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.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, 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 15, 2023| 1 Comment »
Birds have to work really hard to find food during the cold season. This female Red-wing Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) decided that it was worth her effort to try to extract some seeds from the spiky seed pods of a sweetgum tree earlier this month at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Some of you may be wondering how this can possibly be a Red-winged Blackbird. After all, this bird is not at all black and her wings are not red. When I first started getting serious about my photography more than 11 years ago, I would often go out shooting with my mentor Cindy Dyer, who loved to photograph flowers and sometimes insects. She rarely photographed birds and I had no experience identifying them.
During one such outing I photographed a bird on a rebar trellis at one a botanical garden. I assumed that it was one of the many types of sparrows that I lumped together as “little brown birds.” When I posted the shots in a Facebook birding forum, I was shocked to learn that it was a female Red-winged Blackbird. (Check out my 27 September 2012 blog posting called “Intense bird” for more details on that adventure, including my first ever shots of a female Red-winged Blackbird. I also remember that 2012 encounter well because I was shooting with a Nikon D300 that Cindy had lent me along with a Tamron 180mm macro lens. I did not switch from Canon to Nikon, but immediately orders the Canon version of the lens, which continues to be one of my favorite lenses.)
I am a lot more knowledgeable about birds now and have reconciled myself to the reality that many species derive their names from the males, who tend to be more colorful in appearance. As most of you know, I love to photograph insects, particularly dragonflies, but they have now completely (or maybe almost completely) disappeared from the scene, so I will be focusing my camera and my attention mostly on birds in the upcoming cold months.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged American Goldfinch, American Sweetgum, Canon 7D, goldfinch, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Spinus tristis, sweetgum balls, Sweetgum Tree, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 15, 2022| 8 Comments »
As the weather grows colder, many sources of food begin to disappear and wild creatures have to work harder to find sustenance. On Tuesday I spotted a small flock of American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) that were busily extracting seeds from the spiky balls hanging from an American Sweetgum tree.
Earlier this month I did a posting that featured a Carolina Chickadee that was also extracting seeds. In that case, the chickadee was actually hanging from the suspended seed balls. The goldfinches seemed to be taking a somewhat safer approach and were clinging to the branches and twisted their bodies to maneuver into the proper position.
As you can see from the first two photos, we finally had a sunny day after a seemingly endless streak of gray days. The bright blue sky really made the yellow feathers of the goldfinches pop—bright colors like these really help to lift my spirits. The final photo seems to have more a wintery feel to it, although it was taken at about the same time as the other two images. It is amazing how a different angle and different lighting can produce images with different vibes.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 