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Posts Tagged ‘Woodbridge VA’

Bufflehead takeoff

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bucephala albeola, bufflehead, Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 9, 2018| 7 Comments »

Although many ducks take to the air straight out of the water, some of them, like this tiny Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) need to get a running start. It is simultaneously fascinating and amusing to watch them bounding across the surface of the water to generate enough lift for take-off.

I saw quite a few Buffleheads today at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but most of them were far away—diving ducks seem to prefer the deep water. This male Bufflehead was on his own a bit closer to the shore than the others. I had barely enough time to focus on him before he took off, but fortunately he was moving parallel to me, so I was able to retain focus on the bird and capture some of the water spikes that he was generating.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Screaming gull

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Larus delawarensis, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Ring-billed Gull, screaming gull, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 8, 2018| 4 Comments »

I generally do not pay much attention to gulls when I am out with my camera, but this Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) was so loud and so close last weekend at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge that it was impossible to ignore. I love the juxtaposition between the tensed, emotion-filled pose of the gull in the foreground and the blasé attitude of the gull in the background, who has clearly heard this screaming multiple times and was not in the least impressed by it.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Round ball of fluff

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, kinglet, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Regulus calendula, ruby-crowned kinglet, Tamron 150, Woodbridge VA on February 7, 2018| 11 Comments »

Under normal circumstances, Rub-crowned Kinglets (Regulus calendula) are described as “stocky” or “chubby” or “compact.” In cold weather, when they fluff up their feathers to retain heat, they amazingly grow even rounder in shape. These round balls of fluff bounce from branch to branch as they frenetically forage for food, reminding me of the pinball games that I used to play in my youth.

I was thrilled last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge when this male Ruby-crowned Kinglet paused for a split-second on a branch and I was able to capture this image. I love the tilt of his head, the contrast between the curves of his body and the angular lines of his bill and wings, and the wonderful little details like the glimpse of his ruby crown and the peek at his tiny little feet.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Majestic vulture

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Cathartes aura, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, turkey vulture, vulture, Woodbridge VA on February 6, 2018| 11 Comments »

From a distance, the large bird perched on a broken-off tree looked majestic and I assumed that it was a hawk or an eagle. Zooming in with my telephoto lens, I realized that it was “only” a Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura). It got me thinking about the fact that vultures have a bad reputation—many people are creeped out by the way that vultures circle overhead and eat dead things. For them, the words “majestic” and “vulture” just don’t go together. If you suspend all preconceived notions and examine the bird in this photo (or watch a vulture effortlessly soaring overhead), perhaps you too will find a bit of majesty there.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Chickadee and sweetgum

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Carolina Chickadee, chickadee, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Poecile carolinensis, Sweetgum, Sweetgum Tree, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 5, 2018| 5 Comments »

This Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) was working hard this past Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge to get to the seeds inside the spiky pods of a sweetgum tree. I was amazed that the stem of the seedpods was able to support the weight of the little bird, particularly because it had to peck away vigorously to get to the seeds. Eventually the chickadee’s persistence would pay off and it would sit on a branch and really seemed to enjoy the seeds.

It makes me wonder what the seeds taste like.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Downy Woodpecker and seed pod

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Downy Woodpecker, male Downy Woodpecker, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Picoides pubescens, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 4, 2018| 9 Comments »

I am always struck by the amazing energy and tenacity of Downy Woodpeckers (Picoides pubescens), like this male that I spotted on Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge as he pecked away at a seed pod. I was worried that his weight would pull down the seed pod, but I guess that he is pretty light and the pod seemed to be firmly attached to the tree,

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bald eagle at the beach

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 50D, eagle on the beach, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 3, 2018| 4 Comments »

When it is frigid and windy, perhaps your imagination turns to a tropical beach somewhere. Maybe that is what this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was thinking yesterday when it perched at water’s edge at low tide at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, when the wind chill made it feel like it was way below the freezing level.

As you may be able to tell, I was shooting almost directly into the sun, which forced me to significantly overexpose the shot to keep the eagle from looking like a silhouette. I really like the way that the way that the water turned an almost pastel turquoise, enhancing the sense of this being a tropical location, at least in my mind.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Peregrine Falcon

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Falco peregrinus, falcon, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Peregrine Falcon, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on February 2, 2018| 8 Comments »

When I first looked at this bird through my telephoto lens this morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I was struck by its incredible eyes. After marveling for a moment at those spectacular eyes, I suddenly realized that I had never seen a bird like this before and was not sure of its identification.

It turns out that this is a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), one of the fastest creatures on the earth. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a Peregrine Falcon can reach speeds of 69 miles per hour (112 kn/h) in flight and when diving from high in the air a Peregrine Falcon may reach speeds of 200 mph (320 km/h) as it drops toward its prey.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Tundra Swans

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged birds in flight, Canon 50D, Cygnus columbianus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Tundra Swan, Woodbridge VA on February 1, 2018| 2 Comments »

When I photographed a family of Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus) early in January at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I initially put off doing a post on them, thinking I would be likely to see more of them later and hopefully at a closer range. As time passed and I took more photos, I sort of forgot about the swans, even though it was my first time seeing this species.

As it turns out, I did not see any other Tundra Swans in January, so I thought I would feature them today. I initially spotted the swans across a wide expanse of ice near a small island. From the differences in coloration, I judged that there were two adults and three juveniles. I was a long way away and don’t think that I spooked them, but suddenly they took to the air. I especially like my in-flight shots, with the cool-looking clouds, but I am also including a shot of the swans in the process of taking off.

I took a whole series of shots and as I reviewed them, I realized how tough it is to capture an image in which all of the birds are facing the right way and have their wings in a good position. Actually, that’s a problem with any group photo, so I can’t blame the birds too much.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Duck hunting at Occoquan Bay

Posted in Birds, Nature, people, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, duck hunting, ducks, hunting, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 31, 2018| 11 Comments »

I think that duck hunting season is finally over at Occoquan Bay. It has been somewhat jarring in recent weeks to have my photography expeditions to the wildlife refuge interrupted by volleys of shotgun fire, sometimes at rather close range. In addition to some fixed blinds in the water that look like tiny cabins on stilts, hunters also use small boats like the one featured in these two images. The two hunters in this boat were so close to the shore that I had to zoom out to about 250mm on my 150-600mm telephoto lens to be able to fit them into the frame.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Looking back

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Buteo lineatus, Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 30, 2018| 8 Comments »

I have already featured a frontal image of this young Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) that I spotted last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but I decided I also really like this shot in which it is looking over its shoulder. The hawk definitely was keeping an eye on me after I had passed almost directly underneath it and was walking further down the path away from it.

In a strange way the hawk seemed to be simultaneously intensely focused and quite relaxed and was quite content to remain on its perch.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cormorant silhouette

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Phalacrocorax auritus, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 29, 2018| 6 Comments »

Reduced to its essence, photography is all about light and shadows. Sometimes details are not even necessary to evoke a mood, a sense of the moment, as in this image of a Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) that I captured this past Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Deer crossing

Posted in animals, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, deer, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Odocoileus virginianus, Tamron 150-600mm, white-tailed deer, Woodbridge VA on January 28, 2018| 5 Comments »

I spotted this White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) this past Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge as it carefully made its way across one of the small streams that crisscross the refuge.

This deer was lagging behind a small group of four deer that I initially spotted. That group pretty quickly and I was not really ready for them, so my photos were not that good. I was quite happy when this final deer appeared and I was able to get some shots. I couldn’t tell for sure how stable the footing was where the deer was crossing, but the deer did appear to be very careful as it chose places to place its feet.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hawk eye

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Buteo lineatus, Canon 50D, hawk eye, hawkeye, juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 27, 2018| 4 Comments »

This young Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) stared down at me with curiosity and interest yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and stayed in place even when I passed almost directly beneath it. In my experience, younger birds are more likely than adults to hang around as I approach. As they grow older, I suspect, they rightly come to view humans as potential predators.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Nesting Bald Eagle

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, bald eagle nest, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Nesting bald eagle, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 25, 2018| 3 Comments »

From a distance I was able to catch a glimpse of a nesting Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I love the way that this shot shows the awesome structure of the tree in which the eagles built their nest.

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, officials at the wildlife refuge have blocked of roads near this nest to keep the eagles from being unnecessarily disturbed by human activity. I captured this image from behind the barriers. As nesting activity continues, I suspect that the barriers will be pushed even further back, so I decided to get this shot while I was still able to do so.

Once I was aware of the presence of the eagle in the nest I attempted to be as stealthy as I could in approaching the barrier, which is a little tough to do when you are standing in the middle of a wide trail with fields on both sides. I stayed low and left after I had taken a few shots.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Love or anger?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle couple, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 24, 2018| 8 Comments »

Is this love or anger or a bit of both? Relationships of any sort are complicated and I don’t know enough about eagle behavior to interpret the interaction between these two Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) that I observed one morning last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Sharp-eyed reader viewers may have noted that these two eagles are perched on the same branch where I previously photographed an eagle couple. The branch is part of a tree in which there is a nest that I am now relatively certain is an eagle nest. It is a pretty good distance off of the path and partially hidden, so I am hoping that the wildlife will judge that passing humans won’t unduly disturb what may become nesting eagles and will leave the path open.

As for the behavior, I must admit that I am a bit romantic and couldn’t help but note how the space between their beaks forms a heart. I’m voting therefore for love.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Perching bluebirds

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged bluebird, Canon 50D, Eastern Bluebird, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sialia sialis, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 23, 2018| 11 Comments »

Bluebirds never fail to make me feel happy—there is just something really positive about their attitude and their colors.

These Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) made it a little easier for me to capture their images by perching on the tip of branches this past Saturday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Squawk

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Mimus polyglottos, mockingbird, Northern Mockingbird, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 22, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Birds can be very expressive, though it can sometimes be hard to interpret their expressions. It was pretty clear, however, that this Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) was not happy about something last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Was it me?

In addition to the priceless expression on the bird’s face, I really love the limited color palette in this image. It also has a kind of sparse minimalist feel that appeals to me.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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A moment of stillness

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Carolina Chickadee, chickadee, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Poecile carolinensis, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 21, 2018| 7 Comments »

I love the small birds that are always around us, but they rarely perch long enough in the open for me to photograph them. I spotted this energetic little Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) last Friday moving about in the vegetation at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and was happy when it paused for a second to pose for me.

The tiny bird was still for only a moment and then hopped off the branch and disappeared in the vegetation. I was thrilled when I looked at the image to see that I had captured a pretty clear view of the eye and that there was even a nice little catchlight—almost all of us who do portraits of any sorts are sort of obsessive about the eyes of our subjects.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Tough to swallow

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Ardea herodias, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, heron, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 20, 2018| 5 Comments »

Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge were really busy yesterday now that much of the ice has broken up and is melting. This heron caught a fish so big that it really seemed to be struggling to gain altitude as it flew away.

Temperatures in our area have been below freezing for almost a month and I was starting to get worried that the Great Blue Herons would starve. Somehow, though, they manage to survive. I did not actually see this heron catch the large fish. I first caught sight of the heron when it flew with the fish to a section of floating ice in the distance and tried to manipulate the fish into position.

Eventually it seemed to have decided to head for solid ground and I captured this shot just after the heron had taken off from the ice. I tracked it in the air as it flew to a little island in the middle of the bay, where I hope it was able to finally swallow the fish.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Balance and flexibility

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Cardinalis cardinalis, female Northern Cardinal, Northern cardinal, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 19, 2018| 3 Comments »

I never cease to be amazed by the balance and flexibility of birds, like this female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) that managed to reach down and grab some poison ivy berries this past Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I am probably going to return to that refuge today, because I am not sure if it will be open in the upcoming days if there is a shutdown of the federal government.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Not hidden

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Cardinalis cardinalis, male Northern Cardinal, Northern cardinal, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 18, 2018| 5 Comments »

As this male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) stared at me Monday from within a bush, I couldn’t help but wonder if he thought he was camouflaged. It is hard to hide that bright red color.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bald Eagle Squabble

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle couple, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 17, 2018| 3 Comments »

No matter how much you love someone, minor squabbles are virtually inevitable and sometimes they can get quite heated. I am not sure what was being discussed, but the members of this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) couple seemed to have differing views that they defended loudly and emphatically on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

In many ways this photo embodies what I most love to capture when I go out with my camera. Although it is wonderful to capture a static subject, it is even more wonderful to capture some action or even better some interaction. I think viewers are drawn into the drama and emotion of the moment and creatively try to imagine what was going on in the photo. Are these angry birds? Is this how eagles express love? We, of course, can’t know the true explanation for the behavior that I document, but that sense of mystery and incertitude can sometimes further stimulate our imagination.

I didn’t see this couple kiss and make up, but a short time later they took off together, apparently having resolved whatever problem had prompted their little squabble.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Scratching an itch

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, Canon 50D, eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, scratching an itch, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 16, 2018| 4 Comments »

You have to be really careful scratching an itch if you have big talons like this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) that I spotted yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

At least one of the eagle couples has recently been observed building a nest, so already a number of paths in the wildlife refuge are now blocked. As I wandered around the refuge, I did spot several eagle couples and some possible nests—it is hard for me to tell if a possible nest is an eagle nest or an osprey nest. Unlike the nest in the closed area, these nests are far enough away from the paths that the human presence is less likely to disturb the eagles. It is at times like this that I am thankful that my telephoto zoom lens extends out to 600mm.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Warbler and poison ivy berries

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, poison ivy, poison ivy berries, Setophaga coronata, Tamron 150-600mm, warbler, Woodbridge VA, Yellow-rumped Warbler on January 14, 2018| 18 Comments »

A Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) really seemed to be enjoying the poison ivy berries that it managed to find on a frigid morning earlier this month at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

This little bird was so focused on finding food that it was not disturbed by my presence, which allowed me to capture a series of images.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Icescapes

Posted in abstract, Art, Landscape, Nature, new year, Photography, tagged Canon 50D, Canon SX50, frozen, ice, icescape, New Year 2017, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 12, 2018| 3 Comments »

I don’t often shoot landscape images, but I was so taken with the stark beauty of the ice-covered world that I encountered on New Year’s Day at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge that I decided that I should attempt to capture a sense of the moment. I used the wide-angle capabilities of my Canon SX50 superzoom camera in the first two images below and shot the third one with the Tamron 150-600mm lens, the lens that I use on my Canon 50D for a significant number of my the photos featured on this blog.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cardinal and berries

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Cardinalis cardinalis, male Northern Cardinal, Northern cardinal, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 10, 2018| 2 Comments »

The berries looked dried up and unappetizing to me, but to the male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) that I spotted last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, they provided much needed nourishment on a frigid winter day.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Sparrow in the snow

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, white-throated sparrow, Woodbridge VA, Zonotrichia albicollis on January 8, 2018| 4 Comments »

Some birds may seek shelter when the weather is inhospitable, but sparrows seem to be active and busy all of the time, like this White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) that I spotted in the snow this past Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

It is a bit of a challenge to get a proper exposure when so much of the frame is filled with white snow. As I understand it, the camera would like to render everything to a neutral gray, so it is necessary to overexpose the image or adjust it in post-processing. In my initial RAW image, the sparrow was very much in the shadows and the snow had a grayish-blue tinge to it. I cranked up the exposure to the point that most of the snow turned almost pure white and I was left with soft bluish shadows that I really like. I am also pretty pleased with the sparrow’s pose as it paused for a moment to survey the landscape.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eye-level with a hawk

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Buteo lineatus, Canon 50D, hawk, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 7, 2018| 1 Comment »

One of the basic rules of portrait photography is that you should try to be at eye level with your subject. That’s a bit tough to do with raptors, but this past Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I encountered a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) that was perched very low on a tree and I managed to capture a number of shots of it. The wind was blowing strongly at the time and my guess is that the hawk was trying to shelter itself from the wind by perching low and from the cold by fluffing up its feathers (as you can see in the the second image).

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cardinal in the snow

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Cardinalis cardinalis, male Northern Cardinal, Northern cardinal, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 6, 2018| 10 Comments »

It is always a joy to see the bright red color of a male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), especially during the winter, when the world seems almost monochromatic. I spotted this one yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge as he pecked about in the drifted snow. We have had only a small amount of snow, but the weather has remained steadfastly below freezing, so it has stayed with us for an extended period of time.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Fluffy Carolina Wren

Posted in Birds, Nature, new year, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Carolina Wren, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Thryothorus ludovicianus, Woodbridge VA, wren on January 5, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Sometimes when a bird fluffs up its feathers, its appearance changes enough that identification becomes more difficult than usual. That was certainly the case with this little Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) that I spotted on New Year’s Day at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The head and the tail looked normal for a Carolina Wren, but I had never before seen spots on the back of one.

Once again, experts in a Facebook forum came to my rescue and reassured me that this was normal behavior for a Carolina Wren. When they fluff up their feathers to roost at night, the spots are visible too, although in this case I suspect that the wren was merely trying to retain body heat in the bitter cold weather that we have been experiencing the last couple of weeks.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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