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Sparrows in the snow

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, House Sparrow, Melospiza melodia, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Passer domesticus, song sparrow, Tamron 150-600mm, white-throated sparrow, Woodbridge VA, Zonotrichia albicollis on January 20, 2024| 1 Comment »

I finally got out of my house on Thursday and visited Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Large numbers of sparrows were busily pecking on the ground alongside the trails, many of which were still partially covered with snow. The sparrows would scatter as I approached, often disappearing deep into the surrounding vegetation, but occasionally one would stay still long enough for me to take its photo.

The first image shows what I believe is a White-throated Sparrow, surrounded by a bounty of berries. The second image shows a Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), foraging in the snow-covered grasses. I photographed the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) in the third image in my neighborhood, but decided to include it here among its fellow sparrows.

The last two photos show a rotund White-throated Sparrow—like so many birds at this time of the year, this sparrow has puffed up his feathers to try to stay warm in the frigid weather. The final photo shows a blurry Northern Cardinal foraging in the background, a visible indication of the peaceful coexistence of multiple species as they searched for food.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Looking from behind

Posted in abstract, Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged abstract, Alexandria VA, backlighting, Canon 7D, green spring gardens, shadows, Tamron 180mm, viola on January 19, 2024| 4 Comments »

Flowers are beautiful when you look at them from the front, of course, but they can be equally beautiful when you look at them from behind, especially when they are backlit. That was certainly true for these colorful violas that I photographed last week at Green Spring Gardens, a county-run historical garden not far from where I live.

I especially like the first shot, which has an abstract quality to it, caused in part by photographing the flower at close range with my macro lens. The flower is reduced to a mass of shapes and color and of light and shadows to the point where the brain at first glance does not seem to be able to figure out what the subject is.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Great Blue Heron With Tiny Fish

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Great Blue Heron, Great Blue Heron fishing, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, tiny fish, Woodbridge VA on January 19, 2024| 2 Comments »

Birds have to work really hard to find even the smallest amount food during the winter, as this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) demonstrated last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Alas, the fish that the heron pulled out of the water turned out to be a tiny one, nothing more than an appetizer. After gulping the fish down, the heron patiently returned to its fishing and I moved along.

As you can probably tell from the blurred foreground of the photo, I was crouched in some vegetation adjacent to a small pond and did not have an unobstructed view of the heron. I generally try not to disturb my wildlife subjects and am even more careful during the cold months, not wanting to cause the subject to expend excess energy in escaping me that it might need to find food.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cardinals in the snow

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 7D, Cardinalis cardinalis, male Northern Cardinal, Northern cardinal, Runnymeade, Tamron 150-600mm on January 18, 2024| 9 Comments »

There is something iconic about a photo of a Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) in the snow and every time that we have a snow storm I try to capture images of these bright red birds. Fortunately I did not have to travel far to find some cardinals—I captured all three of these images in the suburban townhouse community in which I live.

Given the bright color their plumage, it is not hard to spot male cardinals, but they tend to be pretty active and don’t sit still for very long, so I had to react quickly when I managed to get an unobstructed view of one. I tried to frame my photos so there was at least a little bit of snow visible in the shot and more or less succeeded in doing so.

The weather forecasters predict that we will have some more snow tomorrow, so I will probably spend a little more time getting acquainted with my neighborhood birds this weekend.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Junco in the snow

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, snow, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 7D, Dark-eyed Junco, junco, Junco hyemalis, Runnymeade, Tamron 150-600mm on January 17, 2024| 12 Comments »

We ended up getting 4-5 inches (10-13 cm) of snow in the storm that concluded yesterday. That may not sound like a lot of snow, but it was enough for the federal government and all of the school districts in the Washington D.C. area to be closed for the day. The roads were icy in my neighborhood, so I played it safe and did not venture out in my car at all.

However, I did go for a walk in my townhouse community in search of birds. It felt a little strange to be carrying a long telephoto zoom lens in such a heavily populated area and I alternately between feeling like a Peeping Tom and a member of the paparazzi.

I was happy to find a few birds in a strip of woods in our community, including this Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis). It was initially foraging on the ground when I spotted it, as you can see in the first photo, and then flew into some trees when I took a few steps closer.

It is sunny out today and the roads are mostly clear, but that is a bit deceptive, because the temperature was only 14 degrees (-10 degrees C), the last time I checked. Yikes! I have not reviewed all of my photos from yesterday, so I probably will stay inside and finish that review, rather than venture out with my camera today.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Tropical plants in January

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 7D, glasshouse, green spring gardens, greenhouse, ground orchid, orchid, Phillippine Ground Orchid, Spathoglottis plicata, succulent, Tamron 180mm on January 16, 2024| 3 Comments »

In addition to the stunning pink and purple bromeliad that I featured in an earlier posting, here are some shots of tropical plants that I observed in the “glasshouse” at Green Spring Gardens last week. The first two shots are of what I believe is a ground orchid—it may be a Phillippine Ground Orchid (Spathoglottis plicata), but there are a number of similar species, so I cannot be sure of the identification.

The third photo shows an orchid that is more typical of what I imagine when I think of an orchid. It is a little past its prime, but is still incredibly beautiful. The final photo is a close-up view of one of the many succulents that I observed. I love the geometric patterns of the multi-colored leaves in the image.

One of the nice things about taking photos indoors was that I did not have to worry about the wind creating movement. However, there was not a lot of space for maneuvering and the background was often cluttered, so I had to work hard to find pleasing angles for my photos.

This is a totally different style of photography that the bird photography I have been doing the past few months, but I think that it is good to mix things up a bit to keep from getting stuck in a rut photography-wise.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Sub-adult Bald Eagle

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle in flight, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, sub-adult bald eagle, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 14, 2024| 5 Comments »

I was thrilled to be able to capture a few shots of this sub-adult Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) last Monday as it soared overhead at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Judging from the fact that there are light feathers in the wings, which are completely dark for adults, and dark feathers in the tail, which are completely white for adults, I’d guess that this eagle is about 3-4 years old. Bald Eagles take almost five years to fully develop the “look” that we normally associate with this species.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue Tango Bromeliad

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Aechmea 'Blue Tango', Aechmea 'Del Mar', Alexandria, Blue Tango, Blue Tango Bromeliad, bromeliad, Canon 7D, Dwarf Blue Tango Bromeliad, Fairfax County Virginia, glasshouse, green spring gardens, Tamron 180mm on January 13, 2024| 10 Comments »

During the gray days of winter my senses are starved for color as the world turns mostly monochromatic. Where can I find bright colors? For a few blissful moments I immersed myself in a tropical world this past Thursday when I visited the “glasshouse,” the small greenhouse at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, Virginia.

There were some orchids and succulents, but my eyes were immediately attracted to the amazing hot pink and purple colors of an unusual-looking plant. I had no idea what kind of plant it was, but was absolutely mesmerized by this bold colors and managed to capture a few close-up shots of it with my macro lens.

When I returned home I started my research and eventually figured out that it was some sort of bromeliad. What in the world is a “bromeliad?” Bromeliads are a group of mostly tropical plants that belong to the family Bromeliaceae. I read and re-read descriptions of the characteristics and got tangled up in the scientific jargon of plant anatomy. As I understand it, many bromeliads are able to store water in a structure formed by their tightly overlapping leaf bases—the pineapple is the only bromeliad that immediately comes to mind.

With the help of my dear friend and photography mentor Cindy Dyer, I determined that this colorful plant is probably a Blue Tango Bromeliad (Aechmea ‘Blue Tango’) or possible a Dwarf Blue Tango Bromeliad (Aechmea ‘Del Mar’). Both of these are hybrid cultivars of plants that are native to tropical areas and require high humidity levels to thrive—the glasshouse was humid, but not as steamy as some that I have previously visited.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Snowdrops in January

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 7D, g. Galanthus, green spring gardens, snowdrop, snowdrop flower, snowdrops, Tamron 180mm on January 12, 2024| 6 Comments »

Yesterday I had the desire to photograph something different. For the past few months, my long 150-600mm telephoto zoom lens has remained on my camera and I have focused mostly on birds. I decided to switch back to my 180mm macro lens, the lens that I use most of the time during warmer months, and set off for Green Spring Gardens, a historic county-run park only a few miles from where I live.

Not surprisingly, I did not spot any insects, but I was thrilled to find several patches of Snowdrop flowers (g. Galanthus) in bloom. I had a fun time trying to compose some shots of these beautiful little flowers, though I did end up a bit muddy, because it had rained a lot the previous day.

At this time of the year the flower beds are mostly dirt and/or mulch, so it is impossible to get the smooth green backgrounds that I often strive for during the spring and summer months. However, I was able to blur the background some by carefully choosing my shooting angle and adjusting my camera settings.

During my time at the park, I also visited the “glasshouse,” a small greenhouse that houses tropical flowers, succulents, and bromeliads. It felt great to soak up the warmth of the sun in this enclosed environment and I managed to take a few photos there that I will share in a future blog posting.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Downy Woodpecker and poison ivy

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Downy Woodpecker, male Downy Woodpecker, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, poison ivy, poison ivy berries, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 11, 2024| 2 Comments »

I love the beautiful markings of this male Downy Woodpecker that was acrobatically snagging some poison ivy berries when I spotted him on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Downy Woodpeckers, the smallest woodpeckers in North America, feed primarily on insects, although they supplement their diet with seeds and berries, especially during winter months, when insects are much harder to find.

I can’t help but admire the intense focus of these little dynamos that are in constant motion as they forage for food. I usually see them pecking away at the bark of trees, but have always seem them on bushes and cattails.

In case you are curious, it is easy to distinguish a male Downy Woodpecker from a female, because only the males have the small red patch on the back of their heads, a feature that is visible in both of these photos.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hermit Thrush in January

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Catharus guttatus, Hermit Thrush, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Walt Whitman, When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, Woodbridge VA on January 10, 2024| 5 Comments »

When I first spotted this little bird on Monday as it perched high in a tree at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, its shape caused me to think that it was an American Robin. As I got a little closer, though, I could see that the bird’s breast was spotted and did not have the distinctive orange color of “our” robin.

I remembered that the American Robin is a member of the thrush family, so I assumed that this bird was another kind of thrush. (The European Robin, by contrast, belongs to the chat subfamily of the Old World Flycatcher family—check out this November 2019 blog posting to see a photo of a European Robin that I photographed in Paris.) When I returned home and checked by bird identification guide, I was able to determine that this is probably a Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus), a species that I have encountered only a few times.

As I was looking up information on the Hermit Thrush, I discovered that this bird played a an important role in “When Lilacs Last In The Dooryard Bloom’d,” an elegy on the death of Abraham Lincoln by noted American poet Walt Whitman. The thrush, along with lilacs and a star, is one of the recurring elements in the poem and seems to represent a kind of reconciliation with death and its song is described as “Death’s outlet song of life.” I am providing a link to the entire poem in case you are interested in reading the beautiful poem in its entirety. As a foretaste, I will leave you with one small section of the poem in which Whitman first introduced his readers to the Hermit Thrush:

“In the swamp in secluded recesses,

A shy and hidden bird is warbling a song.

Solitary the thrush,

The hermit withdrawn to himself, avoiding the settlements,

Sings by himself a song.

Song of the bleeding throat,

Death’s outlet song of life, (for well dear brother I know,

If thou wast not granted to sing thou would’st surely die.)”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Looking up

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 7D, Great Blue Heron, heron, looking up, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 9, 2024| 3 Comments »

Something caught the attention of this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and caused it to momentarily look up towards the sky. The upward tilt of the heron’s head helped it to be better illuminated, allowing me to capture this little environmental portrait of one of the year-round inhabitants of the refuge.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Odd duck

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Hooded Merganser, hoodie, Kingstowne Lake, Kingstowne VA, Lophodytes cucullatus, male Hooded Merganser, Tamron 150-600mm, Vincent Van Gogh on January 8, 2024| 17 Comments »

Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) are strange-looking ducks—no other ducks that I see regularly look like them. The shape and proportions of their heads and bills are so unusual and cartoonish that they look like they were created at Disney Studios.

Most of the time when I see Hooded Mergansers, they are in small groups, but last week I spotted only a solitary male during a short visit to a suburban pond not far from where I live. The “Hoodie” seemed to be content to swim around alone, not interacting with the other ducks on the pond and not spending any noticeable time fishing—Hooded Mergansers dive for fish, crayfish, and other food, seizing it in their thin, serrated bills.

The weather was cold, gray, and windy on the day I captured these images, conditions that are quite typical during the winter here. Weather forecasters predict that today will be mostly sunny, so I hope to have a chance to get out in nature with my camera and exercise both my body and my soul. As Vincent Van Gogh once wrote in a letter to his brother Theo, ““Always continue walking a lot and loving nature, for that’s the real way to learn to understand art better and better.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Northern Pintail

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Anas acuta, Canon 7D, male Northern Pintail, Northern Pintail, Northern Pintail Duck, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 7, 2024| 6 Comments »

There is something really elegant about male Northern Pintail ducks (Anas acuta). Some other ducks are more flashy and colorful, but the beautiful combination of grays, browns, and white give the Northern Pintails a more refined beauty that is emphasized by their long white neck stripe and very long, pointed tails.

I don’t see Northern Pintails very often, because they prefer the kind of shallow wetland that is not common at my usual stomping grounds. Recently, however, I spotted a solitary male Northern Pintail amidst a group of Mallard couples a the edge of a reed-filled creek at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The pintail mostly stayed in the shadows, but occasionally swam into the light, allowing me to capture a couple of images.

I really like the minimal palette of earth-tone colors in these two images. The texture in the background and in the ripples in the water help to add some additional visual interest without distracting a viewer’s eyes.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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One more eagle image

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle takeoff, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 6, 2024| 11 Comments »

Quite often when I review my photos a second time I find photos that I missed during my initial look, like this photo of a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) that was just starting its liftoff from a tree last Saturday morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

When I spotted this pair of eagles in a distant tree, I watched and waited, hoping that they both would turn in my direction. However, the eagle in the back kept looking in the opposite direction and branches were also blocking my view. Suddenly the eagle in the front raised its wings to take off and I was able to react quickly enough to capture the moment when it was just starting to push off from the branch.

As you can probably tell from the lighting in the photo, this was another early morning encounter with bald eagles. I was very fortunately to have multiple encounters that morning. It will soon be nesting season for the eagles and I hope to able to capture some images as the eagles work on preparing the nests for another season—there are three nesting locations at the wildlife refuge, although one of the nests looks like it may have disappeared, possibly because one of the main supporting branches collapsed.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Sidewards glance

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Cardinalis cardinalis, male Northern Cardinal, Northern cardinal, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, side eye, sidewards glance, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 6, 2024| 1 Comment »

An industrious male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) was foraging for food last Saturday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and gave me a quick sidewards glance to determine if I was a potential threat. Deciding that I posed no danger, the cardinal resumed its search for food.

Cardinals are one of my favorite birds, especially during the winter season where the world turns mostly monochromatic. My spirits are always lifted when I see the bright red plumage of a male cardinal.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Through the branches

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle takeoff, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 5, 2024| 1 Comment »

Last Saturday morning I spotted a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) perched in the middle of a tangle of small trees at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. My view was partially obscured by a large number of branches, but I still managed to focus on the eagle.

I captured this sequence of shots when the eagle unexpectedly took off. The eagle had to maneuver its wings carefully until it was away from the branches and in the final photo the eagle was finally able to display its impressive wingspan.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Sun and moon

Posted in Landscape, moon, Nature, new year, Photography, sunrise, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, dawn, moon, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, sunrise, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 4, 2024| 15 Comments »

I consider myself to be primarily a wildlife photographer, but sometimes I enjoy taking photos that do not include an animate subject. That was certainly the case last Saturday, when I travelled to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge just before sunrise. I have already posted a few photos of the sunrise that I took with my iPhone, but decided it was worthwhile sharing a few images captured with my DSLT.

When the sun first appears its light is so intense that it is difficult to capture a shot when staring right at it. As you can see in the first image, I had to underexpose the image to get a decent shot of the sun. For that reason, I like to take photos of portions of the early morning sky in which the sun is not in the frame, like the second image below that shows the pale orange color of the sky and some of the details of the distant trees.

The moon was almost full that morning and I managed to capture a detailed shot of it by once again underexposing the shot. If I had let the camera choose the exposure, I would have ended with with a bright while circle with no details. The moon was present throughout most of the morning, as shown in the final photo that I took later in the day. The daytime shot of the moon does not show as much contrast and detail as the shot in the dark, but I like the way that I was able to capture the blue sky and the clouds.

I am sure that I will be back to featuring wildlife subjects soon, but it was fun to play around with some different subjects and approaches for a change.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Winged monkey?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle takeoff, Canon 7D, flying monkeys, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, winged monkeys, Wizard of Oz, Woodbridge VA on January 3, 2024| 6 Comments »

Two Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) were perched together in a distant tree early in the morning last Saturday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. One of them suddenly decided to take off and I captured this fun shot. I encourage you to click on the image to get a closer views of the details, including the expression on the eagle that was in mid-air.

Somehow the eagle’s pose reminded me of the winged monkeys in the Wizard of Oz. I guess it has something to do with the dangling legs that look like they could easily snatch up Toto.

The early morning light gave this image a glow that I really like. Photographers sometimes refer to this time of the day as the “golden hour,” though it often lasts for a much shorter period of time.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Turkey trot

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Meleagris gallopavo, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, turkey, turkey trot, Wild Turkey, Woodbridge VA on January 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Most of the time when I see Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, they are in small groups, but when I spotted this one last Friday it was alone. Initially the turkey was slowly strolling down the trail ahead of me on which I was walking. Somehow, though, it sensed my presence and picked up its pace until it seemed to be trotting.

I captured this image mid-stride, as the turkey seemed to be looking over its shoulder to see if I was still there. The photo is relatively sharp, though if you look at the turkey’s right foot, you can see a bit of motion blur, which enhances the sense of movement.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Stepping forward, looking back

Posted in Art, Blogging, Landscape, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged 2023 review, Blog statistics, Canon 7D, long shadow, New Year 2024, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 1, 2024| 11 Comments »

WordPress is great at keeping statistics. Although it provides lots of data about my blog, I don’t really pay much attention to the numbers. For me, this blog has been primarily a vehicle for expressing myself creatively through my words and my photos. That was my original goal in July 2012, when I wrote my first posting, and I have remained pretty faithful to that approach.

As we begin a new year, though, it is interesting to review some of the statistics for 2023. During the year I published 359 posts with a total of 69,520 words. The blog had 43,575 views that included many views of postings from previous years—out of the 20 most-viewed postings of 2023, only one was published that year.

To give you a sense of context, since 2012 my blog has had a total of 4,995 postings with 427,759 views. The totals may seem impressive, but they actually are quite modest. I have never really aspired to attract a huge audience and am quite pleased with the success that I have achieved. Thanks so much to so many of you who have supported and encouraged me over the years.

I will probably be continuing my “normal” approach during this new year, but hope to venture a bit more into recording videos. I have a small YouTube channel that has languished a bit that I hope to reinvigorate this year.

Many of you know that I love long shadows. I captured the image below early in the morning on 30 December 2023 at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The image is a symbolic representation of my view of this new year that is full of promise and possibilities. Happy New Year!

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Beginning softly

Posted in Birds, Nature, new year, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Melospiza melodia, New Year 2024, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, song sparrow, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 1, 2024| 23 Comments »

A new year begins, full of promise and possibilities. Perhaps for you it starts with fireworks and loud noise, but for me, it is more quiet and introspective, like this tender little Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) that I spotted on Saturday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Normally Song Sparrows are quite frenetic, but this one paused for an extended period of time with its feathers puffed up to stay warm, seemingly lost in its thoughts.

Happy New Year! Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2024.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Leaping from a tree

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle in flight, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 30, 2023| 12 Comments »

I could sense that this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was preparing to take off and captured this image last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge right after it had taken a leap from the tree. I was hoping that the eagle would fly upwards and give me a chance at getting some more in-flight shots, but the eagle flew downwards and away from me.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hunting for ducks?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle in flight, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 29, 2023| 5 Comments »

I think this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) may have been trying to snag a duck last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It repeatedly would swoop down over the water without success–the approach seemed quite different from the one that I would normally see when an eagle was fishing. In the bottom right of the first image, you can see some droplets of water that may have been caused by a duck diving under the water.

In the second photo, the eagle is not is as sharp focus as in the first shot, but you have a better look at the splash of the duck (?) diving to avoid the oncoming eagle. Perhaps it was just a fish, but I just don’t know enough about eagle behavior and the behavior of their potential prey to know for sure.

As you can probably tell, the lighting was less than optimal when I was taking these photos. The limited lighting made my camera’s focusing system struggle a bit and maintaining focus on the eagle in flight was a bit of a challenge. Still, I am pretty happy that I was able to capture some of the action, even if I am not 100 percent sure what was going on.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Almost nesting season

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 7D, eagle takeoff, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 28, 2023| 3 Comments »

It is almost nesting time for the Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Last Friday I spotted two eagles perched in the trees adjacent to the very large nest that has hosted numerous eagle couples over the years.

Later that same day I passed by the nest again and an eagle was sitting in the nest. I captured the second image when the eagle unexpectedly took off from the nest. I like the way that I captured the action,although I would have preferred not to have clipped the eagle’s wing as it extended it upwards to generate lift for its takeoff.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Afternoon sun

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle in flight, Canon 7D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 27, 2023| 5 Comments »

The late afternoon sun was shining low in the sky and softly illuminated the side of a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) perched in a tulip tree last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. A short time later, I spotted a Bald Eagle in a sweetgum tree with the sun shining a bit more intensely—it kept going in and out of the clouds as it dropped lower on the horizon—which made the second image feel “warmer” than the first one.

The final image shows a Bald Eagle as it was flying over the water. The sunlight was coming from almost directly behind the eagle and provided some beautiful backlighting of the eagle’s white tail feathers as well as a bit of rim lighting around the edges of its body

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Two Belted Kingfishers

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Belted Kingfisher, Canon 7D, female Belted Kingfisher, kingfisher, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 26, 2023| 2 Comments »

What could possibly be better than getting a photo of a Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)? Capturing a shot of two of them together.

Last Friday I watched and listened as two kingfishers loudly chased each other across the sky and through the trees at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I thought they might be a couple, but when they landed briefly in a tree, I discovered that there were two females (females have a chestnut chest stripe that the males do not have).

The two kingfishers looked at each other and continued chattering—kingfishers have a loud, rattling call that is unique and distinctive. If you have never heard the call of a Belted Kingfisher, I encourage you to click on this link to a selection of sounds of this bird on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website, one of my favorite resources for information about birds.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Looking skyward

Posted in Birds, Christmas, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, Canon 7D, Christmas, Christmas 2023, Great Blue Heron, Great Blue Heron in a tree, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, wise men, Woodbridge VA on December 25, 2023| 8 Comments »

When a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) looked skyward on Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, it helped me create an unusual portrait of one of my most frequently photographed subjects.

This past Saturday I helped to decorate my church in preparation for the Christmas Eve candlelight service. One of the items that was set up was a manger scene that included the three wise men. They did not arrive at the stable at the moment of the birth of Jesus, but a bit later—we celebrate the visit of the Magi on 6 January.

According to the second chapter of Matthew, the wise men travelled from the East with their eyes turned skyward, like those of this heron, following a star in order to find and worship Jesus. It has become a bit of a cliché, but I firmly support the idea that “wise men still seek Him.”

Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating today and I pray that we all can join in the message of the angels in Luke 2:14, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests,” a peace that has seemed so elusive during 2023.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Kingfisher in flight

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Belted Kingfisher, Canon 7D, female Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 24, 2023| 4 Comments »

Belted Kingfishers (Megaceryle alcyon) have a distinctive chattering call and I hear these skittish little birds more often than I see them. Often my first indication of their presence is their call as they fly away from me.

Normally I see a single kingfisher at a time, but Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I watched and listened as two kingfishers loudly chased each other around through the trees and over the water. I did not get a really good look at them, because they never flew or perched close to me, but it appeared to me that they were both females. Female Belted Kingfishers have a chestnut-colored strip across their chests that males do not have, one of the few bird species that I know of in which the females are more colorful than the males.

These kingfishers are small and fast, but I managed to capture a few in-flight shots. I particularly like the first image, in which the sunlight helped to illuminate the underside of the kingfisher as she extended her wings fully as she flew through what I believe is a tulip tree. In the second photo there was more of a shadow on the bird, but I like the angle of view that I had as I pointed my camera upwards as the kingfisher zoomed by me.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Peekaboo

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, American Sweetgum, Canon 7D, female Red-winged Blackbird, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, red-winged blackbird, sweetgum balls, Sweetgum Tree, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

A female Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) lifted her head as I approached her last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but then went back to work extracting seeds from the spiky sweetgum balls. The seedpods were so numerous that they reminded me of a well-decorated Christmas tree festooned with hanging ornaments.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Crown of gold

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 7D, Golden-crowned Kinglet, kinglet, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Regulus satrapa, Tamron 150-600mm on December 20, 2023| 4 Comments »

I am always thrilled when I get a look at the “crown” of a Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa), one of the smallest birds in our area. I photographed this cute little kinglet last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Golden-crowned Kinglets are frenetically active, so it can be tough to get a decent shot of one.

Surprisingly, the kinglets overwinter with us. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “The tiny Golden-crowned Kinglet is hardier than it looks, routinely wintering in areas where nighttime temperatures can fall below –40° Fahrenheit (-40 degrees C).”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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