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Posts Tagged ‘Tamron 150-600mm’

Eagle Peek-a-boo

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 1, 2021| 9 Comments »

This majestic Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was almost hidden in the foliage when I spotted it on Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. If the eagle’s head had not been so bright white in color, I might not have noticed it at all. At this time of the year, when I often can hear the birds, but cannot see them, it is always a challenge for me to photograph birds.

To mark the change of the seasons, I have switched over to walking around with my Tamron 150-600mm telephoto zoom lens affixed to my camera, a recognition that I am as likely to encounter birds as insects. I am still, however, carrying my 180mm macro lens in my backpack, in case I run into the right kind of shooting situation with an insects or other small creatures.

Initially the eagle had its head almost completely buried in the leaves, as you can see in the first photo. I gradually noticed, though, that the eagle was moving its head around a bit and I was able to capture some images that show a bit more of the eagle’s face. I changed my body position slightly as I watched and waited, but tried to minimize my movements for fear of spooking the eagle.

It has been quite a while since I last featured Bald Eagles in a posting, and I am excited at the prospect of seeing them more regularly. If so, you are sure to see the results here, because, as I have said on multiple occasions, any day in which I see a Bald Eagle is a good day and getting good shots is real bonus.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Late September Monarchs

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 30, 2021| 10 Comments »

I had given up on Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) for the season, so I was thrilled when I spotted several of them on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I do not know if these are local butterflies, but I like to imagine that they are temporary visitors who stopped in to visit during their magical migration journey to warmer locations.

I photographed these two butterflies in different parts of the wildlife refuge. I thought about using only one of the two photos for this posting, but decided that I really like the impact that the images have as a pair, presenting a kind of yin-yang contrast in light and shadows and overall mood. What do you think?

Monarch

Monarch

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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I will survive

Posted in Autumn, Butterflies, Insects, Inspiration, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 29, 2021| 11 Comments »

As we rush towards the end of September, the number of butterflies is continuing to drop and many of the ones that I see are faded and tattered. Yet somehow, despite the obvious signs of age and infirmity, they manage to adapt and survive. I photographed this Black Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes) last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

For folks of my generation, the title of this blog will immediately bring to mind the memorable song by that name as sung by Gloria Gaynor in the late 1970’s.

“Oh no, not I, I will survive
Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I’ll stay alive
I’ve got all my life to live
And I’ve got all my love to give and I’ll survive
I will survive”

Black Swallowtail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Female Blue-faced Meadowhawk

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on September 27, 2021| 10 Comments »

Each September I look forward to the reappearance of three dragonfly species: the Blue-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum ambiguum); the Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum); and the Fine-lined Emerald (Somatochlora filosa). At a time when most of the other dragonflies are dying off, these species burst onto the scene.

This season, however, “burst” would not be the appropriate verb to describe their activity. At Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, where I have photographed all three species in the past, I have seen  Fine-lined Emeralds in flight three times, but have not managed to get a photograph of one. I still have not seen an Autumn Meadowhawk and until last Friday, I have not seen a Blue-faced Meadowhawk.

I was thrilled, therefore, when I spotted this female Blue-faced Meadowhawk on Friday. I had my long telephoto zoom lens on my camera, so trying to focus accurately on my tiny subject was a big challenge, but I am pretty happy with the result. Females of this species have relatively subdued coloration—the males have bright red bodies and blue faces—and they are generally harder to find than the males.

I hope to be able to feature a new photo of a male Blue-faced Meadowhawk soon, but if you are impatient or curious to see what one looks like, check out this posting called Blue-faced Meadowhawk (male) from September 2020.

Blue-faced Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mating Big Bluet damselflies

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on July 17, 2021| 5 Comments »

I spotted this Big Bluet damselfly (Enallagma durum) couple in flagrante delicto on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Although I could not help but notice the sidewards heart that their bodies form when they are mating, it was the other elements of the scene that really caught my eye. The shapes and shadows of the leaf and its gnawed-away holes all add visual interest and make a perfect backdrop for this little vignette of an intimate moment in the lives of these damselflies.

Big Bluet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Perching Prince Baskettail

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 16, 2021| 11 Comments »

I was shocked and thrilled to spot a Prince Baskettail dragonfly (Epitheca princeps) perched in a tree on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This was only the second time that I have seen one that was not flying—they never seem to take a break. As the Dragonflies of Northern Virginia website succinctly states, “Flies almost constantly, rarely perches.”

Earlier in the day I had seen Prince Baskettails several times, flying overhead as I walked along a trail parallel to the waters of Occoquan Bay. Those of you who have followed my blog for a while know that I can never resist the chance to attempt to capture a shot of a dragonfly in flight. This time was a bit different, though, because I was using my long telephoto zoom lens and the dragonfly was not flying over the water, but was high in the air. The second image was one of my more successful attempts.

Normally the only place where I see Prince Baskettails at this time of the year is at a small pond at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, where the Prince Baskettails fly repeated patrols low over the water. I have had some success in capturing shots of them in flight, like the final photo that I took last Thursday as a Prince Baskettail was flying by parallel to my position on the shore.

Prince Baskettail

Prince Baskettail

Prince Baskettail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Halloween Pennant dragonfly in July

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on July 15, 2021| 14 Comments »

I was happy to spot this Halloween Pennant dragonfly (Celithemis eponina) on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge as it perched high in the air on a tall stalk of Eastern Gamagrass. This is my first Halloween Pennant of the season and I have always loved seeing the beautifully patterned wings of this species. As you can see from this photo, Halloween Pennants like to perch on the uppermost tips of vegetation, which causes them to flap in even the slightest breeze, like a pennant.
I had made a trip to this wildlife refuge to check on the status of the bald eagles that I featured in yesterday’s posting and was walking around with my 150-600mm telephoto lens on my camera when I saw this dragonfly. Normally I am reluctant to to try to photograph dragonflies with this lens, because the shots are sometimes a little soft when the zoom lens is fully extended. However, the lighting was good and I am happy with the amount of detail that I was able to capture—click on the photo if you want to check out all of the cool details of this colorful dragonfly.

Halloween Pennant

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Young eagles in July

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on July 14, 2021| 18 Comments »

It has been several months since I last checked on the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, so I made a visit there on Monday to check on the eaglets. The young eagles that I found still hanging around the nest are definitely no longer babies, though most people would not yet recognize them as Bald Eagles—it takes almost five years for them to acquire their distinctive white heads and tails.

I am pretty sure that these two eaglets are now capable of flight, though they remained in place on the branches overlooking the nest the entire time that I observed them. For the first time in quite some time I had my 150-600mm lens on my camera that allowed me to zoom in on each of the eaglets and then zoom back for the final shot to give you an idea of how close they were to the nest.

The bedraggled plumage makes it look like it was really windy, but in fact there was no wind when I captured the images. The eaglets clearly have a lot of work to do on their grooming before they are ready to take their place as one of our national symbols.

I did not see any adult Bald Eagles until much later in the day when I spotted one in another part of the wildlife refuge. Although the eaglets appear to be more or less full grown in terms of size, I question the degree to which they are self-sufficient and suspect that they are still dependent on their parents to provide them with food. As their flying skills improve, the eagles will almost certainly venture out farther and farther and it will become correspondingly more difficult for me to spot them.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Goose family

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 25, 2021| 8 Comments »

I have not seen many baby birds this spring, so it was exciting to spot this little Canada Goose family last week swimming together in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) are so common where I live that many people consider them to be a nuisance, but I love to observe and photograph them.

Earlier this spring I noticed that a Canada Goose had established a nest on top of one of the wooden duck blinds and I wonder if these little goslings were hatched in that nest. Whatever the case, springtime is such a wonderful time to celebrate new life in all of its forms—and you have to admit that those three baby geese are really cute.

Canada Goose

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Green Heron in May

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on May 25, 2021| 24 Comments »

Great Blue Herons remain in my area throughout the winter, but the much smaller Green Herons (Butorides virescens) depart in the autumn for warmer locations. It is always exciting for me when these colorful little herons return in the spring. Green Herons have always struck me as having more outgoing personalities than the more stoic Great Blue Heron and I love to watch them.

Normally I see them down at water level, often partially hidden by the vegetation, which makes them a challenge to photograph. Last week during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, however, I spotted a Green Heron that had chosen a higher perch that allowed me to get an unobstructed shot. I really like the heron’s pose as it alertly surveyed the surrounding area.
Green Heron

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Defying gravity

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 21, 2021| 16 Comments »

When I saw an osprey couple trying to build a nest earlier this spring on a channel marker in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the building site seemed way too small. Amazingly the ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) found a way to add an overhanging extension that seems to defy gravity. The couple seemed comfortable in the nest, which appear to be capable of easily holding their weight.

A neighboring osprey couple had the opposite problem—they had too much space. The ospreys used only half of the space for their nest and could easily have shared the other half with another couple, but I think that ospreys like to keep their neighbors at arm’s length, or maybe it would be better to say “at wing’s length.”

osprey nest

osprey nest

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

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Eagle nest update in May

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 19, 2021| 10 Comments »

As some of you know, I have been monitoring two Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests this spring at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This past month I have devoted most of my photography time to dragonflies, so yesterday I grabbed my long lens and headed off to the refuge, hoping to see some baby eagles. One of the nests is huge and has high walls, so it is hard to know what, if anything, is going on inside it.

I waited and waited and finally the head of an eaglet popped up over the edge of the nest. As I reviewed the first photo, I noticed that there is another eaglet on the other side of the tree trunk, just a little lower. (You may need to click on the image to spot the second eaglet.) Both of the baby birds were facing the tree trunk and I soon learned why.

It turns out that one of there was an adult eagle behind the tree trunk. In the second image, it looks like the adult eagle, whose only visible part was its beak, was giving a bite of food to one eaglet while its sibling looked out from the other side of the tree trunk and did not seem very happy about the situation.

In the final shot, you get a better look at the adult eagle and a partial view of one of the eaglets. I now know for sure that there are at least two eaglets in that nest—some years there have been three eaglets. As the eaglets get older, I hope they will be more active and curious and that will allow me to get some better shots of them.

eaglet

eaglet

bald eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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Female Ashy Clubtail dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 22, 2021| 13 Comments »

I spent most of my time looking for birds during a trip last week to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and I managed to capture the images of the bald eagles that I featured yesterday. The day had started off cool and overcast, more suitable for birds than for dragonflies, but when the sun finally broke through in the late afternoon, I decided to swing by a small pond on my walk back to the parking lot on the off chance that I might find a dragonfly.

My hunch paid off when I spotted this female Ashy Clubtail dragonfly (Phanogomphus lividus) perched low to the ground. At that moment I had my Tamron 150-600mm lens attached to my camera and that presented a challenge, because its minimum focusing distance is 8.9 feet (2.70 meters), so I had to back up. At that distance it is hard to locate and focus on a subject that is only 2 inches (50 mm) in length. Fortunately I have been in this situation before and I steadied myself, focused manually, and captured the first image before the dragonfly flew away.

Having established that there there was at least one dragonfly in the area, I switched to my Tamron 180mm macro lens, my preferred lens for dragonflies, and continued my search. A few minutes later I spotted another female Ashy Clubtail when it flew up into some low hanging vegetation and I captured the second image. There is a good chance that this was the same individual that I photographed earlier—both of them are pale in color, suggesting that they had only recently emerged from their larval state.

As I moved a little closer for the final shot, the dragonfly closed its wings overhead, reverting briefly to an earlier stage when it was in the process of emerging. I have seen this happen before when a newly emerged dragonfly, sometimes referred to as a teneral, flew for the first time and its wings were still in a very fragile state. At this point, I decided to stop shooting, fearful that I might spook this newly emerged dragonfly into flying at a time when she clearly needed to rest.

If you are unfamiliar with the amazing process that a dragonfly goes through in transforming itself from a water-dwelling nymph to an aerial acrobat, check out my blog posting called Metamorphosis of a dragonfly that documents the entire process in a series of photos.

Ashy Clubtail

Ashy Clubtail

Ashy Clubtail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cleared for landing

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 21, 2021| 7 Comments »

Both members of a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) couple were active on Monday in and around the big nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge—neither of them appeared to be sitting continuously in the nest.  Perhaps there are eaglets already, though the nest is so deep I could not see any little heads.

I captured this image as one of the eagles was making its final approach to land on the nest. I really like the position of the wings that help the eagle slow its forward progress and the way that the light coming from the side was illuminating the tail feathers.

I will be continuing to monitor this nest and the other one at the wildlife refuge for signs of baby eagles and hopefully will have the chance to capture some shots of them soon.

bald eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Zebra Swallowtail in April

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, tagged , , , , , , on April 20, 2021| 8 Comments »

I was pleasantly surprised last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge to spot a few Zebra Swallowtail butterflies (Eurytides marcellus), including this one that posed momentarily for me. Generally this butterfly species is associated with the pawpaw tree, on which its larvae feed exclusively, but this one apparently spotted something of interest in the dry vegetation at the edge of the trail and decided to investigate it.

It is so exciting to see familiar spring species begin to reappear one-by-one.

Zebra Swallowtail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Gnatcatcher in April

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 20, 2021| 6 Comments »

One of the coolest spring birds in our area is the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea), a tiny bird that is only slightly larger than a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I spotted this one last week in the trees at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher has a distinctive call, so it is easy to know when one is around. Finding the bird, though, can be a real challenge because they are small, energetic, and spend a lot of time high in the trees. The trees are really starting to leaf out now, which adds another level of complexity to the challenge.

Several years ago I spotted a gnatcatcher’s nest (see my 2018 posting Gnatcatcher nest) and I am hoping to find one again this year. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers make their nests in a way that seems almost magical, using lichens and spiderwebs.

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wild Turkeys in April

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Although it has been almost a week since I last posted an image of a bird, let me reassure you that I have not given up on them. At this time of the year, however, my attention is divided and I am just as likely to be hunting for tiny subjects with my macro lens as I am to be scanning the increasing leafy trees through my long telephoto zoom lens. When I start walking (and I do a lot of walking), I have to decide which lens I will initially put on my camera and that will largely dictate where I will look for subjects.

On Thursday, I went back to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge to look for birds and was delighted to spot a small flock of Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). Sometimes the turkeys that I see appear relatively small, but some of the members of this flock seemed enormous, like the one in the first photo. The turkeys were picking about at the edge of the trail on which I was walking and slowly made their way into the undergrowth as I approached. The motion was fast enough, though, that one of the turkey’s legs is blurred in the second photo.

I am hoping to be able to capture some images of springtime warblers and of baby eaglets, but the transition has already begun from mostly telephoto shots to mostly macro shots—it is part of my seasonal transition.

wild tukey

wild turkey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Strolling crow

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 11, 2021| 4 Comments »

I love to stroll along the shore—the rhythmic sound of the waves relaxes me and often puts me into a contemplative frame of mind. When I spotted this crow on a recent trip to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I couldn’t help but think that the crow too was lost in its thoughts and enjoying the same therapeutic benefits of a stroll at the water’s edge.

I must confess that I do not know my crows very well. I assume that this is an American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), but realize that it might instead be a Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus). From what I have read, even experts sometimes have trouble visually distinguishing between the two species, though Fish Crows are substantially smaller than American Crows. Apparently some people can tell them apart by their calls, but this crow was silent, so I too will remain silent and simply identify the strolling bird as a crow.


crow

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Yellow-throated Warbler

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 3, 2021| 10 Comments »

It was cool and windy yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and most of the birds seemed to be taking refuge from the elements. I was therefore especially thrilled to spot and photograph my first warbler of the season, this Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica).

This is the time of the year when a lot of colorful warblers pass through our area on their northward migration. Many of the warbler stay for only a short time, so it is a hit-or-miss proposition for me to find them. This is also the time of the year when the trees are budding, flowering and pushing out new leaves. All of this new growth is beautiful, but it makes it harder for me to spot the little birds as they flit about, often at the tops of the trees.

We had some spring-like temperatures a week ago and I was walking around in a T-shirt or at most a sweatshirt. Yesterday, though, the day started with temperatures below freezing and eventually made it up to only 47 degrees (8 degrees C) with almost constant winds of 15 miles per hour making it feel much colder. I dug out my heavier coat, insulated boots, and thermal underwear and was comfortable walking about, though most of the wildlife seemed to have taken the much more commonsense approach of simply staying sheltered.

Yellow-throated Warbler

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Basking

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, spring, turtle, tagged , , , , , , , on March 29, 2021| 11 Comments »

The warm weather on Friday brought out a lot of turtles at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, including this group of Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta). I too enjoyed soaking up the sun, but felt more of a need to distance myself from other members of my species than these turtles did.

In terms of photography, I love the way that the red stripes on the turtles’ neck really stand out in an image made up of mainly muted colors. I thought of removing the leaf in the background, but decided that I liked the touch of whimsy that it added to the image.

Painted Turtles

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Natural abstract art

Posted in abstract, Art, Nature, Photography, spring, tagged , , , , on March 27, 2021| 23 Comments »

I searched a stream in vain for dragonflies last weekend, but became fascinated by the abstract patterns of the water moving through areas festooned with moss, algae, and grasses. Later in the year I am almost certain to find Gray Petaltail dragonflies near this stream and the surrounding seeps. For the moment I was content to let my mind run wild, feeling a bit like I was underwater as I observed the abstract shapes created by the moving water.

stream

stream

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Is it safe yet?

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, spring, turtle, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2021| 15 Comments »

When I spotted this Eastern Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta picta) on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I immediately thought how apt a visual metaphor it was for our lives this past year. Surrounded by its protective shell, the turtle tentatively looked out at a hostile world, wondering if it was safe to stick out its neck and move forward.

It is still not completely safe, but conditions appear to be improving somewhat in many parts of the world. Yesterday I had my second Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination shot and I hope that as many people as possible will choose to get vaccinated when they have the chance.

In the meantime, we owe it to each other to continue to wear our masks, to wash our hands, and to practice social distancing. None of us really like these restrictions, but they will protect us as we await the day when we can all come out of our shells.

Painted Turtle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Acrobatic squirrel

Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 26, 2021| 10 Comments »

I was watching an Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge as it hung upside down and nibbled on the buds of a tree when suddenly its back legs lost their grip. The squirrel was dangling from its front paws only when I snapped this shot.

Initially the squirrel continued to chew on the bud it was holding. Realizing perhaps the precariousness of its position, it eventually stopped eating and successfully scrambled back up into the tree.

Eastern Gray Squirrel

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Springtime chickadee

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 24, 2021| 20 Comments »

I tend to be a bit obsessive about trying to get my subject in sharp focus when capturing wildlife images. So I was a little disappointed, but not surprised, when I saw that the focus in this shot of a Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) was a bit soft. I was quite a distance away when I saw this little bird moving about in the tree branches on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and I was able to snap off only a couple of shots before it flew away.

The more I looked at this image, the more I have come to like it. There is something really pleasing about the bird’s upward-facing pose; the lighting around the chickadee; the out-of-focus background; the simple structure of the branches; and especially the spots of bright spring color in the flowering tree. This image conveys to me an overall feeling of the beauty of the emerging spring.

This type of shot also serves to remind me that photography is as much about art as it is about science, that it is ok to break whatever “rules” I choose to impose on myself. Beauty can be found in sharp, detailed photos, what I normally strive to create, but it can also be found in “artsy,” impressionistic images like this one.

What do you think? Does the soft focus on this chickadee bother you?

Carolina Chickadee

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Springtime butterfly

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 23, 2021| 19 Comments »

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day and I finally managed to photograph my first butterfly of the year, a Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) that I spotted in the underbrush at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Within the past two weeks I have had several sightings of larger butterflies that overwinter as adults, including the Mourning Cloak and the Question Mark/Eastern Comma butterflies, but was unable to capture images of them.

This little butterfly almost certainly emerged recently from a chrysalis and is a female, judging from the two black spots on each of the forewings (males have a single spot on each forewing). Cabbage White butterflies, known by many different names, originated in Europe and have now spread to many parts of the world including Australia and New Zealand, according to Wikipedia.

I look at the butterfly as a beautiful little creature, but in its caterpillar form it is considered to be a dangerous agricultural pest that is responsible for large-scale damage to the cruciferous plants on which it voraciously feeds. As adults, however, Cabbage Whites butterflies feed on nectar from many flowers, including dandelions, red clover, asters, mint, and strawberries and do not cause any damage.

 

Cabbage White

Cabbage White

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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No guarantees

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 22, 2021| 18 Comments »

Wildlife photography is full of uncertainty—there are no guarantees of success. When I go out with my camera, I never know if I will find any subjects to photograph.

I stay alert and almost always something will appear, like this beautiful female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) that I spotted a week ago at Occoquan Regional Park.

Beauty is everywhere—sometimes you just have to look a little harder to find it.

Northern Cardinal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Osprey delivery service

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on March 21, 2021| 8 Comments »

Some of the newly-returned Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge were busy on Friday building or renovating their nests. In past years I have seen ospreys make nests in a wide range of locations, both natural as well as man-made. This osprey was ferrying out sticks to a nest on a distant channel marker in the bay, where its mate waited patiently for each new delivery.

Osprey

Osprey

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Muskrat in March

Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 20, 2021| 21 Comments »

I turned my head instinctively when I heard a splash in the water yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge? What had made the splash? There were no logs on which a turtle might have been sunning, so I assumed it was one of the many diving ducks that have spent the winter with us. I watched and waited for the duck to resurface so that I could identify its species.

Imagine my surprise when a furry rather than feathered head broke the surface of the water from below. I only had to hesitate a second before I decided that it was a muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) rather than a North American Beaver (Castor canadensis). Why? It was midday and beavers are generally active only at dawn and dusk; the animal was really small and beavers tend to be a lot bigger in size; and I had a really good look at the tail that was a long, thin “rattail” and not flat like a beaver’s tail.

In the past most of the muskrats that I have seen swimming have kept their tails in the water, often using it for propulsion. Maybe this muskrat was simply treading water, watching me as I watched it. It has been a long time since I have seen a muskrat, so this sighting was a nice treat for me.

Muskrat

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mockingbird in March

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 18, 2021| 5 Comments »

Sometimes the colors in a photo draw me in as much as the actual subject, as is the case with this image of a Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) that I spotted last Saturday at Occoquan Regional Park.

The soft shades of brown and gray harmoniously create a mood that I really like. Even the wispy, dried grasses in the foreground, which might have bothered me under most circumstances, add a nice texture and organic feel to this in situ portrait.

Northern Mockingbird

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Turkey Vultures in March

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on March 17, 2021| 17 Comments »

Some people find Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) to be creepy, but I think they are handsome in their own way and fill a useful function in keeping our roads at least partially free from carrion. I spotted quite a few Turkey Vultures on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, some clustered on the ground and some circling in the skies.

The two vultures in the first photo were part of a group of five that were spread across a trail near the partial remains of what looks to have been some kind of animal. I did not want to disturb them, so I gave them a wide berth and continued on my way after capturing the image.

I had no such worry with the vulture in the second shot that was effortless soaring overhead and did not seem disturbed at all by my presence. It probably was my imagination, but at times it seems like the vulture was tracking me. I think I watched too many cowboy movies as a child in which a lost cowboy stumbled through the desert as vultures circled overhead, waiting for him to die.

Turkey Vultures

Turkey Vulture

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Return of the ospreys

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on March 16, 2021| 17 Comments »

Some birds return silently in the spring and you have to search hard to find them. Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus), on the other hand, make their presence known as they soar overhead, often calling out in their loud, high-pitched voices that the Cornell Lab of Ornithology compared to “the sound of a whistling kettle taken rapidly off a stove.”

I spotted only a few ospreys yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, some of which I managed to photograph, but know from experience that they are only the advance guard of a larger group of osprey that will arrive soon and begin to build or repair their nests. As you may notice in the second photo, trees in our area are being to produce buds and it won’t be long before leaves begin to complicate my efforts to spot birds.

Osprey

osprey

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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