Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, majesty, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on April 9, 2018| 11 Comments »
Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) are really cool and I have been photographing them quite a lot recently. However, they can’t quite match the majesty of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), like this one that soared almost directly over me on Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
I never cease to be thrilled by the mere glimpse of a Bald Eagle and it is always a joy to capture an image of one in flight.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, osprey nest, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on April 5, 2018| 8 Comments »
Most Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge are busily building nests high in the trees, but at least one chose a location that is almost at eye level. The nesting site is on top of a duck blind not far from the shore. The blind is essentially a small wooden shack that sticks out of the water on stilts or pilings.
The nice thing about seeing a subject at eye level is that it gives a very natural perspective that helps you, I believe, to engage more directly with that subject, literally seeing eye-to-eye. That is why it is usually recommended that you bend down to photograph children and pets.
In theory, it is easier to get a shot like this that to shoot upwards into a mass of foliage. In reality, though, I had to find a big enough break in the vegetation and shoot over a chain link fence topped with barbed wire, while moving stealthily so as not to disturb the skittish sitting osprey. I ended up stopping by the spot multiple times during the day before I finally got a shot that I liked. (For what it’s worth, I am not sure what the object in the foreground is—at first I thought it was a partially eaten fish, but now I don’t think that is the case. Any ideas?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, osprey nest, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 22, 2018| 6 Comments »
Like many other places, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge has some raised platforms on which ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) build nests each year. Sometimes violent winter weather destroys much of a previous year’s nest, but quite often the nest survives pretty much intact and all that is required is some spring cleaning and minor renovation.
The latter seemed to be the case with one of the osprey nests that I spotted this past Monday. An osprey was in the nest and appeared to be moving around some of the branches. In the first shot you can see some of the man-made elements of the platform on which the nest is constructed and get a sense of the relative size of the nest. I couldn’t get a really good look at precisely was it doing, though, because the nest was high in the air on a tall post, as you can see in the second photo below.
As I was watching the osprey, a bald eagle flew by and seemed to startle the osprey. The final shot captured the osprey just after it took off from the nest and really emphasized the massive wingspan of the osprey.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, osprey nest, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 20, 2018| 8 Comments »
Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) were really active yesterday morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, including this one that was gathering materials to either build or repair a nest.
Initially I was standing next to a field that had been cleared some time ago, when an osprey swooped in and snatched up some branches lying on the ground. I was surprised and remember wondering if the osprey would return to the readily available supply of building materials. The osprey returned two or three more times and I was able to capture some cool shots of the osprey transporting some pretty large branches. I was pretty fortunate that the osprey had to fly almost directly over me when it was making its return trips to the unknown nesting location.
There are several nesting platforms in the refuge for ospreys and later in the day I spotted an osprey in one of them. The nest seemed to be pretty much intact from last season, though the osprey seemed to be busily making adjustments and probably was doing some spring cleaning. That may be the subject for a future blog post.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on March 12, 2018| 9 Comments »
Ospreys leave our area in the fall and spend their winters in warmer locations in Central and South America. Around this time of the year, I keep my eye open for their return and this past Saturday I spotted my first one of the year. The osprey (Pandion haliaetus) was perched in a tree with branches that partially blocked my view. As I tried to maneuver to get a clear shot, the osprey took off, giving me a view of its massive wingspan. As you can see from the two images, it was an overcast day and color is mostly absent. If you look closely, though, you can just get a glimpse of the yellow of the osprey’s eye.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, osprey nest, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on November 10, 2017| 3 Comments »
A Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was being harassed relentlessly this past Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge by a flock of crows and was eventually forced out of what I assumed was its nest. Fortunately I was able to capture a couple of shots before the eagle left the nest.
When I posted a photo in Facebook, a more experience birder pointed out that the nest is probably an osprey nest, not an eagle nest. He added that eagles at the refuge often will perch on osprey nests when the ospreys leave the area for the winter.
The final photo, taken through the trees, shows the crows occupying the nest after forcing the eagle to leave the exposed position.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus, screaming osprey, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on September 17, 2017| 6 Comments »
The loud cries of an osprey (Pandion haliaetus) echoed though the early morning air yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I was never able to figure out what was bothering the clearly unhappy osprey, but did manage to capture this image of the screaming bird just before it flew away.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
