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of high pitched squeaking the primary means of communication used by these cool little creatures as theodore roosevelt himself described them prairie dogs are abundant they are in shape like little woodchucks and are the most noisy and inquisitive animals imaginable they are never found singly but always in towns of several hundred inhabitants and these towns are found in all kinds of places where the country is flat and treeless prairie dogs may not be as exciting to many as the much larger bison and wild horses but there is something that always makes me smile about their energetic hyperactivity prairie dog towns reportedly attract predators looking for a quick meal but i did not spot any during this visit in november 2024 however i managed to photograph a coyote canis latrans hanging around a prairie dog town and documented it in a blog posting called coyote in theodore roosevelt national park michael q powell all rights reserved share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading posted in animals nature photography summer travel wildlife tagged black tailed prairie dog canon 7d cynomys ludovicianus medora north dakota north dakota prairie dog tamron 18 400mm theodore roosevelt national park 4 comments updated camping setup august 18 2026 by mike powell in a recent posting i described my trip to theodore roosevelt national park in medora north dakota on my way home to virginia after spending a week visiting family in a small town in missouri outside of kansas city the last two times i visited this park i pitched a small tent and stayed a couple of nights camping there see my 2022 posting camping in north dakota for a look at my previous setup since that time i traded in my trusty kia soul and now am driving a subaru forester a much bigger car i decided to set it up with a bed in the back so that i could stretch out when camping and or stopping at rest areas there are quite a number of options for this some of which can be homemade but i opted to go with a car camping platform called the hele box by hele outdoors this is a six foot long height adjustable platform to which i added a 3 inch memory foam mattress as you can see in the first photo below each of the six legs of the platform is individually adjustable so i was able to make it pretty level the storage container for the platform fits underneath it and can be used to store lots of stuff while traveling the second photo below is a selfie i took that shows me lying down on the bed there is a decent amount of headroom and i figured out an acrobatic way to climb onto the bed from the front seat which was useful when it was raining in thing that i did not change was my little camping stove that i used to heat water for coffee oatmeal and instant noodles as it turns out i did not do any real camping but it was handy to use at rest stops to make a quick hot snack meal or to take a nap with the windows cracked for ventilation as you can see in the final photo my recently completed road trip was almost 3900 miles 6276 km and i was able to use this setup repeatedly to rest and recover as needed without having to plan stops at hotels along the way i guess that i like a little more comfort as i get older but most people will probably say that i am still roughing it michael q powell all rights reserved share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading posted in camping nature photography travel wildlife tagged car camping hele outdoors iphone 16 pro max medora north dakota subara forester wilderness subaru forester theodore roosevelt national park 2 comments buffalo in north dakota august 17 2026 by mike powell after spending a week visiting family outside of kansas city i decided to make a detour on my way home to virginia to revisit theodore roosevelt national park in medora north dakota to see the buffalo bison bison there once again it was sort of on the way i am in complete awe of these massive beautiful creatures and was delighted to have multiple viewing opportunities during my relatively short visit to the park for the record i drove almost 800 miles 1287 km west to see the buffalo before heading eastward to home all told my road trip was almost 3900 miles 6276 km long here is a link to a posting from 2022 called camping in north dakota showing images of an earlier visit to the same park it gives you a sense of the reasons why i feel such an attachment to this very special national park michael q powell all rights reserved share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading posted in animals nature photography travel wildlife tagged american bison bison bison bison buffalo canon 7d iphone 16 pro max medora north dakota tamron 18 400mm theodore roosevelt national park 6 comments eastern amberwing dragonfly female july 29 2026 by mike powell i was excited to spot this female eastern amberwing dragonfly perithemis tenera last week at huntley meadows park male dragonflies of this species as you might suspect from its common name have wings that are amber in coloration as you can see in the second photo below usually the males buzz around over the water at the edges of ponds and i see them quite frequently females however are most often found in vegetation until they decide that it is time to mate and i don t see them very often eastern amberwings are one of the smallest dragonflies in my area at about one inch in length 25 mm they are considered by some to be wasp mimics when they are perched they reportedly wiggle their abdomen and wings in a wasp like fashion to deter other animals from eating them michael q powell all rights reserved share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading posted in dragonflies dragonfly insects nature photography summer wildlife tagged alexandria canon 7d eastern amberwing eastern amberwing dragonfly female eastern amberwing huntley meadows park perithemis tenera tamron 18 400mm 3 comments it s not easy being green july 23 2026 by mike powell when the background in a photo is cluttered it is often hard to see the main subject but that was not the case with this beautiful female eastern pondhawk dragonfly erythemis simplicicollis that i photographed on tuesday at huntley meadows park a local wetlands i love the brilliant green of the this dragonfly s thorax and the blackish banding on its abdomen the tail you can t really see it from this angle but both female and male eastern pondhawks have green faces this is particularly important for mature males because it helps to easily distinguish them from males of other species that have a similar bluish coloration on their bodies there is something soothing and cooling about this photo probably because of the sea of green vegetation that surrounds the dragonfly i can t help but think of kermit the frog singing one of his iconic songs it s not easy being green initially kermit laments the fact that he is green and blends in with so many ordinary things eventually though he comes to accept himself as he is rather than wishing he were different realizing the beauty of his greenness without getting all preachy i think there is a lesson there for all of us someone famously said that comparison is the thief of joy and we can end up feeling really bad when we compare ourselves with the curated versions of people we see on social media wouldn t it be better if we could all recognize that we are all beautiful in our own unique ways as i have repeatedly written on this blog i believe that beauty is everywhere if we can slow down enough to see it on the off chance that you are not familiar with the lyrics of it s not easy being green i have included them below as found on theteachersguide com it s not that easy being green having to spend each day the color of the leaves when i think it could be nicer being red or yellow or gold or something much more colorful like that it s not easy being green it seems you blend in with so many other ord nary things and people tend to pass you over cause you re not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water or stars in the sky but green s the color of spring and green can be cool and friendly like and green can be big like an ocean or important like a mountain or tall like a tree when green is all there is to be it could make you wonder why but why wonder why wonder i am green and it ll do fine it s beautiful and i think it s what i want to be michael q powell all rights reserved share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading posted in dragonflies dragonfly insects nature photography plants summer wildlife tagged alexandria va canon 7d eastern pondhawk eastern pondhawk dragonfly erythemis simplicicollis female eastern pondhawk huntley meadows park it s not easy being green kermit the frog tamron 18 400mm 10 comments what catches your eye july 22 2026 by mike powell the temperatures were a bit lower yesterday and the air quality was better so i finally ventured out with my camera i managed to capture a number of fun images of things that caught my eye as i was walking along a hike bike trail at huntley meadows park a local county run wetland park that i used to visit frequently until it became too popular and overcrowded this was my first photo expedition in the wild in more than a month and a half i was busy with pride things during parts of june so i spent time in urban environments enjoying the events capturing only a few snapshots with my iphone various combinations of high temperatures thunderstorms and unhealthy air quality have kept me indoors this month to be perfectly honest i have felt a bit sluggish and lazy which is a bit unusual for me yesterday i feel like i reconnected with my mojo fully immersing myself in the environment with all of my senses engaged i couldn t help but notice however how many people that passed me had their eyes focused on their cell phones and were virtually oblivious to the beauties of nature that surrounded them what about you would you have noticed the tiny flowering plant growing inches off of the ground please let me know if you can identify it i came up empty handed after a cursory internet search would you have stared down at the murky waters of the pond long enough to spot the snapping turtle that had poked its eyes above the surface and seemed to be watching me would you have reacted quickly enough to capture a shot of the bright blue tail of the five lined skink that momentarily flashed into view as i was walking back to the parking lot if you have walked along with me yesterday different subjects might have caught your attention and you undoubtedly would have captured different images this little set of photos gives you a general idea of how i view the natural world what catches your eye michael q powell all rights reserved share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading posted in nature photography plants reptiles summer turtle wildlife tagged alexandria va canon 7d chelydra serpentina serpentina eastern snapping turtle five lined skink huntley meadows park plestiodon fasciatus tamron 18 400mm what catches your eye 4 comments fourteen years and counting july 8 2026 by mike powell it s hard to believe it but i started this blog 14 years ago and it still is going on 7 july 2012 my dear friend and photography mentor cindy dyer sat me down and told me that i was going to have a blog she already had some experience with word press and helped me set up my account and publish my first posting in case you are curious my first post that was simply entitled blue dasher dragonfly and featured a photo of a blue dasher pachydiplax longipenni s in the obelisk position that made it look a bit like the dragonfly was doing a handstand word press keeps track of a lot of statistics and i am never sure how accurate they are but according as of today i have published 5 558 posts including a small number of re posts by other bloggers and have had 673 856 views those numbers are so big that they boggle my mind a bit for a number of years i was posting almost daily but i have slowed down somewhat over the last few years that being said my approach to my blog has remained remarkably consistent over the years i remember when i first decided to use the words my journey through photography as the subtitle for the blog and the blog has become a kind of journal documenting many of the amazing things i have encountered and my reactions to them thanks so much to all of you for your support and encouragement that have helped to keep me going on this continuing journey progress however you define it has been slow and the pathway has definitely been meandering this recent photo of turtles seems to be appropriate as i pause and reflect basking a bit in the warm feelings as i think about the past this blog has helped me to come out of my shell a bit and to share a lot about the thoughts and emotions that bounce around in my head and in my heart undoubtedly that leaves me vulnerable but as the old adage says a turtle makes progress only by sticking out its neck michael q powell all rights reserved share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading posted in dragonflies dragonfly insects nature photography summer turtle wildlife tagged blue dasher dragonfly pachydiplax longipennis blue dasher blog anniversary 16 comments slaty skimmer dragonflies july 6 2026 by mike powell during a recent visit to jackson miles abbott wetland refuge slaty skimmer dragonflies libellula incesta were probably the most common dragonflies that i spotted they were buzzing around the pond and seemed unafraid to approach me somehow it seemed to me that they were friendly slaty skimmers have dark eyes and dark bodies so they are pretty easy to identify when the light is hitting them from the proper angle though they appear to be dark slate blue or purple in color rather than black michael q powell all rights reserved share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading posted in dragonflies dragonfly insects nature photography summer wildlife tagged canon 7d fort belvoir va jackson miles abbott wetland refuge libellula incesta slaty skimmer slaty skimmer dragonfly tamron 18 400mm 5 comments blue fronted dancer female july 2 2026 by mike powell during a visit to jackson miles abbott wetland refuge last friday i spotted this beautiful little damselfly initially i could not identify the damselfly though i could tell that it was a female just as with dragonflies the males of most damselfly species tend to be more colorful and much easier to identify after searching through my damselfly identification guide i concluded that this was probably a female blue fro...