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Posts Tagged ‘Huntley Meadows Park’

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Almost stopping action

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, goose, Huntley Meadows Park on February 23, 2014| 8 Comments »

What happens if you try to photograph a bird in flight with a shutter speed of 1/100 second? Under most circumstances, you get a really blurry image. However, if you can track your subject by panning the camera, you can freeze (or in this case, almost freeze) the action and as a bonus you get a really cool background.

It was pretty early in the morning and there was not a lot of light when I took this shot. Even though my camera was at ISO 400 and f/6.3 aperture, I knew that the shutter speed was not going to be fast enough to stop the action, given that I was in aperture-priority mode. That’s the main reason that I resorted to trying this panning technique. Getting the right speed for a pan is little hit-or-miss and I never know for sure how well it will work until I look at the results.

I’m pretty happy with this result, because I managed to capture a sense of motion in a still shot, a sense that is accentuated by the motion blur of the wings, as well as by the feeling of movement in the background.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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February spider

Posted in Arachnids, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, arachnid, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, spider on February 22, 2014| 6 Comments »

I was a little surprised yesterday when a small spider crossed my path when I was walking on the boardwalk at my local marsh. Sure, temperatures had warmed up and it was over 50 degrees outside (10 degrees C), but I didn’t think there were any spiders around at this time of the year. This is definitely my first spider of 2014.

Expecting to photograph birds, not bugs (yes, I know a spider technically is an arachnid, not a bug), I had equipped my camera with a telephoto lens, not a macro lens, and wasn’t even carrying my macro lens. The spider was moving too, so I used what I had and shot these photos at 300mm and cropped them.

You can probably tell that the boardwalk at the marsh is made of a synthetic material and not real wood, which means that I am not at risk of getting splinters when I kneel on it as I often do. This spider, whose species I cannot identify, was pretty small. The visible head of a screw used to hold in place the planks of boardwalk help to give you an idea of the relative size of the spider. Eagle-eyed readers may notice that the third photo is the same image as the first one, but cropped less severely.

In a few short months, I hope to see (and photograph) a whole lot more spiders in even greater detail, but the first one of the year is always special.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Early birds

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, Bald Eagle, Belted Kingfisher, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, eagle, early birds, Great Blue Heron, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, heron, Huntley Meadows Park, kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon on February 22, 2014| 10 Comments »

Early yesterday morning, I was so focused on a Great Blue Heron that I spotted high in a tree that I didn’t even notice that there was a Bald Eagle in an adjacent tree until it took off almost right in front of me. Nearby, a female Belted Kingfisher loudly announced her presence with her unmistakable rattling call.

The sky was covered with heavy clouds and the forecast called for thunderstorms, which meant that lighting conditions were less than optimal for taking photos in a wooded area. Still, it felt great to be outdoors on the trails after a week of constrained activity thanks to our recent snowstorm.

I hadn’t seen a live Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) at my local marsh in quite some time, so I was excited when I caught sight of the heron, perched on broken-off tree at the edge of one of the marshy fields. The heron was almost a silhouette against the sky, but its shape is very easy to recognize when you see it in profile.

As I was creeping forward to get a clearer shot, I was startled when a large bird flew right across my field of view—I knew almost immediately that it was a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), although it too was mostly a shadowy silhouette as I viewed it through the branches of the trees. I was able to react quickly enough to get off a few shots before the eagle flew out of sight.

A short distance away, a female Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) was perched on the trunk of a rotted tree, intently staring down at the shallow water of the marsh, looking for prey. That water prevented me from getting closer to her, but I did manage to capture her distinctive pose through the branches.

I am an early bird by habit and it was great to be outdoors in the “wilds” of my suburban marsh to see what other early birds I could find.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Sign of spring

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, American robin, Canon 50D, canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom, Huntley Meadows Park, robin, Turdus migratorius on February 21, 2014| 6 Comments »

Earlier this week, I saw my first American Robins (Turdus migratorius) of the year, a traditional harbinger of spring. I remember my parents telling me when I was young that robins are a sign of the imminent arrival of spring and that association remains strong in my mind to this day. That association also gives me the change to use the word “harbinger” at least once a year.

The snow from our recent big snowstorm is almost gone and I will soon be seeing more signs of spring, like crocuses and daffodils and increasing numbers of birds, signs of new life and new energy and new color after a cold, gray winter.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Turf war negotiations

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, crow, crows, Huntley Meadows Park, turf war, turkey vulture, vulture on February 20, 2014| 19 Comments »

Trying to avoid an all-out turf war, the leaders of the Crows and Vultures agreed to meet, but the negotiations quickly started to break down. What happened?

The leaders had agreed to meet alone in the middle of a snow-covered field.

However, the Crow leader had brought reinforcements with him and the Vulture found himself outnumbered.

Not wanting to show any fear, the Vulture leader decided to flex his muscles and extended his mighty wings. The Crows were not impressed and would not agree to any compromises.The Vulture leader started to feel a little uncomfortable as he felt someone creeping up behind him and turned quickly to face the potential Crow assassin.

Clearly, these negotiations were not going anywhere and the Vulture leader headed back to announce to his subordinates that a full-scale turf war with the Crows was about to begin.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Remembering a blue heron

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, blue heron, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Great Blue Heron, heron, Huntley Meadows Park on February 19, 2014| 8 Comments »

As many of you know from my posting last week, I recently came upon a dead body of a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) and several of us who regularly visit this marsh have wondered if perhaps this was the young blue heron who hung around the boardwalk throughout the fall and early winter. We had previously noted that this heron was not very proficient at catching food and worried that it seemed to lack basic survival skills.

I took a lot of photos of that young heron, whom I encountered repeatedly during my early morning visits to the marsh, and decided to post a few photographs from late December and early January. I’ll never know for sure if this heron survived the winter, but these images help remind me of some of the special moments that we shared.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Mallard couple

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas platyrhynchos, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, mallard, mallard duck, mallard ducks on February 18, 2014| 3 Comments »

Valentine’s Day is past, a holiday that celebrates romantic love through the giving of cards, flowers, and candy. Yesterday, though, I was witness to a deeper, more intimate sense of love and devotion as I observed a couple of Mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos).

Side by side, almost touching, they moved slowly though the water in synchronized movements, with one dipping its bill in the water and the other keeping watch. They seemed so happy together, alone in their own little world, amidst a flock of loudly honking Canada geese.

It may be my imagination, but they look like they are smiling in this photo.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Hungry chickadee

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Carolina Chickadee, chickadee, feeding, hungry, Huntley Meadows Park, Poecile carolinensis on February 17, 2014| 4 Comments »

There may not have been a lot of seeds in the dried-out marsh plants, but this little chickadee, which I am pretty sure is a Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis), seemed determined to get every last one.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Peekaboo bird

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Melospiza melodia, peekaboo, song sparrow, sparrow on February 16, 2014| 8 Comments »

Sometimes the birds play games with me as I try to photograph them—usually it is “hide and seek.” This little Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), though, seemed to be playing “peekaboo,” as the bird would hide its head and then pop up and look at me, as if to announce, “Here I am.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Silhouette at sunset

Posted in Art, Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, silhouette, sunset on February 14, 2014| 9 Comments »

Whenever I am at my local marsh at sunset, I am alert for ducks and geese in the air. I have a goal of catching them in silhouette against the backdrop of the colorful sky. I still haven’t gotten the shot I am looking for, but here is one of my recent attempts.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Close encounter with a muskrat

Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus on February 13, 2014| 7 Comments »

For the second time in two weeks I spotted a muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) at my local marshland park this past Monday and I was able to get some shots at even closer range that the last time. (At my closest, I was well within ten feet (three meters) of the little muskrat). I was on a boardwalk above the level of the water and I hung over the edge in an effort to get some shots at close to eye level.

The muskrat was a really small one and paid very little attention to me. It concentrated in pulling some of the vegetation out of the plants at water’s edge and them chewing on them while in the water. Once again, I was amazed at the dexterity of the front paws, which functioned as hands to get the food into the muskrat’s mouth.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Stunning redhead

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Red-headed Woodpecker, woodpecker on February 12, 2014| 16 Comments »

All winter long I have been trying to get a clear shot of a Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) at my local marshland park. I have seen them from time to time, high in the trees in the shadows, and have even managed to get some photos of them, but I had never really gotten a good look at the red head.

This past weekend I came across one pecking away on the ground, permitting me at last to get some photos that highlight its beautiful coloration. These shots were taken from a pretty good distance away, but I think you would all agree—this redhead is stunning.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Alone in a crowd

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas crecca, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, duck, Green-winged teal, Huntley Meadows Park on February 11, 2014| 8 Comments »

As I was observing some mallard ducks paddling around the shallow waters of a former beaver pond yesterday, I noticed one much smaller duck in their midst that looked out of place—it was a male Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca). The little duck was acting just like the mallards, foraging for food in the water and occasionally on land as well. Had the Green-winged Teal been adopted by this group of mallards or was he merely lost and separated from his own group?

I couldn’t help but notice that most of the mallards were paired off, but the Green-winged Teal seemed to be all alone. He’s going to have to act quickly if he wants to find a sweetheart before Valentine’s Day later this week.

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Death of a Great Blue Heron

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, death, Great Blue Heron, Huntley Meadows Park on February 10, 2014| 19 Comments »

As I was walking about in a remote area of my local marsh, I came across a dead Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), with its body partially hidden in the undergrowth and its large feet prominently displayed. I couldn’t help but wonder about the cause of its death, though my sense of reverence for this beautiful bird kept me from poking about its body and examining it more closely.

According to a University of Michigan website , the average lifespan for a blue heron in the wild is 15 years, although 69 percent of those born in a given year die before they are a year old. Was this heron a young one who was unable to survive in our recent cold weather? Was it perhaps an older one which had lived a long life and died of natural causes? Was it killed by a predator? Known predators of young (and sometimes adult) blue herons include eagles, raccoons, turkey vultures, and red-tailed hawks, all of which I have seen in this marsh.

I struggled a bit in determining how to present these photos to avoid offending those who might find the subject too morbid or gruesome. In the end, I decided to lead with the photo of the large, weathered feet with the small talons. The next two shots pull out progressively to give a sense of the surroundings in which I found the heron. I took the final shot from the side, looking directly at the area where the head should be and quite frankly I am not sure what I am seeing in that image.

Life is a constant struggle for animals and birds in the wild and this little encounter reminded me of that sometimes harsh reality.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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