Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, snow, wildlife, Winter, tagged bird in snow, Canon 7D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Twitter, white-throated sparrow, Woodbridge VA, Zonotrichia albicollis on January 25, 2024| 5 Comments »
Despite my best efforts, I could not get this White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) to smile for me during a mini-portrait session on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The sparrow seemed to think that a serious look was more appropriate for his LinkedIn profile photo.
Birds were much more active on Twitter before its name was changed to X, but now are searching for new social media fora. Are postings on X still called “tweets?”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, bird in snow, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Melospiza melodia, snow, song sparrow, sparrow on January 5, 2014| 11 Comments »
Although I already posted a photo earlier today of a Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) in the snow, I came across one I liked even more as I was going through yesterday’s images. This sparrow (and I am never certain of my sparrow identifications) seemed to be posing for me. Somehow I was able to capture details in its eyes that I have never seen before.
After our brief portrait session, the sparrow hurried back to work.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged bird in snow, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Gallinago delicata, Huntley Meadows Park, Pinnochio bird, snipe, Wilson's Snipe on January 27, 2013| 5 Comments »
When I saw a Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago delicata) on Friday, I expected that it was a once-in-a-lifetime sighting and was really happy to have gotten some photos. I never imagined that I would see the bird (possibly the same one) the very next day in even better lighting conditions. I may eventually post some other photos, but I wanted to share this one in which he is visible against a snowy background that is mostly blown out. I think it helps to highlight some of the wonderful colors and textures of this long-billed shorebird.
Somehow the word “snipe,” which is used in all kinds of other contexts, doesn’t seem dignified enough for this beautiful bird, so I have taken to calling him the “Pinnochio bird”—for obvious reasons.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 