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 »
April 29, 2025 by Mike Powell
Yesterday I decided to visit Occoquan Regional Park in nearby Lorton, Virginia to search for some dragonflies. Some of you know that the place that I visit most frequently is Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, so you may be a little confused, because they both have “Occoquan” in their names. The Wildlife Refuge is run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, whereas the Regional Park is run by Fairfax County.
The locations are only a few miles apart, but their habitats are different enough that I tend to see some different dragonfly species at each spot. I was hoping to see some Spiketail dragonflies, but came up empty-handed. As I was nearing the end of my adventure, however, a large dragonfly flew overhead. I did not get a very good look at it, but its size, shape, and flight profile suggested to me that it was from the Darner family.
A short while later, I spotted another large dragonfly (possibly the same one) flying around some vegetation and was thrilled when it landed. At the precise moment that it landed, my vision was partially blocked by some branches, but I had a good idea of where I hoped the dragonfly was perched. I moved a few steps slowly and silent to get an unobstructed view of the dragonfly.
I held my breath when I saw that it was a Swamp Darner (Epiaeschna heros), the largest dragonfly in my area at about 3.5 inches (89 mm) in length. Wow! Judging from its terminal appendages (the tip of the “tail”), I am pretty sure that this is a female. I took the second photo below initially, afraid to move closer for fear of spooking the dragonfly.
I then stepped a little closer and moved up and down as I tried to get a better shot. My options were limited, because the dragonfly was perched about 10 feet up (about 3 meters) and was surrounded by intertwined vines and branches. I think that the first shot below is a marginal improvement on my first shot and encourage you to click on it to get a better look at the Swamp Darners beautiful markings, including its spectacular eyes.
I suspect that this park will be in my regular rotation of places to visit as additional dragonfly species continue to emerge.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Epiaeschna heros, female Swamp Darner, Lorton VA, Occoquan Regional Park, Swamp Darner, Swamp Darner dragonfly, Tamron 18-400mm | 3 Comments »
April 28, 2025 by Mike Powell
Last week I spotted this Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon) alongside a creek during a hike in Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia. Water Snakes are not venomous, but I remember reading that their saliva contains an anti-coagulant, so I am reluctant to get so close to one that I risk getting bitten.
Most of the Northern Water Snakes that I have previously seen have been a uniform dark color, but this snake has a beautiful striped pattern on its underside that is visible in this photo. This snake seemed to be simply sunning itself, absorbing the warmth of the spring sunshine.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, snake, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Nerodia sipedon, Northern Water Snake, Prince William Forest Park, sunning snake, Tamron 18-400mm, Triangle VA | 5 Comments »
April 27, 2025 by Mike Powell
This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) was sipping from a wet area at the edge of a forest creek (and maybe ingesting other nutrients) when I photographed it on 23 April at Prince William Forest Park in Triangle,Virginia. I used to associate this species of butterfly with gardens, because that is where I tended to spot them in the past. However, over the last few years, I have spent a lot of time in the spring in forested areas and have spotted Eastern Tiger Swallowtails regularly there, both individually and in small groups.
Check out my 2021 posting called “
A Kaleidoscope of butterflies” to see a photograph of Eastern Tiger Swallowtails “puddling,” i.e. congregating together on wet sand and mud to drink water and extract minerals from puddles.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, Papilio glaucus, Prince William Forest Park, Tamron 18-400mm, Triangle VA | 4 Comments »
April 26, 2025 by Mike Powell
I am not sure that I can say that dragonfly activity is at a peak yet, but I did see a whole lot more dragonflies this past Wednesday in Prince William County than in previous trips there earlier in April. I was particularly delighted to spot some Common Baskettail dragonflies (Epitheca cynosura) that were perched—quite often I have seen them in the past only when they were flying.
The Common Baskettail in the first photo seems to be a mature male. I love the way that I was able to capture an image that shows the way that it hangs when perching and the distinctive terminal appendages that always remind me of the handles of some pliers that are wrapped in plastic.
The dragonfly in the second photo looks to be a recently emerged Common Baskettail. Its eyes are still pale and its wings are very clear and are probably not fully hardened yet.
I got a late start this year in finding spring dragonflies, but feel that I have more or less caught up as we near the end of April, though there are still some spring species that I have not yet seen.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Common Baskettail, Common Baskettail dragonfly, Epitheca cynosura, Prince William County VA, Tamron 18-400mm | 3 Comments »
April 25, 2025 by Mike Powell
Dragonfly season has definitely begun. I spotted several Stream Cruiser dragonflies (Didymops transversa) on Wednesday this week while I was exploring several creeks in Prince William Park here in Virginia. Stream Cruisers are pretty easy to identify, with a single stripe on their thoraxes, pale-colored tips of their abdomens, and long, thin legs. They tend to perch at an angle or to hang vertically.
Stream Cruisers are one of the earliest dragonfly species to appear each spring and it was exciting to spot them. They tend to be habitat specialists and are generally found near forest streams with good flow and rocks.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Didymops transversa, Prince William County VA, Stream Cruiser, Stream Cruiser dragonfly, Tamron 18-400mm | 1 Comment »
April 24, 2025 by Mike Powell
The weather has warmed up considerably and I have started to see many of the spring dragonflies and even some of those that will remain with us through the summer. Last Friday I spotted numerous Ashy Clubtail dragonflies (Phanogomphus lividus), many of which appeared to have emerged recently, judging from their very shiny wings and pale coloration, as you can see in the first photo. Getting shots of them was tough, because they perch on the ground in the vegetation, are only about 2 inches in length (50 mm), and are often very skittish.
Kevin Munroe described well the challenges of finding early spring dragonflies in his wonderful Dragonflies of Northern Virginia website, “Searching for dragonflies in spring is a wholly different endeavor than finding them in July and August. Most summer dragonflies spend their time at sunny ponds or open fields, and engage in showy displays and aerial battles – they are, in a word, visible. The majority belong to the showy and successful skimmer family, along with a few darners and emeralds. The spring dragonfly community is more diverse, and has a very different M.O. They are for the most part, habitat specialists, with low population numbers, secretive habits, and denizens of woodland streams, not sunny ponds. Spiketails, Petaltails, Clubtails, Darners and Emeralds are all out and about in spring. To find these species in April and May, one must spend many hours searching forest edges, woodland clearings, and the banks of springs, streams and creeks.”
In fact, I photographed these Ashy Clubtails in the vegetation near a creek in Prince William County and I can testify to the fact that I walked about for hours searching for them. I am pretty happy with the photos that I was able to take. I especially like the second photo that has some really cool shadows that seem to magnify the number of legs and wings of the dragonfly.
The final two photos were taken only a few seconds apart and show the wings in very different positions. The penultimate photo shows the wings in a typical outstretched pose, while the final photo shows the wings clasped together over the dragonfly’s body, similar to the way that damselflies hold their wings when perched. In my experience recently emerged dragonflies sometimes flex their wings this way as fluid is pumped into the wings and the wings are hardening.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Ashy Clubtail, Ashy Clubtail dragonfly, Canon 7D, Phanogomphus lividus, Prince William County VA, Tamron 18-400mm | Leave a Comment »
April 22, 2025 by Mike Powell
When this little butterfly flew by me last Friday at Prince William Forest Park, it looked like a nondescript brown moth. Fortunately it landed on some nearby vegetation and I was able to zoom in on it. Wow—what an amazing variety of colors, textures, and markings on this tiny butterfly. I was able to determine that it was a Henry’s Elfin butterfly (Callophrys henrici).
I was pretty sure that I had never seen a butterfly like this until I searched my blog and discovered that I had seen one last spring on almost the same date. I don’t think that I’m losing my memory yet, but I keep filling my head with so much information that it is almost inevitable that I will forget some things.
There is something so whimsical about the word “elfin” that I can’t help but smile whenever I use it. I love the idea of magical creatures like elves and nymphs, drawn from the works of Shakespeare or perhaps from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. These creatures blend in so well with their surroundings that you have to look carefully to spot them and I should warn you that you may become blissfully enchanted by them.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Callophrys henrici, Canon 7D, Henry's Elfin, Henry's Elfin butterfly, Prince William Forest Park, Tamron 18-400mm, Triangle VA | Leave a Comment »
April 21, 2025 by Mike Powell
I was delighted to finally spot my first Uhler’s Sundragon (Helocordulia uhleri) of the year on 18 April near a small pond in Prince William County, Virginia. I went searching for these dragonflies, which are usually the first ones I see in the spring, on several occasions in late March and early April, but came up empty-handed. Uhler’s Sundragons are usually around for only about a month, soI was fearful that I might miss them this season.
I have a pretty good idea of the type of habitat that this early season dragonfly prefers and tend to begin my searches by returning to spots where I have photographed them in the past and then begin to widen my search. Quite often this means that I spend a lot of time walking and watching, trying to remain alert to any movement in the air or on the ground.
As you can see in the first photo, Uhler’s Sundragons often hang from a perch, rather than perch horizontally, which makes it a little easier to get a detailed shot. When the dragonfly perches low to the ground, as in the second photo when it hung from the stem of a fallen leaf, I end up doing some improvised acrobatics to capture an image.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Helocordulia uhleri, Prince William County VA, Tamron 18-400mm, Uhler's Sundragon, Uhler's Sundragon dragonfly | 4 Comments »
April 20, 2025 by Mike Powell
Happy Easter to friends and family who are celebrating today. This past week has been a whirlwind of activity and services for me at my church as we have commemorated Christ’s last days, beginning with his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, through his last supper, and finally his crucifixion and burial. Today we celebrate Jesus’s triumph over death with a joyous Easter service.
I photographed this beautiful little Pearl Crescent butterfly (Phyciodes tharos) during a recent visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Butterflies have always been special for me as symbols of the amazing transformations that can take place in this world, even when the situation seems hopeless and sad.
I offer my prayers for all of you, believers and non-believers alike, that your lives will be full of joy, hope, and peace.
Christ is risen!
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Easter, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Easter, Easter 2025, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Pearl Crescent, pearl crescent butterfly, Phyciodes tharos, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 13 Comments »
April 19, 2025 by Mike Powell
I was delighted to spot this Falcate Orangetip butterfly (Anthocharis midea) on 15 April at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The butterfly is somewhat nondescript when its wings are closed, but spectacular when they open, revealing the orange tips for which the species is named.
I encourage you to click on the second image to get a closer look at the beautiful details of this tiny butterfly, including its speckled gray eyes and wonderfully marbled wings.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Anthocharis midea, Canon 7D, Falcate Orangetip, Falcate Orangetip butterfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 5 Comments »
April 18, 2025 by Mike Powell
I am a little late in finding my first dragonflies of 2025, but on Wednesday (15 April) I finally spotted some Blue Corporals (Ladona deplanata) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. As an added bonus, the first image also shows a metallic-green Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata) that was crawling past the dragonfly.
Blue Corporals, one of the first dragonflies to emerge in the spring, are relatively easy to identify because they have two stripes of their shoulders—two stripes is the traditional marking for the rank of corporal in the armed forces. When they first emerge, males and females have similar colorations, but the males turn blue as they mature. Judging from the shape of their terminal appendages, I believe that the dragonflies in the first two images are females and the one in the final photo is an immature male.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Blue Corporal, Blue Corporal dragonfly, Canon 7D, Cicindela sexguttata, Ladona deplanata, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Six-spotted Tiger Beetle, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA | 5 Comments »
April 17, 2025 by Mike Powell
Earlier this season, it looked like a pair of Bald Eagles had occupied a large nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Each time that I visited the refuge, I would check the nesting site to look for indications that an eagle was sitting on eggs. Unfortunately, the nest is so deep and so high up that it is almost impossible to tell if an eagle is inside of the nest.
Last week, I watched a pair of Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) fly into the nest and seize it and captured this shot of them doing so. Generally ospreys use much smaller, thrown-together nests, but I guess that this pair decided to advantage of what I assume is a currently unoccupied eagle nest.
As I watched the two ospreys approach the nest with dangled legs, I couldn’t help but think of the scenes from the Wizard of Oz movie in which the flying monkeys seized Dorothy. The mind works in strange ways.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 5 Comments »
April 15, 2025 by Mike Powell
Is it a bee? Is it a fly? Well, it has a fuzzy body like a bumblebee and has a long, rigid proboscis that looks like a stinger, but its patterned wings and long legs look more like those of a fly. In actuality, it is a Greater Bee Fly (Bombylius major), a parasitic bee mimic that is one of the earliest spring pollinators of wildflowers. I photographed this bee fly last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
I was quite happy to be able to capture so many of the details of this curious creature, including its long proboscis, spindly legs, patterned wings, and fuzzy body. In case you are curious, the body of one of these bee flies is about six-tenths of an inch (15mm) in length and its wing span is about one inch (25mm). I recommend that you double-click on the image to get a better look at the little details of this bee fly.
If you would like to learn more about these fascinating little bee flies, including their parasitic behavior, check out this article on the US Forest Service website by Beatriz Moisset entitled “A Pollinator with a Bad Reputation.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bees, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged bee fly, Bombylius major, Canon 7D, Greater Bee Fly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 1 Comment »
April 14, 2025 by Mike Powell
I was absolutely thrilled last week to spot this Zebra Swallowtail butterfly (Eurytides marcellus) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Zebra Swallowtails overwinter winter in the chrysalis (cocoon) stage before emerging as adult butterflies in the spring. A second brood is born later in the year and they are the ones that lay the eggs that develop into the caterpillars that will enter into cocoons and hibernate throughout the winter.
I love the beautiful colors of this butterfly, with its zebra-like stripes and pops of red and blue—I often think of the Zebra Swallowtail as a “patriotic” butterfly, because of its red, white, and blur coloration..
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Eurytides marcellus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA, Zebra Swallowtail, Zebra Swallowtail butterfly | 4 Comments »
April 12, 2025 by Mike Powell
This Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica) was pretty far away when I spotted its little patch of bright yellow feathers this past Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I doubted that I would be able to get a recognizable shot of it, but decided to take a chance, given that it was the first warbler that I had seen this spring. The resulting shot won’t win any contest, but I am happy that I was able to document my sighting.
Warblers pass through my area each spring at about the same time as the leaves begin to appear on the trees. It can be a bit frustrating for me to be able to hear some of these little birds without being able to see them when they are hidden in the foliage. It is a little game of hide-and-see that I play every year and this time I was able to capture a shot of one of my colorful fellow players.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, warbler, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Setophaga dominica, Tamron 150-600mm, warbler, Woodbridge VA, Yellow-throated Warbler | Leave a Comment »
April 11, 2025 by Mike Powell
I was surprised and delighted to spot this Cabbage White butterfly (Pieris rapae) as it was feeding on a newly sprouted dandelion on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I love chasing these elusive little butterflies that I used to think were moths.
Gardeners consider Cabbage Whites to be pests, because their caterpillars can do significant damage to plants, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and collard greens, but I find them to be beautiful. In that respect I guess I am a kind of dreamer who prefers to focus more on form than on function.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Cabbage White, Cabbage White butterfly, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Pieris rapae, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 8 Comments »
April 10, 2025 by Mike Powell
Long telephoto lenses tend to distort your depth perception. On Tuesday I watched this North American Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) swimming about in a pond at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I was a bit creepy as the turtle got bigger and bigger in my viewfinder when it began to swim directly towards me. One part of my brain objectively knew that the turtle was still a long way off, but it was nonetheless a bit disconcerting when the snapping turtle’s dinosaur-like eyes appeared to be staring right at me.
Spring is here, though the weather has been cool recently and there were some local frost warnings last night, and all kinds of creatures are waking up. I’m still looking for my first dragonfly of the year and will probably continue my quest later today.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, spring, turtle, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Chelydra serpentina, common snapping turtle, North American Snapping Turtle, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 6 Comments »
April 7, 2025 by Mike Powell
I have been hearing a lot of Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) during recent visits to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and was delighted to finally capture a shot of one last week that shows the distinctive yellow and red shoulder patch of the males of his species.
I was hoping that the blackbird would fly to some lower branches, but he seemed content to perch high above me in a tree. I was pleased, though, to be able to capture this fun little portrait—it is tough to convince birds to pose for me.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, blackbird, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Red-wing Blackbird, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 1 Comment »
April 4, 2025 by Mike Powell
Most of the time when I am out in nature, I am focused on wildlife and often neglect to take landscape photos. Last week, though, was a notable exception when I went for a hike in Prince William Forest Park, an installation administered by the National Park Service located about 25 miles from where I live.
Most of the park is forested and hilly and there was not much wildlife to observe, so I enjoyed the natural beauty that surrounded me. My iPhone tracks the number of steps that I take and it shows that I walked about 12 thousand steps that day. That may not sound like a lot of steps, but the statistics also indicated that I climbed the equivalent of 37 flights of stairs.
One of the highlights of my hike was walking along Quantico Creek that runs through a portion of the park—I love the sound of rushing water. At several places along the creek there are dams, as you can see in several photos below, that tend to slow the flow of the water.
It was a wonderful way to spend the day and I left the park physically tired, but mentally refreshed and rejuvenated.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, spring | Tagged Canon 7D, Prince William Forest Park, Quantico Creek, Tamron 18-400mm, Triangle VA | 5 Comments »
April 3, 2025 by Mike Powell
Spring is definitely here. I spotted my first Spring Beauty wildflower (Claytonia virginica) on 26 March during a hike at Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia. Before long I am sure that I will see large numbers of them in the forest, though they tend to be ephemeral and don’t bloom for very long.
The Spring Beauty plants have tiny underground tubers that Native Americans reportedly prepared and ate like potatoes, though I suspect that you would have to collect a lot of them to make a meal.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Flowers, Nature, Photography, spring | Tagged Canon 7D, Claytonia virginica, Prince William Forest Park, Spring Beauty, Tamron 18-400mm, Triangle VA, Virginia Spring Beauty | 4 Comments »
April 1, 2025 by Mike Powell
Last Wednesday I went on a hike in Prince William Forest Park, a National Park Service site in nearby Triangle, Virginia. Unlike the coastal plains and marshes where I spent a lot of my time in nature, Prince William Forest Park, as its name suggests, is a forested area that is full of hills and valleys with numerous creeks.
One of the highlights of my hike was seeing my first Eastern Cricket Frogs (Acris crepitans crepitans) of the season. Cricket frogs of the genus Acris are quite small (about one inch (25 mm) in length) and I often spot them at the edge of the creeks in the park. On this occasion I spotted the frog when it hopped right in front of me, though most often I hear the frogs before I see them. Cricket frogs have a distinctive call that sounds like two pebbles being clicked against each other—some scientist thought it sounded like a cricket, which accounts for the common name for the species .
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Amphibians, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Acris crepitans, acris crepitans crepitans, Canon 7D, cricket frog, Eastern Cricket Frog, Prince William Forest Park, Tamron 18-400mm, Triangle VA | 3 Comments »
March 31, 2025 by Mike Powell
I spotted this male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) as he was hopping around on the ground near a stream last week in Prince William County, Virginia. I was delighted when the cardinal bent over and drank briefly from the shallow water. In the first photo, I captured the moment when the cardinal lifted his head and dribbled a few drops of water from his mouth.
It seemed like the cardinal suddenly became aware of my presence and realized that my previous photo might not have been very flattering, which is usually the case when you snap a shot of someone eating or drinking. He then struck a profile pose for me to show his better side. Note the slight tilt of the head that helps to present a slimmer neck—clearly this cardinal had some previous experience as a model.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife | Tagged Canon 7D, Cardinalis cardinalis, male Northern Cardinal, Northern cardinal, Prince William County VA, Tamron 18-400mm | 9 Comments »
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Mike Powell 