Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge

A Visitor To The Wild Potato Vine by Todd Henson

A visitor to the wild potato vine.

In mid-July my father and I walked around the shoreline trail of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I’m often drawn to the various flowers, many of which look very similar. In this case we found what I believe was a wild potato vine (Ipomoea pandurata), a member of the morning glory family, with their beautiful white flowers and deep pink interior. 

As I was attempting to find a decent view of a flower an insect, I believe some kind of bee, flew right into the one I was looking at. I then focused all my attention on that flower, getting as close as I could and attempting to see into the dark interior of the flower. The insect had flown in head first but by the time I had my camera positioned it had turned itself around and was facing me. I’ve photographed insects like this a few times and always enjoy the view it presents. Notice how the insect has its legs splayed out pushing against the flower to position itself.

Below is a slightly wider view to show the flower with the vines and leaves, and if you look closely, the tail end of the insect.

A wider view of the wild potato vine flower with the bee inside.

Tech Talk

For those technically inclined, I was photographing with my 105mm macro lens. It was an overcast day so I had my ISO up a bit to better see into the darker regions and still keep a high enough shutter speed for me to handhold.

For the wider view I used an ISO of 800, an aperture of f/6.3 and a shutter speed of 1/640. These were general middle-of-the-road settings while I was exploring the scene.

When I moved closer to see inside the flower it might have made sense to raise the ISO to better see the much darker region, but I didn’t think of that and was working fast before the insect left the flower, so I stayed at ISO 800. I was much closer to the subject so I had the foresight to stop down my aperture to f/9 to try to get more of the insect and interior in focus. The closer you get the shallower the depth of field. Stopping down the aperture helps get a wider depth of field with more in focus, and at this close range the depth of field is very small even with smaller apertures. But stopping down the aperture requires a slower shutter speed (ah, physics!), in this case 1/320 second, which I hoped was still fast enough for a sharp image.

In the end I’m pleased with how it turned out.


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Though the Way Forward Be Foggy by Todd Henson

What’s around that bend?

My father and I planned to go on an end-of-the-year hike on December 31st, but when we awoke we found the world engulfed in fog. We could have simply given up on our plans and gone back to bed. After all, I certainly enjoy a little extra time for sleep. But instead we chose to head out and explore some local trails.

Deeper into the foggy woods

Walking into the unknown

Though the way forward be foggy


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Three Grebes of Two Species by Todd Henson

On a recent morning while hiking a nearby wildlife refuge we spoke with someone who said they’d seen several grebes out in the water, so I kept my eyes open when we made it to the bay trail. Sure enough, we also saw a few grebes swimming around and fishing, sometimes near shore.

Plumage Transition of Horned Grebes

We found two great examples of Horned Grebes. One has almost completely transitioned to its summer, or breeding, plumage with fairly dark body feathers and the distinctive lighter yellow “horns” stretching from its eye to the back of its head.

Mostly summer (breeding) plumage of a Horned Grebe

The other appears to only recently have begun its transition and still retains more of its winter, or non-breeding, plumage, which is less colorful and more grey.

A Horned Grebe transitioning from its winter (non-breeding) to summer (breeding) plumage

I wonder if perhaps one is male and the other female. Some birds have distinctly different plumage for male and female, but with grebes they look alike and instead change plumage with the seasons, so I can’t tell their sex from their plumage.

Pied-billed Grebe

The other grebe we found was a single Pied-billed Grebe, which is smaller than the Horned Grebe. This one appears to have transitioned to its breeding plumage, which includes that distinctive black bar across its bill.

A Pied-billed Grebe in breeding plumage

All of these grebes were very busy feeding, which meant they kept disappearing from view, diving down below the surface for food and resurfacing, often at a distance from where they first dove. They are a very enjoyable bird to watch and photograph, and I’m glad we happen to be in an area they migrate through on their way north to their breeding grounds.


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