutely delighted to find any warblers at all. Often I hear the warblers singing in the leafy trees, but only rarely do I manage to catch a glimpse of their beauty.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged American Redstart, Canon 7D, immature American Redstart, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Setophaga ruticilla, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 4 Comments »
June 7, 2025 by Mike Powell
I tracked this Black Saddlebags dragonfly (Tramea lacerata) in the air for quite some time on 2 June at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge until it finally landed and I was able to capture this shot of it perching in the vegetation.
Black Saddlebags are among the few North American dragonfly species that undertake migrations. Specifically, the offspring of the Black Saddlebag dragonflies migrate south in the fall, while some return north in the spring to breed. It’s impossible for me to know if the dragonfly in this photo started its journey somewhere to the south, but that is certainly a possibility.
One thing I do know for sure is that Black Saddlebags spend a lot of their time in the air, patrolling back and forth over an area. Most of the time when I spot them, they are flying, so it was nice to have a chance to capture a shot of one on the ground.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Black Saddlebags, Black Saddlebags dragonfly, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Tramea lacerata, Woodbridge VA | 4 Comments »
June 6, 2025 by Mike Powell
I was really surprised to spot this immature Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum ambiguum) on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. In the past I have seen this species only in late summer and early autumn and by the bodies of those dragonflies have always been red in color and the face has had a distinctive blue tinge.
This dragonfly appears to have only recently emerged and that is its the body is tan rather than red—the color will change as he matures. The stripes on the abdomen and the eye color, though, helped me to identify it as a Blue-faced Meadowhawk rather than the somewhat similar Autumn Meadowhawk that has brown eyes.
I was curious to understand why I happened to spot this species a lot earlier than usual and have heard some other dragonfly enthusiasts speculate that the immature Blue-faced Meadowhawks “hide” in the woods and make an appearance only later in the season. One of the experts in Virginia Odonata Facebook group to which I belong noted that “They appear to have two different emergence periods, one in spring and one in late summer/fall.”
Whatever the reason for the early appearance, I was delighted to see and photograph this Blue-faced Meadowhawk, one of my favorite dragonfly species. A few long-time subscribers may recall that I was awarded second place almost ten years ago in a local photography contest for a macro close-up of a Blue-faced Meadowhawk. If you are interested in learning more about that experience and seeing the “award winning” image, check out my blog posting from December 2015 entitled “Second place in local photo contest.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Blue-faced Meadowhawk, Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly, Canon 7D, immature male Blue-faced Meadowhawk, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sympetrum ambiguum, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | Leave a Comment »
June 5, 2025 by Mike Powell
On Monday I spotted this female Widow Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula luctuosa), my first one of 2025, during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Widow Skimmers have very distinctive dark patches on their wings that reminded the scientist who named them of the dark mourning crepe worn by Victorian-era widows during their initial stages of mourning and even their Latin name “luctuosa” means “sorrowful.”
The weather in my area has warmed considerably this week and already it feels like summer. Gradually the summer dragonflies, like this Widow Skimmer, are starting to appear. The hot days of summer are a bit uncomfortable for me, but seem to be preferred by many dragonfly species.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, female Widow Skimmer, Libellula luctuosa, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Widow Skimmer, Widow Skimmer dragonfly, Woodbridge VA | 1 Comment »
June 4, 2025 by Mike Powell
When I spotted these damselflies last week I was not sure what species they were. Most of the damselflies that I had seen near this location at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge in the past were Big Bluet damselflies (Enallagma durum), but the coloration of this one was different enough that I was not confident in identifying it. I posted a photo in a Facebook group that specializes in dragonflies and damselflies and one of the experts there confirmed that this is in fact a Big Bluet.
I am happy to identify this species, but I must confess that I am even more happy with the images that I was able to capture. For all three images, I believe, I had to focus manually as I tried to compose the images, which can be a real challenge with a digital camera. When I first started taking photos back in the pre-digital age, I remember that my single-lens reflex film camera had a split prism area that you had to adjust and you knew that the subject was in focus when the two halves of the image aligned.
My telephoto lens was extended fully to 400mm, so I was a pretty good distance from the damselflies when I composed these shots. I particularly like the first image, in which the branch at the top third of the shot gradually falls out of focus, allowing the viewer to focus on the damselfly clinging to the leaf.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Big Bluet, Big Bluet damselfly, Canon 7D, Enallagma durum, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 8 Comments »
June 3, 2025 by Mike Powell
I was excited last week to see a lot of Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies (Speyeria cybele) that appear to have recently emerged at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Great Spangled Fritillaries are large orange-colored butterflies with dark-colored markings on the inner wings and prominent silvery white spots on the underside of the hind wings, i.e. the “spangles” in the name of the species.
Most of the ones that I saw appeared to be feeding on the trails, as you can see in the two photos below, rather than feeding on the nectar of flowers, as I have typically seen them do in the past. Perhaps they need minerals from the ground when they first emerge or were attempting to drink water from the damp soil.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Great Spangled Fritillary, Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Speyeria cybele, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 7 Comments »
June 2, 2025 by Mike Powell
Last Friday I almost literally stumbled upon a young White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. As I turned a corner, I suddenly spotted this little deer slowly coming towards me. I immediately stopped, but the deer initially kept on walking. I noticed that the deer had nubs on its head instead of antlers. Was this a buck who was too young to grow antlers or was this a somewhat older deer who was regrowing his antlers?
I grew up in the suburbs of Boston and confess that I know very little about deer. I do know that male deer shed their antlers during the fall and winter and then regrow them in the spring each year. According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, antlers are the fastest bone growth in the world and the antlers of an adult White-tailed Deer can grow 1/4 inch (6 mm) a day and those of an elk can grow an inch (25 mm) a day.
This deer seemed more curious about me rather than afraid of me and eventually moved only a few feet off of the trail to let me pass. I was happy to see this beautiful young animal in its natural habitat. In many parts of the suburban area surrounding Washington D.C. there is an overpopulation of deer and a variety of measures are used to try to control the population. At this wildlife refuge, for example, several deer hunts are conducted each year.
I personally am not a hunter, but I do recognize the dangers that deer overpopulation poses to the habitat, to the human population, and to the deer themselves. When I am out with my camera, though, I am not thinking about these things, but instead am focused on sharing the beauties of nature and peacefully coexisting with my fellow creatures, like this young deer.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged anon 7D, buck, deer, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Odocoileus virginianus, Tamron 18-400mm, white-tailed deer, Woodbridge VA, young buck | 2 Comments »
June 1, 2025 by Mike Powell
This past Friday I was delighted to spot some mature male Calico Pennant dragonflies (Celithemis elisa) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Earlier this season I had seem some immature male Calico Pennants who still had yellow bodies. As they mature, male Calico Pennants turn red in a pattern that looks like a column of little hearts, as you can see in the second photo below.
Like other “pennant” dragonfly species, Calico Pennants like to perch precariously on the very tips of vegetation. Even the slightest breeze will cause them to flutter, like pennants in the wind.
You can’t help but notice the beautiful patterning in the wings that makes this species stand out from almost all other dragonfly species. Wow!
I took the first two photos when the dragonflies were perched nearby in the vegetation. Periodically the dragonflies would fly out over the water of a small pond at the wildlife refuge and would perch at the water’s edge. The shoreline was really mucky, so I could not get close to these dragonflies. I was happy, though, to be able to capture the final photo below, an “artsy” minimalist view of a Calico Pennant perched at an almost right angle on a slim blade of vegetation.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Calico Pennant, Calico Pennant dragonfly, Canon 7D, Celithemis elisa, male Calico Pennant, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 5 Comments »
May 31, 2025 by Mike Powell
I was delighted yesterday during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge to spot this beautiful female Needham’s Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula needhami), my first of the year. Later in the year, Needham’s Skimmers will become the most frequent dragonfly that I will encounter at this location but the dragonfly in the photo below was the only one that I saw yesterday.
Needham’s Skimmers are quite distinctive in appearance. Mature males are reddish-orange in color and stand out from the males of other species. Females and immature males have a body coloration that is shared with some other species, but the golden yellow veins at the leading edges of their wings distinguishes them from the others.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, female Needham's Skimmer, Libellula needhami, Needham's Skimmer, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 4 Comments »
May 27, 2025 by Mike Powell
Blue Corporals (Ladona deplanata) are an early-season dragonfly—they appear in April and are usually gone by the beginning of June. I was therefore happy to spot some Blue Corporals in mid-May during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Blue Corporals perches frequently on low flat surfaces, often on the ground, so they are sometimes hard to see when the ground is cluttered, as it often is at this time of the year.
The dragonfly’s “corporal” stripes on his thorax are really visible in the first photos, so I could immediately identify his species. A short time later I was surprised when I saw a Blue Corporal land on a rusty bit of metal sticking out of the water at the edge of a small pond—I haven’t seen Blue Corporals flying over the water very often. I think this might have been a fence post or some kind of marker, because it appeared to be attached to some concrete.
I was absolutely delighted to be able to captures the texture of the rusty metal and the orange-blue complementary colors make this image particularly eye-catching.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Blue Corporal, Blue Corporal dragonfly, Canon 7D, Ladona deplanata, male Blue Corporal, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 4 Comments »
May 26, 2025 by Mike Powell
There are quite a few blue dragonflies where I live, so I can’t always rely on color to tell them apart. Fortunately, it is relatively easy to identify a male Spangled Skimmer (Libellula cyanea), because it has a lighter-colored spot beside a black spot on the outer leading edge of each wing—as far as I know, no other dragonfly in our area has multi-colored stigmata, the technical name for those spots.
The stigmata are not there for decoration, but reportedly serve an important role in the flight of dragonflies. I do not really understand the physics of flight, but have read that the stigmata are heavier than the adjoining cells and help to stabilize the vibrations of the wings.
I spotted this male Spangled Skimmer as he was perched in the vegetation at the edge of a small pond at Shrine Mont, an Episcopal Church retreat center, in Orkney Springs, Virginia. Most often I try to get side views of dragonflies in order to get most of the body in focus, but in this case I deliberately tried to focus on the dragonfly’s large, compound eyes, knowing that much of the body would fall out of focus. This allows the viewer’s attention to be drawn immediately to those eyes.
I encourage you to click on the image to get a closer look at the dragonfly’s amazing eyes.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Libellula cyanea, male Spangled Skimmer, Orkney Springs VA, Shrine Mont, Spangled Skimmer, Spangled Skimmer dragonfly, Tamron 18-400 | 2 Comments »
May 24, 2025 by Mike Powell
I was away in the mountains last weekend at a church retreat at Shrine Mont, and Episcopal retreat center in Orkney Springs, Virginia. We had a wonderful time of rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation in a really beautiful setting.
There was a small pond at the site where I spotted a number of dragonflies, including some Common Baskettails (Epitheca cynosura) that were patrolling back and forth over the surface of the water. I felt compelled to try to capture images of these dragonflies and had a modest amount of success, as you can see in the photos below. I ended up focusing manually most of the time, because the backgrounds were often cluttered and the focus system had trouble acquiring the dragonflies.
I really like the way that this little series shows the varied backgrounds at the pond. I was also quite happy to focus well enough on the dragonflies that the backgrounds were blurred and non-distracting. In case you are curious, these Common Baskettails were relatively cooperative, hovering a bit over the water and allowing me time to focus on them.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Common Baskettail, Common Baskettail dragonfly, Epitheca cynosura, Orkney Springs VA, Shrine Mont, Tamron 18-400mm | 4 Comments »
May 22, 2025 by Mike Powell
When I first spotted two Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) sitting in a large eagle nest last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I assumed that one of them was sitting on eggs. I was therefore a bit surprised when one of the ospreys mounted the other in what I assume was an act of mating. That suggests that there are not yet any eggs in the nest.
After a brief period of activity, the one that is probably the male flew away from the nest and I managed to capture a couple of photos of his departure. Both of the ospreys are in the frame in the second and third photos below and I really like the way that I captured the wing span of the departing osprey and his spread tail feathers. I encourage you to click on these two images to get a closer look at the ospreys, particularly the male.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, osprey mating, osprey nest, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | Leave a Comment »
May 21, 2025 by Mike Powell
I usually try to get close-up shots of dragonflies, but sometimes that is not possible. In those cases, I try to be creative and frame and/or isolate the subject with elements of the environment, as I did with this Blue Dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis) that I spotted last Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the first one that I have spotted this year.
I really like this composition, despite the fact that the dragonfly is very small in the photo, thanks largely to the undulating green waves of the leaves and the out-of-focus branches in the background. What do you think? Should I have cropped the photo a bit more?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Blue Dasher, Blue Dasher dragonfly, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Pachydiplax longipennis, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 5 Comments »
May 20, 2025 by Mike Powell
As I have noted in several recent posts, I have real troubles spotting birds when the trees are fully leafed out. In other seasons, when the trees are bare, birds tend to fly to new perches when they detect my presence and I can often track them when they are in flight and follow them visually to their new perches. Now, however, the birds seem to remain in place and sing loudly, but remain invisible to my eyes.
Last week I managed to capture an image of an American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) when he popped into view momentarily outside of the tree canopy at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The little goldfinch was visible for only a short period of time, but fortunately I was looking in the right direction at that moment.
Later in the day I spotted another goldfinch perched in a distant tree. For some reason, the tree had no leaves, so it was easy for me to see the bird. I grabbed a shot and tried to move a little closer, but the bird could see my movement and immediately flew away. I hesitated to post the second photo below, because the bird is so small in the frame, but decided that I really liked the contrast between the bright yellow of the bird and the starkness of the branches and the white sky, a nice counterpoint to the lushness of the vegetation in the first photo.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged American Goldfinch, Canon 7D, goldfinch, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Spinus tristis, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 9 Comments »
May 19, 2025 by Mike Powell
As I rounded a bend in a trail last Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I spotted a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the foliage of a tree right in front of me. The eagle and I both reacted instantly, but its reflexes were faster than mine and the eagle took the air. I managed to capture a few shots of the departing eagle, a testament to both my luck and a quick reaction in bringing my camera up to my eye.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle takeoff, Canon 7D, eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 12 Comments »
May 16, 2025 by Mike Powell
The colors of the False Indigo Bushes (Amorpha fruticosa) were spectacular on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, attracting my attention as well as that of an energetic honey bee (g. Apis) whose pollen sacs were already filled to bulging. I was initially paying so much attention to focusing on the moving bee that I did not realize that my shutter speed had dropped to 1/400—I was in aperture priority mode. The first photo was a “happy accident: in which the bee’s face was in focus, but its rapidly-moving wings were a blur.
In the second shot, the bee had landed and was crawling all around the stalks of the false indigo bush. I am really happy with my snapshot of that action that captured the color and movement of my brief encounter with the honey bee.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bees, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Amorpha fruticosa, bee, Canon 7D, false indigo bush, g. Apis, honey bee, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 2 Comments »
May 15, 2025 by Mike Powell
Later in the season I can rely on coloration to distinguish between male and female Calico Pennant dragonflies (Celithemis elisa)—the bodies of males are red and those of females are yellow. When they first emerge, however, immature males are yellow, so you have to look really closely at a given individual to determine its gender.
The terminal appendages of the dragonfly in the second photo indicate to me that it is a male, despite the fact that its body is yellow. The one in the first photo is also an immature male Calico Pennant dragonfly that is just beginning to change from yellow to red. I love the way that he is perched on the very tip of the flimsy vegetation stalk, holding tightly to it with all of his little legs.
I spotted these two dragonflies on 12 May at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, my first sightings of this colorful dragonfly species of the year. There is something really special about the patterned wings of both genders of Calico Pennants and when viewed from the right angle, as in the second photo, the pattern on their bodies look like a series of hearts.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Calico Pennant, Calico Pennant dragonfly, Canon 7D, Celithemis elisa, male Calico Pennant, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 4 Comments »
May 14, 2025 by Mike Powell
During a visit on Monday to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I noted that many of the summer dragonfly and damselflies are starting to appear. I was particularly delighted to spot several Big Bluet damselflies (Enallagma durum). As their name suggests, Big Bluets are relatively large damselflies, with an overall length of about 1.7 inches (43 mm).
Big Bluets tend to active and a bit skittish, so it’s a bit tough to get a decent shot of one, especially when I am shooting with a zoom lens. The auto-focus of my Tamron 18-400mm zoom often has trouble focusing on a damselfly, because their bodies are so thin and they clasp their wings together over their bodies. Consequently, I frequently end up focusing manually and it is an advantage with this lens that the minimum focusing distance is 17.7 inches (45 cm), so I can get pretty close to my subject.
I was delighted to be able to capture this beautiful image of a female Big Bluet. My focusing was spot on and the background blurred out nicely. If you look closely, you may notice that the depth of field, i.e. what was in focus, was so shallow that much of the stalk of vegetation on which the damselfly was perched was out of focus. In case you are curious, I tried to position myself so that I was on a parallel plane with the damselfly’s body to get as much of it in sharp focus as possible.
One interesting factual tidbits about Female Big Bluets is that, like several other damselfly species, they come in two different color variants. This one is the blue form and there is also an olive form. What that means is that I cannot rely exclusively on the color of the damselfly to determine its species and must also look at other features like the shapes of the eyespots and markings on the terminal appendages.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Big Bluet, Big Bluet damselfly, Canon 7D, Enallagma durum, female big bluet, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | Leave a Comment »
May 13, 2025 by Mike Powell
The feathers of Double-crested Cormorants (Nannopterum auritum) are not completely waterproof, so periodically they have to dry out their wings. I often see cormorants completely out of the water, perched on rocks or logs with extended wings. This cormorant last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge apparently decided, however, that a perch was not necessary—it simply spread its wings in the air and held them in that position.
A bit earlier I captured the second image below. Usually I see cormorants in the deep waters of the bay, but this cormorant was in a small pond at the wildlife refuge. The pond is mostly surrounded by trees that are now in bloom and I was happy to capture some of the colors of the trees in their reflections on the surface of the water.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Nannopterum auritum, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 1 Comment »
May 12, 2025 by Mike Powell
Common Five-lined Skinks (Plestiodon fasciatus) are indeed quite common, but they are so skittish that they are tough to photograph. As soon as they see me (or sense my presence), they will usually scamper away to the underside of the logs on which they like to perch. On a recent visit to Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, I spotted this skink sunning itself on a log and was able to get this shot because I approached him from behind—this technique does not work as well for dragonflies, which have massive compound eyes that provide them with a field of view of almost 360 degrees.
It is always fun to encounter juvenile skinks that have bright blue tails, but this one appeared to be an adult. I noted too that its tail was intact. Like many lizards, skinks possess the unique defense mechanism of being able to drop their tail to escape predators. The dropped tail continues to wiggle, distracting the predator, while the skink flees. Skinks can regenerate their lost tail, though the new tail may differ in structure and coloration from the original.
As many of you know, I love bad “Dad” jokes and this skink reminded me of one of them. “Where do skinks go to find a replacement for a lost tail? A retail outlet.” Sorry!
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Common Five-Lined Skink, Five-lined Skink, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, Plestiodon fasciatus, skink, Tamron 18-400mm | Leave a Comment »
May 10, 2025 by Mike Powell
The trees are now covered with leaves, providing hiding places for the tiny songbirds that I can hear but cannot see. Fortunately, some birds are so big that it is hard to miss them, like this Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) that I spotted this past Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
This turkey was slowly walking away from me and I captured this shot when he was in motion. I don’t think that a Wild Turkeys can balance themselves on a single leg when stationary, though perhaps there is a special kind of turkey yoga that enhances their balancing abilities.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Meleagris gallopavo, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Wild Turkey, Woodbridge VA | Leave a Comment »
May 9, 2025 by Mike Powell
Although it is relatively early in the butterfly season, this beautiful Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) that I spotted on Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge was already beginning to show signs of the wear and tear of everyday life, with damage to its wings and body and one missing “tail.” I don’t know what caused the damage to the butterfly’s wings, but suspect that it might have been attacks by predators or collisions with thorns or other sharp vegetation.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged black swallowtail, black swallowtail butterfly, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Papilio polyxenes, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 2 Comments »
May 8, 2025 by Mike Powell
It has taken a little while, but I am starting to see damselflies during my searches for dragonflies. As many of you know, damselflies and dragonflies are “cousins” in the sense that they are both members of the order Odonata. Generally speaking, dragonflies have thicker, shorter bodies and hold their wings out to the sides when resting, while damselflies are slender with wings often folded together. The eyes of dragonflies often touch each other, while those of damselflies tend to be more widely separated.
The first photo below shows a Fragile Forktail damselfly (Ischnura posita), a very common species where I live. The interrupted shoulder stripes look like exclamation marks, which makes them pretty easy to identify. The second photo shows what I am pretty certain is a female Eastern Forktail damselfly (Ischnura verticalis). Female damselflies of a number of species are similar in appearance, so I am a bit less confident that I have correctly identified this individual.
More damselflies will continue to appear as I shift my attention almost exclusively from birds to insects. As a result of recent rains, the trees in my area are now covered with leaves, which means that I am increasingly having trouble seeing the birds that I can hear singing.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Eastern Forktail, Eastern Forktail damselfly, Fragile Forktail, Fragile Forktail damselfly, Ischnura posita, Ischnura verticalis, Lorton VA, Occoquan Regional Park, Prince William Forest Park, Tamron 18-400mm, Triangle VA | 3 Comments »
May 7, 2025 by Mike Powell
Most flowers have blooms at the end of their stems or at least in places above their leaves. Each spring, however, I encounter Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum), a strange plant that seems to work in a totally different way. Mayapple plants grow in colonies from a single root and stems put out large umbrella-shaped leaves, with usually only a single large leaf per stem. These stems do not produce any flower or fruit.
A few stems, though, produce a pair or more leaves and a single white blossom appears at the juncture point where the stem branches off. If you don’t know that the blooms are there, it is easy to miss them, because the large leaves hide them from view.
Last week during a trip to Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge I checked out several large patches of Mayapples that I had seen in previous years. I think I might have been a little late in the season, but eventually I found a Mayapple plant with a flower that was clearly past its prime. As you can see in the first photo, a harvestman, known colloquially as a daddy longlegs, was camped out on the flower, waiting perhaps for potential prey. For the second photo, I zoomed out a bit to show the unusual location of the flower on the Mayapple plant and the habitat in which these plants grow.
As many of you know, I focus mostly on wildlife creatures in my photography, but my almost insatiable sense of curiosity draws me to anything weird and wonderful that catches my eyes, like Mayapples in bloom.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Flowers, Nature, Photography, spring | Tagged Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge, Canon 7D, daddy longlegs, Fort Belvoir VA, Mayapple, mayapple flower, opiliones, Podophyllum peltatum, Tamron 18-400mm | 2 Comments »
May 6, 2025 by Mike Powell
How do you capture a shot of a dragonfly perched at an angle on a fallen branch? That was my dilemma last week at Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge when I caught a view of a flying dragonfly out of the corner of my eye and saw it land.
My first reaction was to stop and then to slowly bring my camera up to my eye to capture a shot before the dragonfly flew away. I was still a good distance away from the dragonfly but thanks to my telephoto lens I could see that it was a Stream Cruiser dragonfly (Didymops transversa). The final photo shows my initial view of the dragonfly. It is a little hard to tell, but the fallen branch was not very far off of the ground.
Stream Cruisers are long and skinny and a little tough to fit into a photo taken in landscape mode. I moved closer to the dragonfly, knelt down, and circled around a bit to capture the middle image. By getting closer to my subject and altering my shooting angle, I was able to blur out the background better. I still was not quite satisfied with the photo, though, because it conveyed the mistaken impression that the cruiser was perching horizontally.
I circled around some more and decided to take some shots in portrait mode. I held my camera at an angle, trying to match the angle at which the dragonfly was perched, in order to have its entire body in focus. This first shot below, one of the last ones I took, was my favorite. The background is blurred and almost all of the details on the cruiser are pretty sharp.
I realize that the image makes it look like the cruiser was hanging perfectly vertically, which was not exactly true, but the image looks pretty natural to me. Wildlife photographers make a whole series of creative choices that help them to create images that reflect their personal vision of “reality” in front of their cameras, a kind of subjective reality.
One of my favorite quotations about photography comes from noted photographer Dorothea Lange, who said, “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” My photos provide some insight into the way that I view the world. Welcome to my world!
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge, Canon 7D, Didymops transversa, Fort Belvoir VA, Stream Cruiser, Stream Cruiser dragonfly, Tamron 18-400mm | Leave a Comment »
May 5, 2025 by Mike Powell
I am finally starting to see some male Blue Corporal dragonflies (Ladona deplanata) that are blue in color. In mid-April I started seeing Blue Corporals, but the males that I spotted at that time were all immature, like the one in the second photo below, and shared the coloration of females of the species.
The dragonfly in the first photo is a mature male. I spotted it during a recent hike along a creek in Prince William County. When you compare its feature to those of the immature male, you can see that the adult coloration is definitely bluer and the “shoulder” stripes on its thorax are a bit faded.
I really like the head-on angle that I used to photograph the Blue Corporal in the first photo. Technically only a small portion of the dragonfly is in sharp focus when you shoot from this angle, the eye-to-eye direct contact works well and draws in the viewer. As you can probably tell, I took this from a low angle, which helped to draw attention to the dragonfly’s interesting pose and to separate the subject from the somewhat cluttered background.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Blue Corporal, Blue Corporal dragonfly, Canon 7D, Ladona deplanata, male Blue Corporal, Prince William County VA, Tamron 18-400mm | Leave a Comment »
May 4, 2025 by Mike Powell
Common Whitetails (Plathemis lydia) can be found almost everywhere and are among the first dragonflies to appear in the spring and the last to survive in the fall. I nonetheless enjoy trying to capture creative images of them, like these two that I spotted this past week.
How do wildlife photographers choose their subjects? Some of them are attracted almost exclusively to rare and/or exotic species and are always looking for something new to photograph. Their mentality is close to those of many birders, who keep “life lists” of all the birds they have seen and are always lookin got add another one to the “list.”
Other photographers, like me, are content to photograph a more limited selection of subjects over and over again, hoping to capture something new and different, finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. The first photo is one such example—I love the prominent specular highlights in the image and the unusual pose of this female Common Whitetail with one of her legs extended.
At other times, I am simply trying to compose an image creatively, as in the second photo below. There is nothing super special about this shot of a male Common Whitetail, but I tried to add some visual interest by including some of the vegetation at the base of its perch and a portion of the lily pads in the distance. It is not a prize-winner by any standards, but I like the overall “feel” of the pleasant little image.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Common Whitetail, Common Whitetail dragonfly, female Common Whitetail, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, Lorton VA, male Common Whitetail, Occoquan Regional Park, Plathemis lydia, Tamron 18-400mm | 2 Comments »
May 2, 2025 by Mike Powell
I was a bit surprised to spot this North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) swimming in Accotink Creek yesterday afternoon and managed to capture this image before it sensed my presence and disappeared under the water. Beavers are primarily nocturnal, so most of my beaver sightings in the past have been at dusk or dawn. I am not sure why this beaver was active in the early afternoon on a bright sunny day. Perhaps it was looking for food to feed a newborn beaver baby. Who knows?
Accotink Creek is part of the Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge, a nature preserve mostly on the grounds of the U.S. Army installation Fort Belvoir in Fairfax County, Virginia, where I live. However, parts of the refuge, including the areas that I visited yesterday, are open to the public and do not require entry onto the military installation.
I am including a photo of a suspension bridge across Accotink Creek that is currently closed. The stairs from the two banks of the creek to the bridge are gone and I do not know if they were removed intentionally or were washed away in a flood. The photo gives you the relative sense of the size of the creek and the overall habitat in which I spotted the swimming beaver.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in animals, beaver, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge, Accotink Creek, beaver, Canon 7D, Castor canadensis, North American Beaver, swimming beaver, Tamron 18-400mm | 2 Comments »
May 1, 2025 by Mike Powell
What is the most difficult subject that you try to photograph? Quite often my biggest concern is the composition of a photograph, i.e. can I capture a shot that will be visually pleasing. Sometimes that means waiting for a particular expression or wing position or moment of action, but if I am patient enough, I have a pretty good chance of getting some decent shots.
Each year, though, I try try to challenge myself to capture some “impossible shots” of dragonflies in flight. Of course, such shots are not actually impossible, but they are really difficult to pull off. Some really high-end modern mirrorless cameras have focusing systems that are so good that they can lock focus on a moving dragonfly, but I mostly use cameras with technology that is over a decade old. Usually I will try to track a dragonfly through the viewfinder of my camera and focus on it manually. It’s a little easier when the dragonfly is flying a somewhat predictable path over the water and ideally hovering a bit.
This past Monday I had my first experience this season with in-flight photography when I spotted several Common Baskettail dragonflies (Epitheca cynosura) patrolling over the water of a small pond at Occoquan Regional Park. I managed to get a decent number of shots in frame, but most of them were out of focus—clearly I am a little rusty and need more practice to regain the necessary hand-to-eye coordination. The first shot below is cropped quite a bit, but is one of my best shots from my little session.
Common Baskettail dragonflies, which are only about 1.6 inches (41 mm) in length, spend a lot of their time in the air, but on that day I was fortunate when one of them decided to take a break and perched for a few moments low in the nearby vegetation. The second and third shots below provide a good side view of this beautiful little dragonfly, including its distinctive terminal appendages (the tip of its “tail”).
It’s a fun challenge for my patience and skills as a photographer to attempt to capture shots of dragonflies in flight and luck certainly plays a big part in achieving any success whatsoever. I can just about guarantee that I will be featuring a few more in-flight dragonfly photos in the upcoming months as the insects and I become more active outdoors.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Common Baskettail, Common Baskettail dragonfly, dragonfly in flight, Epitheca cynosura, Lorton VA, Occoquan Regional Park, Tamron 18-400mm | 3 Comments »
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Mike Powell 