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Posts Tagged ‘Tamron 150-600mm’

More Lady’s Slipper orchids

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, spring, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , on May 25, 2023| 8 Comments »

I was happy this past weekend to see that Pink Lady’s Slipper orchids (Cypripedium acaule) were still in bloom in Orkney Springs, Virginia during my recent church retreat at Shrine Mont. Last year at about the same time of the year I spotted a few of them and was successful in finding some when I searched that same general location. The retreat center is located in a mountainous and cooler area of the state, which means that the growing season for flowers is a little behind my area, where the lady’s slippers faded a few weeks ago.

At first I spotted only a few of these fragile little flowers, but eventually I came upon a large patch of almost a dozen of them, as you can see in the final photo. It was a bit of a challenge for me to compose photos of flowers, because I am so used to taking pictures of wildlife. I have to admit, though, that I enjoyed having the luxury of taking my time to compose my shots—with wildlife I often have to react quickly to capture a fleeting moment, so composition is not usually my top priority.

Pink Lady's Slipper

Pink Lady's Slipper

Pink Lady's Slipper

Pink Lady's Slipper

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Looking at you looking at me

Posted in Photography, Birds, Nature, wildlife, spring, tagged , , , , , , on May 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »

As I was observing a large nest last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I couldn’t help but notice that the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the nest was keeping an eye on me. The eagle seemed to be observing me through a gap in the branches at the top of the nest, as you can see in the first two photos.

After getting a few shots, I continued walking down the trail. When I looked back towards the nest, I could see the eagle’s head poking out of the top of the nest and it still seemed to be watching me.

As you can tell from the final photo, this is a really large nest and it is hard to monitor what is going on inside of it. Are there any eaglets yet? In two other nests at the refuge, I have already seen eaglets, but those nests were much smaller, so it was not hard to spot the babies. I’ll continue to monitor this nest and with a little luck I will see an eaglet or two in this large nest.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Acrobatic Warbler

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 9, 2023| 7 Comments »

It was fascinating to watch this acrobatic little Prothontary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) last Friday as it twisted and turned, poked and probed while searching for tasty treats among the leaves of a tree at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. We have reached a time of the year when most of the small birds are hidden by the leaves on the trees, so I was really fortunate to be able to spot this warbler and to track it as it moved about in this tree.

Prothonotary Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Turkey and bunny

Posted in animals, Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 8, 2023| 4 Comments »

Although it is fun to try to photograph migratory species passing through our area, I am equally content to photograph the local species that are present throughout the year, like Wild Turkeys and Eastern Cottontail Rabbits. This rather rotund Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) seemed to be dancing the hokey-pokey when I spotted it last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. “You put your right leg in, you put your right leg out. You put your right leg in and you shake it all about…” For the record, I did not join in the dance.

Later that same day I encountered this cute little Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus). The rabbit was quite tolerant on my presence and calmly chewed on the grass while I took its picture. For several years I cared for a pet rabbit, so rabbits have a special place in my heart.

Turkeys and rabbits are quite common at this refuge and at certain times of the day I am likely to encounter them. Generally they slowly move into the undergrowth as I approach. I don’t think they necessarily view me as a threat, but they probably do not want to take chances.

Wild Turkey

Eastern Cottontail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eaglet tests its wings

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 7, 2023| 2 Comments »

This juvenile Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) may not be quite ready to fly, but it was testing out its wings by flapping them vigorously while I was observing the nest on Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The eaglet is so large that there is no longer any room in the small nest for its parents—one of its parents was perched on a higher branch in the same sycamore tree.

A few weeks ago, I observed two eaglets in this nest and I have not had a good look at both eaglets since that time. Has something happened to the other eaglet? When I looked closely at all of my photos, I noticed that I could see the silhouettes of both eaglets sitting side by side in some of the images, as you can see in the final photo. The eagle on the left seems much smaller than the one on the right, which was the one that was flapping its wings in the first two photos.

The foliage in the tree and the barrier across the trail keep me from seeing any better what is happening in this eagle nest, but it looks like the eaglets are growing bigger and stronger, especially the one on the right. It should not be too long before it is time for the eaglet to be making its first tentative attempts at flight.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Ospreys

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on May 5, 2023| 2 Comments »

There are now plenty of Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) to see at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, though it is still a challenge to get a decent shot of one. I spotted the osprey in the first photo last week and it seemed to be in a pensive mood or perhaps was simply alert to the possibility of an attack from above. One of my Facebook readers suggested that this was an osprey father-to-be who was contemplating the weight of his new responsibilities and the end of his happy-go-lucky bachelor days.

The osprey in the second shot was keeping watch over one of the larger osprey nests at the wildlife refuge. Unlike bald eagles, which put a lot of care and attention into the construction of their nests, ospreys often seem content to throw a few sticks together in a rather haphazard way. As a result, quite a few osprey nests are damaged by winter storms and have to be reconstructed when the ospreys return in the spring.

The osprey in the final shot is working on a different nest. Ospreys lay their eggs later than the eagles, which are already caring for their young eaglets. It is probably about time now for the ospreys to begin sitting on their nests and incubating their own eggs.

 

Osprey

Osprey

Osprey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Tiny butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 4, 2023| 8 Comments »

I was happy that I managed to get a shot of this tiny butterfly perched low in the vegetation at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge on Wednesday. I think it may be a Falcate Orangetip (Anthocharis midea), although the butterfly never opened its wings, so I was not able to confirm that the wings were tipped with orange.

I was a bit shocked that I was able to capture so much detail of this tiny creature, given that I was shooting with my Tamron 150-600mm zoom lens fully extended to 600mm. When I bought this lens in November 2014, I remember reading reviews about the lens that stated that it was soft at 600m. That has not really been my experience. If I pay attention to my techniques and use a monopod for additional stability (as I was doing for this shot), I can shots that are acceptably sharp to my eye.

For those of you who are especially geeky, for this shot I was shooting with a Canon 7D at f/8, 1/400 sec, and ISO 800 with an exposure compensation value of minus 1.33 stops. More important than the settings, though, is the fact that I like the image that I managed to capture—that is always my number one priority.

Falcate Orangetip

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Varying backgrounds

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 3, 2023| 2 Comments »

As I was reviewing my photos of the past couple of weeks, I was a little surprised at the number of shots that I have taken of Blue Corporal (Ladona deplanata) dragonflies in wildly varying environments. Blue Corporals are an early-season species and won’t be around for too much longer, so I am happy to have had the opportunity to observe so many of them. Most of the time, Blue Corporals like to perch flat and, judging from the photos, it doesn’t seem to matter if there are rocks, vegetation, or even lily pads.

From the perspective of a naturalist, I like the way that the different photos give you a feel for the environments in which I found these dragonflies. As a photographer, I was also struck by the way that the colors and textures of the background interact with the subjects. Most of the backgrounds in these shots are somewhat cluttered, but I did my best to use framing and focusing techniques to keep the background from being too distracting.

If I had to make a choice, I would say that the first photo is my favorite of the Blue Corporal images. I love the juxtaposition of the dragonfly with the varied textures, shapes, and colors of the rocks. I also really like the way the background grows progressively more blurry towards the top of the image. Do you have a favorite?

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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King of the hill

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on May 2, 2023| 3 Comments »

As I was focusing in on a Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) that was happily singing from a perch sticking out of a small pond, another swallow came screeching in in an attempt to take over the perch. The attack was successful and the first bird was forced to leave.

Happy with his effort to become “king of the hill,” the new swallow began to sing with all of his might as he surveyed his new kingdom. How long will his reign last? Undoubtedly the swallow knows that others may soon seek his place, but seems determined to enjoy his moment in the spotlight.

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallow

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Baskettail dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 1, 2023| 8 Comments »

I tracked this Common Baskettail dragonfly (Epitheca cynosura) in the air for quite some time as it patrolled back and forth along one of the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, hoping that it would land. Fortunately I acted quickly when finally it did perch and was able to capture these shots.

The Dragonflies of Northern Virginia website provides the following description of the Common Baskettail, “Small, dark, constantly hovering. Fast, acrobatic flight. Often high above clearings and sunny paths/old roads. Also along pond, stream and river edges.” As you can tell from this description, it is pretty challenging to get a shot of a Common Baskettail dragonfly.

Occasionally I will try to capture an image of a Common Baskettail while it is flying, but that works better when the dragonfly is flying above a pond than when it is flying with a background of vegetation. If you are interested in seeing some shots of Common Baskettails in flight, check out my blog posting from May 2022 entitled “Flying Common Baskettail dragonflies.”

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Impassive eagle

Posted in Photography, Birds, Nature, wildlife, spring, aircraft, tagged , , , , , , on April 29, 2023| 8 Comments »

This Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) remained steadfastly on guard above its large nest on Wednesday at Occoquan National Wildlife Refuge as a jet flew by in the distance. As I was focusing on the eagle, I caught sight of the jet out of the corner of the eye and managed to time the shot pretty well to be able to include the jet in the frame.

Normally I do not like to include man-made objects in my wildlife photos, but in this case I really like the juxtaposition between the wildness of a bald eagle’s flight and the more “civilized” human flight.

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Eaglet update

Posted in Photography, Nature, wildlife, spring, Bees, Baby photography, tagged , , , , , , , on April 28, 2023| 6 Comments »

On Wednesday I visited Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge to check on the eaglets in the nests there.  As the leaves continue to grow, it is becoming harder and harder to observe activity at several of the nests of the Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). In one of them, though, I managed to find a small visual tunnel and was fortunate to capture the first two images that show some sweet little moments between an eaglet and one of its parents.

The third image shows an eaglet in a different nest. As you can see, the leaves on the sycamore tree hid most of the nest. Previously I spotted two eaglets in this nest, so there may be another hiding out of view.

The final two shots shows the largest eagle nest at the refuge. The nest is so big and so high in the trees that it is difficult to tell what is going on inside of the nest. One eagle was keeping watch and the other adult appears to be in the nest. If you look closely at the nest right below the tree on which the eagle is perched, you can just make out the yellow beak of an adult eagle. The final image is a close-up shot of the nest that I cropped to show more clearly the eagle’s beak. The adult eagle is perched so high in the nest that it is possible that there is an eaglet or two in the nest as well—when an eagle is incubating eggs it tend to hunker down really low to keep the eggs warm.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Black Swallowtail butterflies

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 24, 2023| 3 Comments »

One of the clear signs that we are moving through spring is the emergence of large numbers of full-sized butterflies. Last week I was delighted to spot multiple Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) butterflies. Dark swallowtail butterflies can sometimes be problematic for identification, because in our area we have Pipevine Swallowtails, Spicebush Swallowtails, and the dark morph female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, in addition to the Black Swallowtail.

However, these butterflies were relatively easy to identify, because I could clearly see the black dot inside the orange dot in each of the photos, one of the field markers of a Black Swallowtail. I was quite struck by the unblemished state of each of these butterflies, which seemed to be fresh and bright with fully intact swallowtails. As the season moves on, some of the butterflies will become more and more tattered and faded.

If you are curious about the identifying marks for the different kinds of dark swallowtails, I highly recommend a blog posting by Louisiana Naturalist called Four Dark Swallowtails. In this posting, she does side-by-comparisons of the four species from different angles and points out the visible differences that are really useful in identification.

Black Swallowtail

Black Swallowtail

Black Swallowtail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Prothonotary Warbler

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 23, 2023| 9 Comments »

I was ecstatic to spot this bright yellow Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It can be a little frustrating at time of the year when warblers are migrating through our area, because there are leaves on the trees that conceal the little birds—I often end up hearing more warblers than seeing them.

The warbler was perched on this clump of vegetation at the end of a branch and was reaching down into the cluster of leaves. At first I thought that the item in the warbler’s bill was an insect, but now I wonder if it might be a seed. Although Prothonotary Warblers like to eat all kinds of insects, they will also eat fruits and seeds.

I am by nature a curious person and don’t recall encountering the word “prothonotary” in any other context. What is a prothonotary? According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “The Prothonotary Warbler got its name from the bright yellow robes worn by papal clerks, known as prothonotaries, in the Roman Catholic church.” A prothonotary is also the chief clerk in certain courts of law, including in the state of Pennsylvania.

Prothonotary Warbler

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Two little eaglets

Posted in Photography, Birds, Nature, wildlife, spring, Baby photography, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 21, 2023| 5 Comments »

On Tuesday I hiked to the farthest Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, hoping to determine if there were any eaglets in the nest. During most of the year you can walk past this nest as part of a big loop, but the road is now blocked to protect the eagles, so you have to double back along the trail (a distance of almost two miles (3.2 km) to return to the parking lot.

This eagle nest is in a sycamore tree. Several years ago, one of the limbs gave way and during the off-season almost half of the nest slid to the ground. The eagles have done some repairs each year, but the nest is still relatively small. At this time of the year, there is a good deal of new foliage, so it is a bit difficult to see what is going on in the nest.

When I arrived at the nest, I noticed that one of the adults was sitting completely upright, which was a good sign. When the eagles are incubating the eggs, the tend to hunker down in the nest, with only their heads visible.

As I watched and waited, the adult eagle flew to some higher branches in the tree. My flow of adrenaline and sense of anticipation increased as I waited to see if an eaglet would appear. I was double delighted when two little heads popped up. The eaglet on the left seemed to be a bit bigger than its sibling and was probably the older of the two. In the second image, the bigger eaglet is looking upwards toward the branch where the adult was perched.

I was a long way off when I took these photos with my telephoto zoom lens, so they are not super quality images, but they provide proof that there are at least two little eaglets in this nest. As I noted in an earlier post, there is one eaglet in another nest on the refuge. The third active eagle nest is so large and high up in the trees that it is not yet possible to tell if there are any eagle babies in it—any eaglets will probably have to grow stronger and larger before the climb up to the the edge of that nest.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle babies

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Green Darner (female)

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 20, 2023| 9 Comments »

On Tuesday I spotted this female Common Green Darner (Anax junius) dragonfly at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the first darner that I have been able to photograph this season. Like most darners, Common Green Darners are relatively large dragonflies—about 3 inches (76 mm) in length—that spend a lot of time patrolling in the air. In fact, Common Green Darners are one of a handful of dragonflies that migrate, so that the earliest ones that we see in spring are likely to have migrated from more southern locations before local Common Green Darners have emerged.

When I first spotted this dragonfly, she was patrolling over a field of tall vegetation. I watched her fly back and forth for quite a while. When she decided to take a break, I was lucky to see where she landed.

As you can see in the photo, Common Green Darners normally hang vertically. In this case the dragonfly perched relatively close to the ground, so it was a bit of a challenge to frame the shot, particularly because I was shooting with my long telephoto zoom lens. I am quite pleased, though, with the resulting image that shows off a lot of the details of this species, including the distinctive black and blue “bullseye” in from of the dragonfly’s large compound eyes.

Common Green Darner

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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The eaglet has landed

Posted in Photography, Birds, Nature, wildlife, spring, Baby photography, tagged , , , , , , , on April 19, 2023| 7 Comments »

I was delighted yesterday to photograph an eaglet in one of the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Last week, several photographers posted photos in Facebook of the baby eagle, so I knew for sure that there was at least one in the nest. I have been keeping a close eye on this nest, a small one that was used by ospreys last year, and knew that it would have trouble comfortably accommodating an adult eagle and a growing eaglet.

When I first arrived at the barrier that closes the trail, I could see through the foliage that an eagle was sitting upright in the nest, but I could not see an eaglet. I watched and waited and the eagle eventually flew away. A short time later, another eagle flew in and landed on a tree branch above the nest rather than in the nest. As the eagle approached the nest, a little head popped up and I was able to capture the first image.

The eagle in the tree kept watch over the curious little eaglet and I never did see the adult sit in the tree. After a while, the eaglet disappeared from sight—it was probably time for its afternoon nap.

When I departed the area to check on another eagle nest, the adult was still on duty in the tree. I passed by this nest one last time and noted that an eagle was now sitting in the nest. It may be that one of the parents is small enough to fit into the nest and the other one is simply too large. As the baby grows, I suspect that both parents will be forced out of the nest. I would not see the eaglet until the adult lifted its wing and I was able to capture the final image.

As you can probably see from the blotches of green in the photos, I did not have an unobstructed view of the nest. I am hoping that the leaves on the trees do not fully block my view in the upcoming weeks.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Two small birds

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 15, 2023| 5 Comments »

When it comes to photographs, do you prefer “pretty pictures” or “action shots?” If I were to judge from “likes” on social media platforms, “pretty pictures” are more popular, although I am often most proud of my “actions shots.” One of the coolest things about photography, of course, is that there is a wide latitude for individual styles and preferences and neither the viewer nor the photographer has to be forced into making false choices.

On Monday I took a couple of photos of small birds during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. At this time of the year I am thrilled when I am able to spot the small birds that are often hidden by the increasingly dense foliage.

The bird in the first photo is an incredibly cute Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus). Carolina Wrens frequently poke about in the undergrowth and I was delighted when this one chose instead to perch on a photogenic branch in the open.  The result was this pretty portrait of the little wren that looks almost like it was taken in a studio environment.

The bird in the second photo is a White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). It was not perched in the open and it was not stationary. The little sparrow was bobbing and moving as it attempted to grab some of the tender shoots growing on the tree. I was happy when I managed to get a shot in which the bird has one of the shoots in its mouth. The background in this image is cluttered and part of the bird’s body is hidden by a branch. However, I like the moment that I captured and the way that the image provides a sense of the bird’s environment.

When I am photographing wildlife, I am unconsciously making a series of creative choices in the way that I frame an image and the camera settings that I use, all of which affect the look and feel of the resulting images. Sometimes of those images will be “artsy” and others will be “documentary”—I love both styles of photography.

Carolina Wren

White-throated Sparrow

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue Corporal dragonflies

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 14, 2023| 4 Comments »

On Monday I was thrilled to photograph my first dragonfly of the year at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the location that I visit most frequently with my camera. The first prize goes to an immature male Blue Corporal dragonfly (Ladona deplanata)—males turn blue as they mature, but initially they have the same coloration as the females. Blue Corporals of both genders have two light-colored stripes on the front of their thoraxes, the traditional rank military insignia for corporals.

Later in the day I spotted a female Blue Corporal perched on some dry leaves, as shown in the second photo. Can you spot the differences between the dragonflies in the first and second photos? The male abdomen tends to be a bit thinner than the abdomen of the female. However, the biggest difference is in the terminal appendages, i.e. the specific parts at the very tip of their abdomens (their “tails”).

The following day I returned to the refuge and spotted another Blue Corporal perched in some vegetation—I think it is another immature male. Most of the time Blue Corporals like to perch on the ground, but this one looked like it had only recently emerged and may have been waiting for its wings to harden.

When dragonflies undergo their metamorphosis from water-dwelling nymphs to aerial acrobats, their wings are initially very clear and fragile and the creatures are very vulnerable, so I was careful not to disturb the dragonfly when I took a few photos. If you are interested to learn more, check out a 2016 blog posting  Metamorphosis of a dragonfly in which I documented the entire transformation process of a Common Sandragon dragonfly in a series of 15 photos. At the end of that series you will be able to see why I characterized the wings of a newly-emerged dragonfly as “fragile.”

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Zebra Swallowtail—spring form

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 11, 2023| 6 Comments »

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day and I was delighted to capture this image of a Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus), one of my favorite butterflies, at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I chased after this hyperactive butterfly and luckily was close enough to get a shot when it landed for a split second. I love the touches of red and blue on this mostly monochromatic butterfly and its distinctive long “tails.”

As I was doing a little research on this butterfly, I discovered that the Zebra Swallowtail has two seasonal forms, one occurring in the spring and the other in the summer. According to Wikipedia, the spring forms are smaller, more white, and have short, black tails with white tips. As you can see from the first photo below, yesterday’s Zebra Swallowtail was a spring form butterfly.

Summer forms of the Zebra Swallowtail are larger, have broader black stripes, and longer, black tails with white edges. For the sake of comparison, I reprised a photo from a 6 September 2021 blog posting. The butterfly in the second photo, a summer form butterfly, indeed looks darker than the one in the first photo and there are noticeable differences in the shape and coloration of the tails.

Zebra Swallowtail

Zebra Swallowtail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Spiky-haired Heron

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 4, 2023| 6 Comments »

When I first spotted this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I immediately noticed how spiky its feathers looked—they were sticking out in all directions. When I was growing up (and had hair), there were times when I had some unruly strands of hair that were equally uncontrollable. I would sometimes resort to a little bit of Brylcreem to slick down my hair—to this day I remember one of the marketing slogans for this product, “Brylcreem—a little dab will do ya!” When I was really little, my Mom would sometimes use a little saliva on her fingers to control my wayward hairs—it worked.

The heron was intently focused on an area with rocks and slowly moved closer to it, gradually lowering its head. I waited and waited and eventually the heron struck. I did not see the actual strike, because the heron’s head was hidden by the rocks at that moment. I was excited to see what the heron had caught. As the heron lifted its head, I was shocked to see a tiny fish in its bill. Though the fish was only an appetizer at best, the heron carefully maneuvered it into position and swallowed it.

When I left the heron, it had returned to fishing, dreaming perhaps of its next catch, which would hopefully be bigger than this one.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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Not a butterfly

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 1, 2023| 3 Comments »

At this time of the year I am drawn to any insects that I see flying about and I have found myself chasing after even small flies. There’s usually a period of readjustment as I switch from searching for subjects that are far away to looking for tiny subjects that are often only an arm’s length away from me. Most of the time I have to rely upon movement to spot these insects—only occasionally am I able to spot a perched insect.

As I noted in yesterday’s blog posting, I finally spotted my first two butterflies of the spring. I thought I had spotted a third butterfly last Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge when this colorful little insect flew in front of me. I am pretty familiar with the butterflies in my area, but did not recognize this one.

After doing some research, I have concluded that this is probably a Grapevine Epimenis Moth (Psychomorpha epimenis). According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, “The grapevine epimenis flies during daytime and would seem too colorful to be a moth, but a moth it is. A member of the noctuid family, its many drab, grayish relatives include dagger, owlet, armyworm, cutworm, and earworm moths.”

Grapevine Epimenis Moth

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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First spring butterflies

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on March 31, 2023| 5 Comments »

I finally spotted my first butterflies of the spring. As I was walking down one of the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge on Wednesday, a fellow photographer excitedly pointed out this Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) butterfly that was sunning itself on the trail. Mourning Cloaks overwinter as adults and are usually one of the first species to appear in the spring. According to Wikipedia, “These butterflies have a lifespan of 11 to 12 months, one of the longest lifespans for any butterfly.”

Later in the afternoon, I spotted a Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon) butterfly that was perched amidst the rocks on a gravely section of one of the trails. Spring Azure butterflies are very small—about one inch (25 mm) in size—and it was quite a challenge to get a shot of this one using the 150-600mm lens that was on my camera at that moment.

Yesterday I spotted an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly as I was searching for dragonflies at another location, but was unable to get a shot of it. I also briefly caught a glimpse of one dragonfly, but again was unable to get a shot. As the weather continues to warm, I’ll be out with my camera more often in search of these beautiful little creatures—it finally feels like spring is here.

Mourning Cloak

Spring Azure

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Brown Creeper in March

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 30, 2023| 7 Comments »

Brown Creepers (Certhia americana) are unusual-looking birds. They are relatively small songbirds (about 5 inches (13 cm) in length) that have long, curved claws and a sharp, curved bill. Their mottled bodies cause them to blend in really well with the bark of the trees on which they are usually found. Even when I manage to spot one, they tend to be in motion all of the time as they spiral their way up the trunk of the tree, making them tough to photograph.

Last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I was thrilled to capture some shots of a Brown Creeper. I was particularly happy that the images show the bird’s distinctive bill and claws. In the middle photo, you can see how the creeper uses its curved bill to poke about in the crevices as it searches for insects, sometimes bracing itself with its stiff tail.

Brown Creeper

Brown Creeper

Brown Creeper

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cardinal on the rocks

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2023| 9 Comments »

It is always fun to photograph familiar subjects in an unexpected environment. This past week I spotted a male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) amidst the rocks and other debris at the edge of the water at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge rather than in the vegetation where I normally see cardinals.

I was delighted to be able to capture a series of images as the cardinal moved about on the rocks and eventually made his way to the water. He dipped his head to take a drink, but his face was completely hidden from view, so I was not able to capture that moment.

On the whole, though, I really like the balance I was able to achieve in showing both the primary subject and the environment in which I found him—the brightness of the cardinal’s red body definitely helped him to stand out from the somewhat cluttered background and foreground despite the fact that he filled only a small part of the frame.

Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Channel marker nest

Posted in Architecture, Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on March 25, 2023| 8 Comments »

Most of the nests of Ospreys(Pandion haliaetus) that I have seen in the past were in trees, but sometimes ospreys build their nests in readily manmade structures. On Tuesday I spotted an osprey couple that appeared to have taken over a nest on a channel marker in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

In past years I have seen osprey activity at this same channel marker, but do not know for sure if ospreys were successful in hatching eggs there. The nest takes up only half of the space on the marker and there looks to be enough room to accommodate a second osprey couple. However, I doubt that the current occupants would tolerate the presence of neighbors that close, so it seems unlikely that I will see side-by-side nests in the future.

osprey nest

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Ospreys have returned

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 24, 2023| 4 Comments »

Like many other local photographers, I am thrilled that Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) have returned to our area—they spend the colder months in warmer locations. On Tuesday, I captured several shots of one of the ospreys as it soared above me at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Ospreys hover in the air a bit, so it is a bit easier to get shots of them flying than it is with eagles and hawks. However, it is still a challenge to get shots that have good wing and head positions. I was happy that the osprey was flying towards me in both of these images and its eyes are somewhat visible.

More osprey are sure to arrive soon and I am sure that I will get some better (and closer) shots in the upcoming months. I am content with these shots that that document the fact that the ospreys have returned, yet another sign of the arrival of spring.

Osprey

osprey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Osprey-Eagle Squabble

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on March 23, 2023| 13 Comments »

I am not sure what was going on Tuesday in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but two Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) were perched on a structure and an aggressive Osprey(Pandion haliaetus) kept dive-bombing them repeatedly. The osprey would fly by right above them and each time the eagles would rear up with their talons extended as they screamed at the osprey. I took the shot below from a long way away, but it gives you a sense of the action.

Several of my friends on Facebook suggested that this might have been a territorial dispute. Others posited that the eagles had stolen a fish from the osprey and the osprey was angry about it. Another friend provided a link to a fascinating article at Natural Habitat Adventures entitled “Eagles and Ospreys: When Birds of Prey Clash.” According to the article, eagles will sometimes steal osprey chicks and ospreys may attack eagles while they are eating. It is too early for there to be chicks—ospreys have only recently returned to our area—but it is certainly possible that this was a food fight.

eagles and osprey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Pops of color

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 22, 2023| 8 Comments »

Bright colors are starting to emerge in the landscape as we move deeper into spring, a welcome sight after the long gray days of winter. I was delighted to see some equally bright colors in the feathers of several small birds that I photographed last Saturday in the vegetation surrounding a small suburban pond in Northern Virginia.

The first bird appears to be a female Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata). Normally I am not a big fan of a head-on shot of a bird, but in this case I really like the way that the photo shows both of the bird’s yellow patches on its breast (there is also a yellow patch on the warbler’s rump).

The bird in the second photo is a male House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus). I was struck by the intensity of the red on the finch’s upper body, which reminded me of the color of a male cardinal.

In the coming months, warblers will be migrating northward through my area. Each year it is a real challenge for me to get shots of these colorful little birds, because they appear just as the trees begin to cover themselves with leaves—I often can hear warblers behind the leafy foliage without being able to see them.

yellow-rumped warbler

house finch

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Building nests?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 21, 2023| 3 Comments »

On Saturday I encountered several female House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) with clumps of vegetation in their mouths and suspect that they are beginning to construct nests. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “House Sparrow prefers to nest in manmade structures such as eaves or walls of buildings, street lights, and nest boxes instead of in natural nest sites such as holes in trees.”

I know that some people resent the invasive presence of House Sparrows, which were introduced in the United States from Europe in 1851, because they sometimes displace native species. Personally I find them to be as interesting to observe and photograph as any other birds.

Perspective makes a difference—as a photographer I focus my attention on different aspects of my subjects than others may do. For, example,  I know that farmers and gardeners will view some vegetation and insects as pests, while I may find them to be beautiful subjects. It is definitely a cliché, but there is also truth in the old saying that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

 

House Sparrow

House Sparrow

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Early bird?

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on March 20, 2023| 1 Comment »

Does the proverbial early bird always get the worm? I’m not sure if that is necessarily the case. I photographed this American Robin (Turdus migratorius) just before noon on Saturday. Perhaps this robin likes to sleep in late during the weekend. Whatever the case, I was delighted to capture this image of the robin snagging a juicy worm for its meal, which might have been brunch for a late-rising bird.

American Robin

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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