Thanks to some recent rains and a major wetland restoration project at my local marsh, we seem to have a lot more American Coots (Fulica americana) than last year. Most of the time they seem to like to keep their distance. This past Monday, though, one of them drifted toward an area relatively close to where I was standing and I managed to get this shot of the coot feeding on some of the vegetation growing out of the water.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posts Tagged ‘Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens’
Hungry coot
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, American Coot, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, coot, Fulica americana, Huntley Meadows Park on April 3, 2014| 9 Comments »
Submerged turtle
Posted in Art, Nature, Photography, Portraits, Reptiles, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Clemmys guttata, Huntley Meadows Park, Spotted Turtle, turtle on April 2, 2014| 11 Comments »
As I was tiptoeing my way along a tree that had fallen across a flooded area of my local marsh, I glanced down and caught sight of this turtle, submerged in the shallow water. I am no expert in identifying turtles, but it was pretty easy to identify this as a Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata), a species that I don’t see very often.
According to Wikipedia, the spotted turtle is federally endangered in Canada and in the United States it is considered to be vulnerable to extinction in the wild in the medium-term future, or threatened in most of its habituating states. Within Virginia, the state in which I live, the Herpetological Society is pretty grim in its prognosis, “Extinction or extirpation is possible. Populations of these species are in decline or have declined to low levels or are in a restricted range. Management action is needed to stabilize or increase populations.”
It was a bit of a challenge getting a shot of this turtle. I was standing on the trunk of a tree, so my footing was a bit precarious. The water was probably only a few inches deep, but it seemed to defeat my auto-focusing system, so I ended up focusing manually. Finally, there was a bit of glare coming off of the surface of the water, so I had to bend down to search for an angle that allowed me to minimize the glare.
I am hoping that I will see these turtles often and that Huntley Meadows Park, the place where I take a lot of my wildlife photographs, will continue to be a refuge for this species and for many other ones.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Springtime squirrel
Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Eastern Gray Squirrel, gray squirrel, Huntley Meadows Park, Sciurus carolinensis, spring, squirrel on April 1, 2014| 7 Comments »
Taking advantage of yesterday’s gorgeous springtime weather, this little Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) took a break from his chores to enjoy a snack and to bask in the warmth of the sun for a few moments.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Fishing for sticks
Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Belle Haven Marina, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus on March 31, 2014| 16 Comments »
Hoping to capture a shot of an osprey (Pandion haliaetus) snagging a fish earlier this month, I started firing my camera each time the osprey dove toward the surface of the water with talons extended, but, unlike the bird, I came up empty-handed. The osprey, it turns out, was not fishing for food—it was gathering building materials for its nest. It was impressive nonetheless to watch an osprey fly up into the sky with a pretty large branch in its grasp.
Click on the photos if you want to see a higher resolution view of the images. (I am always amazed by the osprey’s yellow eyes.)
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Blackbird singing
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, wildlife, tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, Alexandria VA, blackbird, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, male Red-winged Blackbird, Red-wing Blackbird on March 29, 2014| 11 Comments »
Despite the rain yesterday, the male Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) were singing up a storm. It seemed like their entire bodieswould expand as they prepared to call out loudly. I didn’t see any female blackbirds respond to the calls—in fact, I didn’t see any at all.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Two’s a couple
Posted in Art, Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, swallow, Tachycineta bicolor, Tree Swallow on March 28, 2014| 2 Comments »
It’s springtime and love is in the air. Two tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) seemed intent on getting to know each other better, but kept getting buzzed by a third swallow. A couple of times, one of the swallows, which I suspect was the male, took off and chased away the potential rival.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Longing for color
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern cardinal on March 27, 2014| 6 Comments »
Like the dried-up leaves on this branch, winter is tenaciously hanging on, refusing to give way to spring. March is almost over, yet I look out the window and see that the ground is still covered with snow.
Soon the monochromatic tones of winter will be replaced by the pastel colors of spring. Starved for bright colors, my senses rejoice when I am greeted by bright colors, like those of this male Northern Cardinal (Cardinal cardinalis) that I observed this past weekend.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Soaring osprey
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Belle Haven Marina, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus on March 26, 2014| 8 Comments »
Soaring high above the earth, this Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) seemed to be relaxing, enjoying a moment of peace before getting back to the pressing job of rebuilding the nest.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Smiling woodpecker
Posted in Birds, Humor, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Dryocopus pileatus, Huntley Meadows Park, Pileated Woodpecker, smiling woodpecker, woodpecker on March 21, 2014| 11 Comments »
Do woodpeckers smile?
Earlier this month, I spent some time observing a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) at work, high in a tree at my local marshland park. The woodpecker would peck away for a while and then stop for a break. As the big bird turned his head to one side or to the other, it seemed to me that its face would light up in a self-satisfied smile.
What do you think, is the woodpecker smiling or is it just my imagination, running away with me? (Sorry, I just couldn’t resist the temptations to throw in a line from a song.)
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Heron on the Potomac in March
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Dyke Marsh, Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, Great Blue Heron, heron on March 20, 2014| 13 Comments »
Direct sunlight and harsh shadows in the middle of the day make it challenging to take portraits without somehow diffusing the light. During the spring and summer, I will usually carry a collapsible diffuser that I use when photographing flowers (and occasionally people), but it would have been tough to get into position to use such a diffuser on this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) that I spotted on the shore of the Potomac River last Saturday, when I was visiting Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve.
As I observed the heron, I was standing on a raised boardwalk, looking downward at the heron though some bushes. In order to get an unobstructed shot, I zoomed in, focusing primarily on the head and neck. The heron moved its head about a lot as it searched the shallow waters and looked through the debris at the shore’s edge, moving in out of the shadows.
I took a lot of photos of the heron and this is one of my favorites. I like the way that I was able to capture some of the details of the plumage and the sinuous curve of the heron’s neck. I would love to be able to capture a similar image early in the day or late in the day, but, as every wildlife photographer knows, you can never tell when you will have another opportunity to photograph a subject again.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
A tough winter for bucks
Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, buck, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, death, deer, Huntley Meadows Park, white-tailed deer on March 19, 2014| 11 Comments »
These images are disturbing, especially the first one. They show the harsh reality of the struggle for survival for wild creatures, even in the relatively comfortable confines of a suburban marshland park.
For the second time this winter, I stumbled upon a dead deer in a remote area of my the marsh when I take many of my wildlife photos. (I documented the earlier sighting in a posting that I titled “The Buck Was Stopped Here.”) This time, the skeleton was relatively intact and I was surprised to see that it was another buck. I am still baffled about the cause of his death. Predators? Starvation?
As a photographer and as a human, I struggled in deciding how to present this subject in photographs. I knew that I was not going to remove the body far from where I found it, so I had to settle for a relatively cluttered backdrop. Was it better to show the whole body, as I did in the third photo and keep death at a distance? Should I photograph it to look like the deer had fallen asleep and died peacefully, as the second shot suggests, the way we treat death at a funeral home?
I decided that my best shot was the one in which I forced the viewer essentially to look death in the face directly, by focusing directly on the deer’s now empty eye socket. Death is a reality that can’t be avoided. The photo is a bit macabre, I know, but it speaks to me of life and of death, of the passing of one of God’s creatures.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Canvasback in flight
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Aythya valisineria, Belle Haven Marina, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Canvasback, Canvasback duck, Potomac River on March 18, 2014| 6 Comments »
As I was observing the osprey couple on the Potomac River this past weekend, I spotted an unusual-looking duck of a species that I had never seen before. One of my fellow photographers said that he was pretty sure that it was a Canvasback duck (Aythya valisineria) and I couldn’t disagree, having no idea what a Canvasback duck looked like.
The duck was a pretty good distance away and I was looking through my telephoto lens when it decided to take off from the water. I don’t think that the duck was aware of our presence, for it initially flew toward us and parallel to the shore before veering off into the center of the river. I was able to track the duck pretty well and got some in-flight shots, including my two favorites that I am posting.
I am not one hundred percent sure of the identification and would welcome a confirmation or correction, as appropriate, from someone with more experience in identifying bird species.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Swallows in motion
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, swallow, Tachycineta bicolor, Tree Swallow on March 17, 2014| 19 Comments »
I was a little surprised to see some Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) on Saturday when I visited Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, a freshwater tidal wetlands on the Potomac River. I thought it was a bit early for these little aerial acrobats to be here, given the fact that there are not yet many insects for them to catch, but they were flying about and checking out a nesting box.
Sometimes I get cool shots of birds in flight by accident, like this shot of a Tree Sparrow, which took off as I was photographing it. The angle of view is one that I have never before captured in any image.
Two of the swallows seemed to spend a lot of time together and I suspect that they are a breeding pair, though they were periodically buzzed by other tree swallows, which could be other potential suitors for the female. One of the swallows eventually entered the box and I suspect that the swallows are constructing a nest in it, though I didn’t see any of them actually carrying in construction material.
It’s a good sign for me that spring is almost here when I see birds reappearing (even as I shovel away eight or so inches of snow that have fallen in the last 24 hours).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Osprey in flight
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Belle Haven Marina, birds in flight, breeding, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus on March 16, 2014| 20 Comments »
A breeding pair of Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) has returned to a nesting site only a few miles from where I live and I was thrilled to get some shots of the ospreys yesterday, on a bright sunny day.
The nest, which has been used for quite a number of years, is built on a wooden piling near the Belle Haven Marina south of Old Town Alexandria on the Potomac River. The piling is tilted quite a bit, apparently because of the pressure of the ice that accumulated when the cold temperatures this winter caused the river to freeze, but the birds seem undeterred and were busily adding sticks to the nest yesterday. It looks like the ospreys may be compensating for the angle by building the nest higher on one side than the other, though it is really hard to tell at the moment.
I took lots of shots yesterday that I need to review, but I thought I would post this one as a sneak preview and suspect that I will have enough shots for another few postings. The ospreys flew by a few times (most often the male) and I was able to get photos of them in flight andworking on the nest. I remember hearing that there were ospreys on the Potomac River, but somehow never made the trip last year during breeding season. This year, I will try to make more frequent trips to check on the couple’s progress.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Wild goose chase
Posted in Art, Birds, Humor, Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Branta canadensis, Canada Geese, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, geese, Huntley Meadows Park, wild goose chase on March 15, 2014| 5 Comments »
Earlier this month, when the ponds were almost completely frozen over at my local marsh, I watched as some Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) zoomed across the ice at a very low altitude. It looked like they were racing each other. In the background you can see some potential spectators, but they didn’t seem to want to get caught up in a wild goose chase.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Ice flowers
Posted in Art, Flowers, Landscape, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, ice, ice flowers on March 14, 2014| 11 Comments »
In this transitional time of the year, mornings are often frosty and ice forms in some areas of the marsh in beautiful patterns that look like crystal flowers. Spring is not far off and soon these ice flowers will be replaced by the real thing.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Reflections on a favorite spot
Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, beaver, beaver lodge, beaver pond, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, reflections on March 12, 2014| 9 Comments »
Do you have a favorite spot that serves as a refuge, a place to which you can retreat and just sit and absorb the natural beauty that surrounds you? This winter I found such a place at a beaver pond in one of the remote corners of my local marshland park, a location reachable only by following a thorny, informal trail that was often muddy and/or icy.
Often I would sit on one of the logs that surrounded one end of the beaver pond for extended periods of time and listen and observe. On occasion I was lucky and managed to get shots of an otter and a red fox from this spot, but mostly I would try to relax and clear my mind and reflect on life (I never managed to see any beavers here).
This spot has really beautiful light and sometimes I would marvel at the beautiful reflections that the trees across the pond would cast onto the water. I tried several times to capture those wonderful reflections with my camera, mostly without success. Last week, though, I took some photos that I like and here are a couple of them. They have an abstract quality that I find to be really appealing.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
More signs of spring
Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, spring, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Chrysemys picta picta, Eastern Painted Turtle, Huntley Meadows Park, painted turtle, red-eared slider, red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans), turtles on March 11, 2014| 5 Comments »
The temperatures this past weekend soared past 60 degrees (16 degrees C), bringing the turtles up from the mud on the bottom of the ponds at my local marsh. Most of the turtles crowded together on the log in the first shot appear to be Eastern Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta picta), but I think I detect at least one Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans).
Not all of turtles, however, wanted to bask in the sun in a communal environment. The second image shows a turtle that managed to find its own log and was enjoying a few moments of contemplative solitude.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
You just keep me hanging on
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, Alexandria VA, blackbird, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, male Red-winged Blackbird, red-winged blackbird, Supremes, You Just Keep me hanging On on March 10, 2014| 9 Comments »
Usually I spot male Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) perched on the top of the cattails stalks, loudly calling out, but this one decided to perch himself sidewards. It looked a little awkward, but he seemed to manage well enough as he struck a pose for me.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Shovelers in the reeds
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas clypeata, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, ducks, ducks swimming, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Shoveler, reeds, shovelers on March 8, 2014| 2 Comments »
Every time that I see the outlandishly long bill and bright colors of a male Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata), I can’t help but think that this is a cartoon duck, created by Walt Disney for a Technicolor movie. Of course, these ducks are real and the bills serve a useful function in helping them to strain the water for food.
The male shoveler is easier to spot, because of its more distinctive coloration, but I was happy to be able to get some shots of a female too as this couple moved in and out of the reeds in one of the ponds at my local marsh. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Northern Shoveler pairs are monogamous and remain together longer than pairs of other dabbling duck species.
One of the interesting things that I noted is that the feathers on the male’s head are not the solid green that I am used to seeing. They seem mottled and I wonder if this is some kind of transitional plumage as breeding season approaches.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Chilling on a first date
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas acuta, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, first date, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Pintail, Northern Pintail Duck on March 7, 2014| 4 Comments »
Judging from the distance between them and the awkwardness of their poses, these Northern Pintail ducks (Anas acuta) this morning at my local marsh looked like they were on a first date, getting to know each other.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
A robin feathering his nest…
Posted in Art, Birds, Music, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, American robin, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Mary Poppins, robin, Spoonful of Sugar on March 6, 2014| 7 Comments »
This past weekend it seemed like we had been invaded by a large flock of American Robins (Turdus migratorius), busily foraging in the trees and in the grass, and these words kept echoing in my mind:
“A robin feathering his nest
Has very little time to rest
While gathering his bits of twine and twig
Though quite intent in his pursuit
He has a merry tune to toot
He knows a song will move the job along.”
Folks of my generation will immediately recognize some of the lyrics of the song “A Spoonful of Sugar” from the movie Mary Poppins. In case you don’t recall the song or have never heard it, here’s a link to a clip on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8VHc49ZdP4).
The song and the movie may be seem unrealistically squeaky clean by today’s standards, but I can never get enough of its cheery optimism. It’s one of my favorite things, like silver white winters that melt into spring.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Winter dragonfly
Posted in Art, Dragonflies, Humor, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, dragonfly, giant dragonfly, Runnymeade, winter on March 5, 2014| 2 Comments »
I never expected to encounter a dragonfly when I went walking in the snow in my neighborhood yesterday.
My eyes were scanning the trees for birds, when right it front of me I detected the unmistakable shape of a dragonfly, a giant green dragonfly perched on a tree. I approached it quietly and was able to get this shot, my first shot of a dragonfly in a long time.
With snow still covering the ground and the temperatures below freezing, it’s hard to imagine that the real dragonflies will be appearing in a few short months.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Flying with a goose
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, goose, Huntley Meadows Park on March 3, 2014| 5 Comments »
What it would be like to fly like a bird? When I look at this photo I took recently of a Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) in flight, I feel almost like I am flying in formation with a gaggle of geese and have glanced over to look at one of my flying companions. The sad reality, of course, was that my feet were firmly planted on the ground and this goose flew by me at a relatively low altitude.
I’d still like to fly—perhaps in my dreams I can take flight.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
When crows fly
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Americn Crow, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Corvus brachyrhynchos, crow, Huntley Meadows Park on March 3, 2014| 9 Comments »
The soundtrack to my recent visits to the marsh has been the constant cacophony of a chorus of countless cawing crows. The crows seem to be everywhere, swooping in large groups from one grove of trees to another.
I have tried numerous times to get some shots of these American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) without much success, but recently I took an image that I like. The day was cloudy and heavily overcast when photographed this crow in flight. When I started working on the image the sky turned almost white. Normally, I would not have been happy with that result, but somehow this stark background works for me for this crow.
I thought about going completely black-and-white for this image, but I like the way that some of the feathers appear to be a lighter shade of brown. Is the crow molting, perhaps?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
The buck was stopped here
Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, antlers, buck, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, deer, Huntley Meadows Park, Odocoileus virginianus, white-tailed deer on March 2, 2014| 14 Comments »
Hiking through a remote area of my local marshland park yesterday, I came upon the skull of a dead deer with some impressive-looking antlers. I don’t know much about deer, but the antlers are enough to tell me that it was a buck and, if I understand the counting system right, it was a six-point buck (three on each side). Initially I saw only the skull, but when I investigated the marsh grass in the surrounding area, I saw some of the larger bones of the deer.
The White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the park don’t have many natural predators, so I can’t help but wonder what caused this buck’s demise. There are coyotes in the park, so I guess that is a possibility. At certain times of the year, archers also shoot deer and I have been told that police sharpshooters sometimes hunt deer at night, but my understanding is that they try to recover the bodies and turn the meat over to homeless shelters. Whatever the case, the animals and birds of the park had picked the bones clean.
I took these shots primarily to record my find, not to make any kind of artistic statement. I used a couple of elements in the area where I found the skull to prop it up so that I could photograph some of the details of this once beautiful animal.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Casting a shadow
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Melospiza georgiana, Melospiza melodia, shadow, song sparrow, sparrow, swamp sparrow on March 1, 2014| 6 Comments »
At this time of the year especially, I can usually depend on seeing ducks, geese, and sparrows at my local marsh—other birds may or may not be present, but these three species are my constant companions. The ducks and the geese are often loud and occasionally obnoxious, but when the sparrows sing, it’s generally a more melodious song. The ducks and geese will often fly away when I approach, but the sparrows will just take a hop or two and continue to forage for food.
I take lots of photos of sparrows. They are usually within range and have a surprising amount of personality. Yesterday, on a cold and windy day, I captured this image of what I think is a Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia). The light was pretty good and the sparrow cooperated by lifting its head without turning, resulting in a pleasant little portrait of this pretty little bird.
CORRECTION: A number of more experience bird watchers have noted that this is a Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana), not a Song Sparrow. Sorry for any confusion—this is not the first time I have misidentified a species, and certainly not the last.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Crouching heron
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, crouching heron, Great Blue Heron, heron, Huntley Meadows Park on February 27, 2014| 8 Comments »
The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) was standing tall on the trunk of a fallen tree last weekend and extended his neck as he looked all around. When he bent down and leaned forward, I knew he was getting ready to take off and I managed to get this shot just before his liftoff.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Precarious perch
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Great Blue Heron, heron, Huntley Meadows Park on February 26, 2014| 7 Comments »
When the Great Blue Heron landed high in a limbless, skinny tree, I suspected he would not be there long—it was like he was perched on top of a flagpole. I managed to capture of series of action shots as he pushed off from the tree and launched himself into a dive.
The shot below give you an idea of the height of the tree in which he was perched. It looked to be dead and mostly rotted and was in the center of a marshy field. It was early in the morning and there was heavy cloud cover, which is why the sky looks so white. The photos were mostly silhouetted, but I tried to lighten the shadows a bit to reveal some details.
The next shot shows the Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) a split second before he took off. He has extended his wings and is leaning forward. Obviously he had received the call from the control tower that he was cleared for takeoff.
This final shot suggests that the heron propelled himself forward with his legs before using his wings, ending up in a somewhat unusual position.
I was able to track the heron until he disappeared into the trees, which let the buffer in my camera catch up with me—as you might suspect, I was shooting as fast as my camera would fire.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Happy little bluebird
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, bluebird, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Eastern Bluebird, Huntley Meadows Park, Sialia sialis, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Wizard of Oz on February 25, 2014| 5 Comments »
I saw a flash of blue in the distance and I smiled, for I knew it was an Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis). Bluebirds have that effect on me. Why?
I suppose that I can blame the Wizard of Oz, a movie that I watched repeatedly during my childhood. Who could forget Dorothy singing of happy little bluebirds flying beyond the rainbow?
“Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why then, oh why can’t I?
If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can’t I?”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Indifferent to the snow
Posted in Art, Photography, Portraits, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Buddha, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, indifferent, Runnymeade, snow, winter on February 24, 2014| 4 Comments »
Snow sometimes causes me stress. I worry about the safety of the road conditions and how long it will take for me to get to work. I feel anxious as I shovel out my car and the sidewalk in front of my townhouse.
This statue in the garden of one of my neighbors is a visual reminder that I can adopt a different mindset. I can remain calm on the inside and indifferent to the cares of the world. The snow will melt and spring will come when it is time.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
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Mike Powell 