October 3, 2020 by Mike Powell
Common Whitetail dragonflies (Plathemis lydia) are among the first dragonflies to appear in our area in the spring and among the last to disappear in the fall. They thrive in a wide variety of habitats and are probably our most frequently seen and easily identified dragonfly—the name “common” seems to fit quite well.
Despite their ubiquitousness, I enjoy trying to photograph these little dragonflies whenever I can. Many of my photos are almost carbon copies of previous photos (you have to pretty old to remember carbon copies), but sometimes I manage to capture an image that is different and distinctive. At times I can envision such a moment when I am out in the field, but often I discover that things “clicked” only when I am examining the images on my computer.
I captured this image of a female Common Whitetail last Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The dragonfly had been perching on the ground, as dragonflies of this species are wont to do, and flew up to a precarious perch on a bent stalk of vegetation. She was not there long, but it was enough time for me to snag this shot. For me, it is the wonderful twisting curve of the vegetation that makes the shot work so well as an “artsy” environmental portrait of a Common Whitetail dragonfly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Common Whitetail, Common Whitetail dragonfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Plathemis lydia, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 5 Comments »
October 2, 2020 by Mike Powell
A bee and a flower—it’s such a simple, yet beautiful composition. I photographed this Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) on a globe thistle flower this past Tuesday in the garden of my neighbor and dear friend Cindy Dyer.
Some folks might suffer a little cognitive dissonance when they look at the flower in the photo and hear the name “globe” thistle. I thought about renaming it “hemisphere thistle” for the purposes of the picture. 🙂
Beauty is everywhere.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Bees, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, carpenter bee, Cindy Dyer, Eastern Carpenter Bee, globe thistle, Tamron 180mm, Xylocopa virginica | 9 Comments »
October 1, 2020 by Mike Powell
Today is National Poetry Day in the United Kingdom and in Ireland. To celebrate, I decided to read a little poetry when I went out to photograph nature today at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and brought along with me three poetry collections that were all published during the past two months in the United Kingdom by The Hedgehog Poetry Press (https://www.hedgehogpress.co.uk/).
I am most familiar with Eat the Storms by Damien B. Donnelly, an Irish poet whose blog I have followed for quite some time. One of the highlights of my stay in Paris last November was having a chance to meet Damien in person, shortly before his return to Ireland—check out my blog posting Paris Portraits: Damien. Damien is amazingly creative and has done video versions of a number of his poems that he has featured on YouTube and even on TikTok. The poems in this collection, his first, are full of references to colors that characterize both the physical and psychological landscape, including some steps of his personal journey. Be sure to check out his blog at deuxiemepeaupoetry.com and his newly-created Eat the Storms podcast that features Damien and a host of poets from around the world. The podcast can be found at https://anchor.fm/damieneatsthestorms as well as on Spotify.
The second collection here, Venus in pink marble, was written by Belfast-based Gaynor Kane. I was introduced to her when she did a joint poetry launch video with Damien that was published on YouTube and was entitled “Venus Eats the Storms, A Poetry Launch of two Poets, Gaynor Kane and Damien B. Donnelly.” Both of them are energetic, funny, and engaging as they talk about their individual stories and read selections of their poetry. They apparently had so much fun recording the video that they decided to post an outtake video that is hilarious and can be seen by clicking this link.
The final poetry collection is called Seasons and was written by Katie Proctor, a young poet from Yorkshire, England. I encountered Katie during a Zoom launch presentation in mid-September that presented a “Prickle of Hedgehogs,” with readings from poets, including Katie, whose collections had been published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press. You can learn more about her at her webpage or on Twitter.
You might have had bad experiences from being forced to read and analyze poetry when in school, but I encourage you to give it another shot. The poems by these three poets help me to see and experience the world in different ways, through different eyes. I encourage you to listen to a podcast or two or check out the websites for which I have provided links.
All of these poetry collections are available from Amazon, but I encourage you to order them directly from the poets for two reasons. First of all, it helps to support them more. Secondly, the quality of the books is not the same. I was so anxious to get a copy of Eat the Storms that I ordered one from Amazon and one from Damien. Not surprisingly the one from Amazon arrived first. It was printed in the USA and the paper is of lower quality and is off-white, rather than white like the “original.” The Amazon version also lacks the inner flap photo and biographic information that is found in the UK version.
Let me end with Damien’s standard closing, “Stay Bloody Poetic.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Inspiration, Language, people, poetry | Tagged #eatthestorms, Damien B. Donnelly, deuxiemepeaupoetry.com, Gaynor Kane, Katie Proctor, National Poetry Day, The Hedgehog Poetry Press | 6 Comments »
October 1, 2020 by Mike Powell
Have Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) started their migration southward? I thought that they were already gone from my area, but was delighted to spot this one on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge in a newly blooming patch of goldenrod.
Is this butterfly a bit behind schedule? Perhaps this is a butterfly that started its migration journey from a point farther north and stopped in for a snack. Whatever the reason for its presence, my spotting of this beautiful butterfly added a colorful highlight to my day.
Keep your eyes open and look expectantly for colorful highlights in your own daily lives. That sense of joyful expectation will have a positive influence on your entire day.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Danaus plexippus, goldenrod, Monarch, monarch butterfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 16 Comments »
September 30, 2020 by Mike Powell
Humans shed skin cells all of the time—according to one source, in one year, each of us sheds more than 8 pounds (3.6 kg) of dead skin. Snakes have an entirely different shedding process. Several times a year they grow a complete new layer of skin underneath the old layer. During shedding, snakes secrete a fluid to help separate the old skin from the new, and this fluid runs under their specialized eye caps, resulting in the opaque or blue quality of the eye.
Last Friday I encountered one of these blue-eyed snakes while exploring Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Snakes are vulnerable during this stage when their vision is impaired and I was a little surprised to see this snake was in a fairly open area. I think this may be an Eastern Ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis), but did not examine the snake at length for fear of disturbing it.
Moving as stealthily as I could, I leaned in with my macro lens to capture this image. If you look carefully into the eye (or double-click on the image to enlarge it) you will see that I managed to capture a “selfie” reflection.
As an interesting coincidence, my most viewed posting of 2020 has been a May 2016 posting that also featured a snake with a blue eye. That posting, entitled Blue-eyed garter snake, has had 597 views so far this year. If you are not totally creeped out by today’s photo, you might want to check out the 2016 posting, which has some full body shots as well as a close-up shot of the snake’s head.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, snake, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Eastern Ratsnake, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Pantherophis alleghaniensis, shedding, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 20 Comments »
September 29, 2020 by Mike Powell
How flexible are you? I used to run marathons and, like most runners, I am not very flexible. I marvel at ordinary people who can bend down and touch the floor while keeping their knees straight and am utterly fascinated when I watch gymnasts and acrobats. Several years ago I attended a Cirque de Soleil performance and was mesmerized the entire time.
I don’t think of grasshoppers and katydids as being particularly flexible—their outer shell seems rigid and armor-like. Imagine my surprise and delight when I stumbled upon this flexible female Handsome Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum pulchellum) last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Normally her ovipositor, the yellow scimitar shaped appendage at the end of her abdomen, faces to the back. In this case, though, she has arched her back so much that the tip of the ovipositor extends further forward than her head.
What is she doing? I think that she is somewhere in the process of depositing eggs. I do not know exactly how that works, but a University of Arkansas website described the ovipositing for a similar katydid with these words, “An ovipositing female embraces a plant stem with her prothoracic and mesothoracic legs and brings the curved and sword-like ovipositor far forward so its tip can scrape the substrate.” There are a lot of unfamiliar scientific words there, but I think I get the gist of what is going on.
I do not recall photographing this process before, but a search of my blog revealed that, in fact, I captured a series of images in a September 2013 posting entitled “Rainbow katydid depositing eggs?“. Be sure to check out that earlier posing for more fascinating photos of a flexible katydid.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Handsome Meadow Katydid, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Orchelimum pulchellum, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 18 Comments »
September 28, 2020 by Mike Powell
The weather has turned cooler, but traces of summer still remain, like this tiny Summer Azure butterfly (Celastrina neglecta) that I spotted last Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The Azure butterflies are among the smallest butterflies in our area, with a wing span of just over one inch (25 mm). My current approach is to shoot any insect that I can find—it won’t be long before they are all gone and I will change to a longer lens and focus primarily on birds.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography | Tagged Canon 50D, Celastrina neglecta, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, summer azure, SUmmer Azure butterfly, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 6 Comments »
September 27, 2020 by Mike Powell
At this time of the year, the vegetation is thick and the leaves are still on the trees, so it is hard for me to spot birds. Of course, it is a bit easier when the birds are large in size, like this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) that I spotted amidst the reeds and lily pads this past Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
The heron did not show any signs that it was actively hunting, but with herons, it is hard to tell—they will stand for lengthy periods of time in a single spot and then strike suddenly and violently. As a photographer, it is tough for me to have that same amount of patience and vigilance. After a reasonable amount of waiting, I will often move on, as I did here, and leave the heron peacefully in place.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 12 Comments »
September 26, 2020 by Mike Powell
This year has been full of question marks as our lives have been turned upside down by the pandemic and so many of those questions have gone unanswered. Somehow, then, it seemed appropriate that I spotted this Question Mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis) on Tuesday when I was exploring Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
At this time of the year, when the leaves are turning brown and falling to the ground, this butterfly blends in well with its surroundings. This butterfly, however, did not seem interested in blending in and chose instead a rocky surface to help highlight the irregular shape of its wings. Normally Question Marks are more opaque in their brown coloration, but the sun was illuminating the wings from behind and gave us a hint of the beautiful orange interior and distinctive markings of this butterfly—I love it when internal beauty shines through.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Polygonia interrogationis, question mark, Question Mark butterfly, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 15 Comments »
September 25, 2020 by Mike Powell
Nature sometimes saves the best for last. Many dragonflies that have kept me company through the long, hot days of summer have started to disappear. The appearance in autumn of the spectacularly colored male Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum ambiguum) compensates in part for this sense of loss.
I spotted this handsome dragonfly on Wednesday as I was exploring Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I hope to be seeing this species for another month or so and also its “cousin,” the Autumn Meadowhawk, which has a similarly colored body but has brown eyes.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Blue-faced Meadowhawk, Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly, Canon 50D, male Blue-faced Meadowhawk, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sympetrum ambiguum, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 16 Comments »
September 24, 2020 by Mike Powell
Most of the butterflies that I have photographed this season have been in sunny fields, where they are attracted to wildflowers or other blooming vegetation. Last week while photowalking in Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I was thrilled to spot a butterfly that prefers a marshy woodland and captured this image of an Appalachian Brown butterfly (Satyrodes appalachia).
The colors of this butterfly species are quite subdued, when compared with those of a Monarch or an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, but I love the beautiful brown-on-brown patterns on the wings and the distinctive-looking series of eye spots. There are several similar butterflies with slightly different arrangements of eyespots. I am relatively confident that this one is an Appalachian Brown butterfly, but there is a chance that it is an Eyed Brown butterfly (Satyrodes eurydice).
As always, I defer to those with greater expertise in identification—I have been humbled multiple times when I have confidently made an identification and have been absolutely wrong.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Appalachian Brown, Appalachian brown butterfly, Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Satyrodes appalachia, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 11 Comments »
September 23, 2020 by Mike Powell
Most damselflies fold their wings above their bodies when they are perched. There is, however, a small group of fairly large damselflies, known as spreadwings, that hold their wings partially open when perching.
I do not see spreadwing damselflies very often, so I was excited to spot this one on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I managed to capture shots from a couple of angles before it flew away, but did not get a shot that showed the thorax markings, which can help a lot with identification. I can tell for sure that the damselfly is female, but it is difficult to determine with certainty its species.
I posted the photos in a Facebook dragonfly forum and even the experts were not certain—females tend to lack the distinctive markings of the males and generally are harder to identify. They narrowed it down to a few possibilities and if I had to guess, I’d say this is a female Slender Spreadwing damselfly (Lestes rectangularis).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Winter | Tagged Canon 50D, Lestes rectangularis, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Slender Spreadwing, Slender Spreadwing damselfly, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 6 Comments »
September 22, 2020 by Mike Powell
When I first spotted this large grasshopper last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge it was so still that I was not sure that it was alive. I gently rustled the vegetation and the grasshopper moved a little, so I knew that it was not dead. As I watched, I could see its mouth moving and I think that it might have been eating, which might explain why it was distracted and did not immediately fly away. The first photo was an unsuccessful attempt to determine what the grasshopper was eating.
I am not very good at grasshopper identification, but my friend Walter Sanford, with whom I was hunting for dragonflies, knew that it was a Differential Grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis). The prominent chevrons on the hind femur are apparently one of the identification features for this species.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, differential grasshopper, grasshopper, Melanoplus differentialis, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 11 Comments »
September 21, 2020 by Mike Powell
Roses are red and bluets are blue, except when the bluets are damselflies, when they might be a different color. Last week while photowalking at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, fellow dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford pointed out this Orange Bluet damselfly (Enallagma signatum) that was perched in a tree just above eye level. As he pulled back a branch that was blocking my view, I was able to get this unobstructed shot of the beautiful little damselfly.
You might think that the bright coloration of this damselfly would make it easy to spot, but Orange Bluers are small, less than an inch and a half (38 mm) in length, and elusive. I am lucky if I manage to spot a couple of them during an entire season, so I was thankful for Walter’s sharp eyes.
This Orange Bluet, I think, would make a good mascot for the autumn season, when oranges and browns begin to dominate the natural and manmade landscape and the stores are filled with decorations for Halloween and Thanksgiving. I suspect that some stores are already starting to decorate for Christmas, but I am not ready to give up on the waning moments of summer—for some of us, tomorrow is the autumnal equinox, the first day of fall.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, damselfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Enallagma signatum, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Orange Bluet, Orange Bluet damselfly, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 22 Comments »
September 20, 2020 by Mike Powell
Spiders are really cool and I always marvel at the elaborate webs they weave out of material from their own bodies. Almost all my shots of Black and Yellow Garden Spiders (Argiope aurantia) have been taken from the front, primarily because the webs are generally in inaccessible locations. However, the placement of this spider’s web that I spotted recently at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge allowed me to view and photograph it from this unusual side angle.
It is always fun to play around and attempt to capture images of a subject from multiple perspectives. In this case, the spider was cooperative and I was able to capture this cool little portrait.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Arachnids, Autumn, Nature, Photography, spiders, wildlife | Tagged Argiope aurantia, Black and Yellow Garden Orbweaver spider, Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 22 Comments »
September 19, 2020 by Mike Powell
Sometimes I can get an indication of the species of a dragonfly by the way that it perches. Most skimmer dragonflies, the family of dragonflies that you are most likely to see, perch horizontally, sometimes on the ground or on vegetation. Other species perch vertically, hanging from vegetation. Finally, there are some dragonflies that never seem to perch and spend most of their time patrolling in the air—when they do take a break from flying, they often perch high in the tree canopy, where they are extremely hard to spot.
Stylurus is a genus of dragonflies whose members are commonly known as “Hanging Clubtails,” because of their habit of hanging nearly vertically when they perch. This past Tuesday I was thrilled to spot a male Russet-tipped Clubtail dragonfly (Stylurus plagiatus), one of the “Hanging Clubtails,” during a visit to Occoquan National Wildlife Refuge with fellow dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford.
During this summer I have been blessed to spot Russet-tipped Clubtails several times at two separate wildlife refuges. As the dragonfly season starts to draw down, it is special to find some of my favorites again, never knowing if it will be the final sighting of that species for the year.
The image below was my second sighting of a Russet-tipped Clubtail in the same general area. A short time earlier I had spotted another male Russet-tipped Clubtail in the trees, but it flew away before I could get any good shots of it. This may well be the same dragonfly, albeit in a different perch.
If you look closely at the image below you can see how the dragonfly is clinging to the leaf and hanging almost vertically. You can also note the prominent “club” that makes it easy to identify as a clubtail dragonfly and the terminal appendages (the shape at the end of the abdomen) show that this is a male. As you can imagine, dragonflies that perch this way are hard to spot—if they don’t move, it is easy to miss them.
Our weather has turned cooler now as we move deeper into autumn (or will begin it soon, depending on which calendar you use for the seasons). It is premature to start a countdown for the dragonfly season, but already I am noting diminishing numbers of certain species. Will I see another Russet-tipped Clubtail this season? If I am lucky, perhaps there will be another. For now I will simply say au revoir—one of the French ways of saying good-bye , with a literal meaning of “until we meet again.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Russet-tipped Clubtail, Russet-tipped Clubtail dragonfly, Stylurus plagiatus, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 10 Comments »
September 18, 2020 by Mike Powell
I always feel like I am being hypnotized when I stare into the giant center eyes of a jumping spider. Resistance is futile when I try to look away—I am irresistibly drawn back to those mesmerizing eyes.
I spotted this really cool-looking Bronze Jumping Spider (Eris militaris) on Tuesday when I was photowalking at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge with my friend Walter Sanford. I was thrilled to spot this little spider perched atop of some waist-high vegetation. I had to move in close, though, to be sure that this was in fact a jumping spider, because the bodies of Bronze Jumping Spiders are only a bit over a quarter of inch (6-8 mm) in length.
The little spider was not jumping, but it was moving around a lot, which made it quite a challenge to photograph at such close range. However, that meant that I was able to get shots from multiple angles without having to change my shooting position, as you can see in the photos below.
I often encourage readers to double-click on the images to see the details of the subject and think that it is especially beneficial to do so with these images. You will be able to see the fascinating arrangement of the spider’s eyes—I think there are eight eyes—and the reflection of the sky and the landscape in the large front eyes.
My favorite photo is undoubtedly the first one. I love the direct view into the eyes of the jumping spider and its combative pose that reminds me of a sumo wrestler at the start of a match. Was the spider challenging me?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Arachnids, Autumn, Nature, Photography, spiders, wildlife | Tagged Bronze Jumping Spider, Canon 50D, Eris militaris, jumping spider, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 26 Comments »
September 17, 2020 by Mike Powell
What’s my favorite insect? If I were to do a survey of readers of this blog, I am confident that most would say that my favorite insect would have to be one of the many dragonflies that I regularly feature here. I do love dragonflies and spend endless amounts of time during the warm months photographing them, but if I had to choose one favorite insect, it would not be one of them—it would be the Handsome Meadow Katydid (Orchelimum pulchellum).
I remember my sense of amazement the first time that I spotted one of these multi-colored beauties. I literally could not believe my eyes and it was love at first sight. To this day, I never fail to be mesmerized by the neon colors and the blue eyes of the Handsome Meadow Katydid. Love is love—when we are smitten, words somehow are inadequate to explain our feelings.
I spotted this beautiful female Handsome Meadow Katydid on Tuesday while photowalking at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge with fellow dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford. You can tell that this one is a female because of the yellow scimitar-shaped appendage at the tip of the abdomen that is an ovipositor used to deposit eggs on plants.
I really like the the ways that the colors of the katydid are repeated in the background and the repeated pattern of the vegetation leads the eye and somehow manages to be unobtrusive. All in all, it seems to be the perfect backdrop for the appropriately-named Handsome Meadow Katydid, my favorite insect.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, favorite insect, Handsome Meadow Katydid, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Orchelimum pulchellum, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 18 Comments »
September 16, 2020 by Mike Powell
Over the years I have developed the habit of checking milkweed plants carefully whenever I spot them. Milkweed plants host an extensive cast of colorful characters including ladybugs, milkweed beetles, and Monarch butterfly caterpillars (Danaus plexippus). Though I have been keeping an eye out for them for the last couple of months, I was unsuccessful in spotting a Monarch caterpillar until this past Sunday when I finally spotted one at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
This Monarch appears to be in one of its final phases of development as a caterpillar, when fattening up seems to be a priority before forming a chrysalis. It is not surprising, therefore, that most of the edges of the leaves in this photo have been gnawed on by the caterpillar. This caterpillar seems to be a little late calendar-wise in its path to becoming a butterfly, but I did spot several Monarchs yesterday, so it seems that the Monarch migration has not yet taken place, or at least not in its entirety.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Danaus plexippus, milkweed, monarch butterfly, Monarch caterpillar, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 20 Comments »
September 15, 2020 by Mike Powell
I spotted this beautiful Red-spotted Purple butterfly (Limenitis arthemis astyanax) last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. When I first saw it flying around, I thought it might be one of the many dark swallowtail species that we have in our area. When the butterfly finally landed, however, I could see that it had no “tails,” not because it was damaged, but simply because it is not a swallowtail butterfly.
The name of this species has always confused me a bit. When I look at the image below I can see some red spots, but for the life of me I don’t see anything that looks purple. Nonetheless, I love the varying shades of blue on the butterfly’s body and the little red accents.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Limenitis arthemis astyanax, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Red-spotted Purple, Red-spotted Purple butterfly, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 17 Comments »
September 14, 2020 by Mike Powell
It is always enjoyable to observe these fuzzy little Eastern Cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) when I am out walking the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This one was suddenly alert as I was getting ready to take this shot and may have detected my presence. From a photographic perspective, I like the shot much better when its head is lifted up than when it is grazing, which is what the rabbit was doing most of the time that I observed it.
If you double-click on the image to see more details, be sure to look into the rabbit’s eye, where you can see a pretty reflection of the
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in animals, Autumn, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Eastern Cottontail rabbit, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, rabbit, Sylvilagus floridanus, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 12 Comments »
September 13, 2020 by Mike Powell
During my recent trips to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I have been seeing a lot of Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). Most of the time they have been in small groups, but occasionally I will run across one that seems to be alone or maybe simply separated temporarily from its group.
In the first photos, you will notice the long “beards” of two of the turkeys, which suggest that they are mature males. Generally flocks of turkeys are separated by gender and by age, so these may all be mature males, though the one on the left looks to be smaller than the other three, though that might simply be a factor of the viewing angle. The turkey in the second photo has a shorter “beard” and may be a jake, the term used for an immature male turkey.
It is interesting to watch wild turkeys. They seem slow and deliberate in all that they do, strutting and poking about for food. Even when they are spooked, they don’t accelerate quickly as most birds do, but instead they slowly fade into the underbrush.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Meleagris gallopavo, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Wild Turkey, Woodbridge VA | 14 Comments »
September 12, 2020 by Mike Powell
I spotted this pretty little sulphur butterfly last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Several sulphur species in our area are similar, but I think this one is a Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae). I was hoping that the butterfly would perch in a more photogenic spot, but it kept landing on a gravel road and appeared to be taking in salts or other minerals from the soil.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Cloudless Sulphur, Cloudless Sulphur butterfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Phoebis Sennae, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 10 Comments »
September 11, 2020 by Mike Powell
Dragonflies are fierce predators that eat a wide variety of insects. However, predators can easily become prey, as was the case with this male Common Whitetail dragonfly (Plathemis lydia) that encountered a Black and Yellow Garden Orbweaver Spider (Argiope aurantia). When I spotted this pair last Friday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, the spider had already immobilized the dragonfly and may have been injecting it with venom at that moment.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Arachnids, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife | Tagged Argiope aurantia, Black and Yellow Garden Orbweaver spider, Black and yellow garden spider, Canon 50D, Common Whitetail, Common Whitetail dragonfly, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, Plathemis lydia, Tamron 180mm | 26 Comments »
September 10, 2020 by Mike Powell
I was absolutely thrilled when I spotted this Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly (Speyeria cybele) on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, because it was the first one that I managed to photograph this year. Great Spangled Fritillaries are generally quite common where I live, but somehow I missed them, probably because my photography forays have been sharply limited by the corona virus restrictions.
The butterfly was gathering nectar from a flowering thistle, whose specific species I cannot identify. I initially thought that the orange of the butterfly and the pink of the flower would not work together, but the more that I look at the image, the more I like the color combination. What do you think?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Great Spangled Fritillary, Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Speyeria cybele, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 34 Comments »
September 10, 2020 by Mike Powell
I am pretty old, but I was not born in 1669. However, a Dutch painter, Maria van Oosterwijck, was fascinated by dragonflies and butterflies, as I am, and included them in a floral painting called Flower Still Life that she completed in 1669. Molly Lin Dutina, one of my faithful subscribers, thought of me when she saw the painting in a museum recently and wrote this delightful blog posting. Be sure to check out her blog Treasures in Plain Sight for more of her postings that are thoughtful, inspirational, and always a joy to read.
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog
He seems to follow me everywhere! His interest in dragonflies, butterflies, flowers and nature in general keep me intrigued with his blog. Until he gets to the snakes. Then I tune him out. Yuck. https://michaelqpowell.com/2020/09/04/dragonfly-and-duckweed/
Because of him I am exponentially aware of dragonflies, though I cannot identify hardly any of them. As my oldest friends are aware I love butterflies, but Mike researches his and posts details about them. I merely admire. Well, except for the monarchs and especially their caterpillars. My husband and I garden milkweed especially for those!
Recently Bob and I made a trip to the Cincinnati Art Museum, wearing our masks and social distancing in the almost deserted museum. One exhibit was called “Women Breaking Boundaries” and this painting was done by Maria van Oosterwijck in 1669 entitled Flower Still Life. I was admiring the flowers: nasturtium, peony, tulip, lily of the valley, carnation or…
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Posted in Butterflies, dragonfly, Flowers, Insects, Inspiration | 7 Comments »
September 9, 2020 by Mike Powell
I was thrilled yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge to spot this beautiful Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Unfortunately it also spotted me. I captured these images as the eagle began to take off and then as it was flying away.
I was looking for an uncommon dragonfly that had been seen recently at this refuge, so I had my macro lens on my camera and was mostly looking down. As I was passing through a section of the trail that had a lot of tree cover, though, I heard what I thought was the call of an eagle. I slowed down and started scanning the trees. I spotted eagle out on a limb when I stepped partially out of the tree cover. I knew that I was exposed and would be seen, so I positioned myself and prepared for what I anticipated would happen.
I am surprised that I was able to capture such detailed images considering that I was shooting with such a short lens—my 180mm macro lens has an equivalent field of view of a 288mm lens because my camera has an APS-C crop sensor. Be sure to double click on the images if you want to see the details of this majestic bird, including its beak and its talons.
In a way, however, it was an advantage that I was not shooting with my zoom lens, because I could focus all of my efforts on tracking the eagle and did not have to worry about zooming in and out. For example, if I had zoomed in on the eagle for the second shot when its body was compact, I would probably have clipped its wings when it spread them wide open in the third shot.
I did not find the dragonfly that I was looking for, but, as I have said repeatedly in this blog, any day that I see a bald eagle is a good day, especially when I manage to photograph it.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle takeoff, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 35 Comments »
September 8, 2020 by Mike Powell
My eyes were attracted to the pinkish-colored asters when I spotted them last Friday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge and I moved closer to investigate them more closely. I was delighted to see several green metallic sweat bees (g. Agapostemon) busily gathering pollen. I have always loved the coloration of these sweat bees that are so much smaller than the bumblebees and carpenter bees that I am more used to seeing.
The sweat bees were in almost constant motion and I got a little dizzy as I tried to track their circular movement around the center of the little flowers. I was happy that I was able to get a few shots in which the speckled eyes of the bees are visible—you may want to double-click on the images to enlarge them and see this cool little detail.
Asters generally appear in my area in late summer and early fall, another sign that the seasons are starting to change. I am not ready to let go of summer, though I must confess that I enjoy the somewhat cooler weather that we have been experiencing, especially during the nighttime hours.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bees, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Uncategorized, wildlife | Tagged aster, Canon 50D, Fort Belvoir VA, genus Agapostemon, green metallic bee, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, metallic green sweat bee, sweat bee, Tamron 180mm | 14 Comments »
September 7, 2020 by Mike Powell
I spotted this damselfly on 2 September at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Initially I thought it was a male Big Bluet damselfly (Enallagma durum), based on its size and markings, but the colors seemed wrong—all of male Big Bluets that I had previously seen were blue.
In situations like this when my identification is uncertain, I normally post an image on one of several Facebook forums devoted to dragonflies and damselflies. Several experts on one of those forums determined that this is in fact a Big Bluet, but it is an immature one—as it matures it will turn blue.
I am always learning new things as I take photos. Sometimes it is about camera settings and techniques, but more often it is about the subjects that I photograph, like this immature Big Bluet damselfly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in damselfly, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife | Tagged Big Bluet, Big Bluet damselfly, Canon 50D, Enallagma durum, immature Big Bluet, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 16 Comments »
September 6, 2020 by Mike Powell
Although I did a posting fairly recently featuring a Black Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes), I like this image so much that I decided to give you another look at this striking species. I spotted this beautiful butterfly last Sunday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge as it was gather nectar from some kind of thistle flower. As I mentioned in the previous posting, you can distinguish this butterfly from similar species by the orange dot on the lower wing with a black dot inside of it.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife | Tagged black swallowtail, black swallowtail butterfly, Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Papilio polyxenes, Tamron 180mm, thistle, Woodbridge VA | 29 Comments »
September 5, 2020 by Mike Powell
Zebra Swallowtail butterflies (Protographium marcellus) are usually in constant motion, so I was excited on Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge when the one that I was chasing landed. My initial shot was the second one below that shows the pattern on this butterfly that is responsible for its name. I was then able to circle around and capture an eye-to-eye shot, one of my favorite shooting angles for insects, and it was a bonus that the butterfly had its wings fully extended.
If you look closely at the second shot, you will see that this butterfly is a survivor. Both of the “swallowtails” and the lower portion of one of the wings appear to be missing. As I have noted in recent postings, butterflies somehow manage to fly and do most of their normal activities despite significant wing damage. If you are interested in viewing an image of an intact Zebra Swallowtail, check out this 2017 posting that was entitled “Zebra Swallowtail.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Protographium marcellus, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA, Zebra Swallowtail, Zebra Swallowtail butterfly | 15 Comments »
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