2014 East Wind Wildlife Calendar

The 2014 EWP Wildlife calendar is a now available.  The calendar features wildlife photographs taken in the Northern Virginia area as well as 2 taken in Cape Cod, MA.  They are $20.00 and include shipping by USPS anywhere in the US.

We are currently without power due to an ice storm that hit last night.  I'll post more information once power has been restored.  Here is the link to the calendars.

http://ewp.korcel.com/p286441482/e57cbaa3

Spring Brings Babies to Virginia Park

Not long ago I discovered a family of Pileated Woodpeckers at Lake Mercer in Fairfax, VA.  At the time they were just building out their nest.  Today two baby woodpeckers stuck their heads out.  I've been periodically documenting this through photographs.  You can see all of them and others on my photo site:

http://ewp.korcel.com/p580985009

Check in frequently to see their progress.

Orbital Launches First Antares Rocket from Virginia Space Port at Wallops Island

Last Sunday evening, NASA launched the 1st Antares rocket from Wallops Island Virginia at the new Virginia Space Port Complex.  I was unable to attend this launch but was able to capture this image from 111 miles away near Lorton, VA.  You can just barely make out the rocket in this high magnification image.  I definitely need to plan for a trip to see one of these in person.

NASA has contracted with Orbital to provide unmanned resupply missions to the International Space Station with launches primarily from Wallops Island, VA.  The empty space pods will be filled with space station trash and then burned up with the pod during re-entry over the ocean.

Here is a link to a NASA video of the launch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3L7crGudVU&feature=youtu.be

National Wildlife Federation Photo Contest People's Choice Finalist

Amazingly, one of my Bald Eagle photographs has been selected for the final round in the NWF People's Choice Photo Contest.  Here is what is posted for this entry:

 "I have photographed Bald Eagles for about 5 years and have seen a dramatic increase in the eagle population here in Northern Virginia.  Many eagles are transient.  However, we have many that nest and remain here year round.  "Overpopulation" along the bay, if you will, has forced many to nest inland and have become pretty tolerant of people and our activities.  Due to conservation efforts, the Bald Eagle in the lower 48 states, has recovered (doubled each year) to about the same numbers as there were when the Declaration of Independence was signed.  Lead poisoning continues to be a major threat to the Bald Eagle.

For this capture, I waited on the shore with my dog and gear for about 1 hour until this eagle flew in and made several attempts to catch this fish.  Three Ospreys eventually showed up and chased the eagle away. The moment before the "strike" is most intriguing to me.  Eagles MUST be successful as their livelihood depends on a continuous supply of food.

This image was shot at ISO 2000 on an overcast day.  I used a digital camera technique of overexposing by 2 stops but keeping the highlights at the very top of the in camera histogram.  I then pulled the exposure back down afterwards to reduce the noise and grain.  Additional basic corrections were performed to increase color and contrast balance."

It is an honor to be selected.  Final round voting begins July 23rd 2013 and continues through August 5th.  Please support my work by voting each day for my photo starting July 23rd.

http://www.nwf.org/PhotoContest/ViewPhoto.aspx?imageid=385596

If you are interested in ordering a print you can order it here:

http://ewp.korcel.com/p144249644/h5bb823d0

National Wildlife Federation Photo Contest

This week I entered into the NWF photo contest where I have so far submitted 13 photographs.  If you have been enjoying my work, please register on their site as a voter and vote for my photos.  You can vote 1 time for each photo every day!

To see my registered photo's you can go to this link to vote on them:

http://www.nwf.org/PhotoContest/PhotoContestHome.aspx?search=true&lastname=korcel&sort=RECENT

I appreciate any and all votes you can give me.

Pileated Woodpeckers Have Begun Nest Building

Spring is in the air and the woodpeckers are at it trying to get their nests ready.  Here is one of the pair of Pileated Woodpeckers near Lake Mercer in Fairfax, VA.  It's clearing out wood chips from it's nest.  The pair take turns working on the nest while the other rests and feeds.  More of these shots can be found at www.eastwindphotography.com  I'll be following this pair and watching for active feeding.  Check back for possible shots of them parenting.

Comet Panstarrs Makes an Appearance

Comet Panstarrs March 12, 2013

Comet Panstarrs has made an appearance in Virginia as well as the rest of the northern hemisphere.  Right now it's pretty difficult to find low in the west.  This was taken about 45 minutes after sunset and very quickly set.

Whether or not you find it, it's a wonderful time to go outdoors and see the night sky.  This week should offer the same type of view but will quickly fade in brightness as it gets a little higher in the sky each night.  With binoculars it should be visible through most of April.

2013 WIldlife Calendars Still Available

My 2013 Wildlife Calendar is available for 20 bucks and free shipping to anywhere in the US.  All of the shots were taken in Northern Virginia.  These same shots are available on ewp.korcel.com for enlargement.  However, you can get all of these photos shown here for just $20.00!

You can order them at http://ewp.korcel.com/p286441482/e4e5931b6 while supplies last.

Empty Lake Accotink Creates Opportunities

Two Foxes Play-Fight at Lake Accotink in Springfield, VA

Lake Accotink in Springfield, VA has been empty for the last week or two due to work being done on the gate at the dam.  While this causes a great deal of hardship for the resident wildlife, it offers opportunities for others.  Foxes frequently are seen on park property but rarely in the open.  The dried lake bed is full of things that foxes like to explore and they can be seen frequently now crossing the lake bed.  Here two foxes are seen play fighting.  I'm not sure if they are a mated pair or just siblings.  They seem to be having a great time.  This shot and other photos in the series can be ordered at http://ewp.korcel.com/p862409836

Fall Equinox Harvest Moon Over Washington, DC

Moonrise at the Equinox

Twice a year, observers are able to witness this spectacle around the full moon closest to the equinox.  The Mason designers and architects of Washington, DC built the monuments directly east to west.  At the equinox, the moon rises directly east behind them.  Depending on weather and clouds you have a few days before or after to view it as well.  However it's best on the day of the Full moon when you can catch it rising often with a spectacular sunset.  Today, the clouds did not cooperate very well and we only got about 10 minutes before the moon was completely obstructed.

Prior to moonrise, I spotted a Bald Eagle circling above the Potomac River.  I waited for it to pass directly above the Washington Monument and took it's picture.

Bald Eagle Circles above the Potomac

DC Area Storm Knocks Out Power to 1.5 mill

Lightning streaks over the house

 The strongest storm in some time just whacked the Washington DC area.  Winds around 75mph snapped and uprooted trees.  Several people were killed in the area from falling trees hitting cars and homes.  Power at our house was out for about 17 hours.  Considering the damage, Dominion has so far done a good job.  I can say that because I now have AC!  ;)  Others may think differently.

As the storm approached, I set up a camera on the front stoop and tried to get some pictures of the lightning.  This was the best shot. It shows the lightning coming from the west, down toward the house, looping back up and shooting off to the east.  The second shot shows the orange glow in the sky as a high voltage electrical tower burns near Lorton, VA killing power to much of our region.  More storms are predicted for tonight.

Electrical tower burns near lorton

June 2012 Eagles at Conowingo Dam, MD

For fathers day I treated myself to a trip to Conowingo Dam near Darlington, MD to photograph Bald Eagles. There is a constant food source available and the eagles are resident year round. Today I saw no less than 30 eagles along with hoards of other waterfowl. By lunch time quite a few "locals" had arrived to have picnics with their fathers. One adult Bald Eagle landed in a tree behind me and stayed for 6 hours. Visitors were pretty excited to see one fairly close when I pointed it out to them.

To order these or other Bald Eagle pictures, please visit my Eagle link at East Wind Photography

A juvenile perched in a tree behind me

A nest near the dam with a fledgling

This adult eagle stayed in the tree
 behind me for about 6 hours

The Girls Play at their Piano Recital Last Saturday

2012 Venus Transit Across The Sun

I've been waiting for this day for months.  The weather was looking good all day.  Today was the transit of Venus across the Sun (black circular dot in the upper right of the picture).  At 6:04pm when the transit was supposed to start here on the east coast, thick clouds moved in and it looked like we were going to be skunked again!  Come ON!  I'm not waiting around for another 117 years to get another chance!  I waited an hour on my front door step and still no breaks in the clouds. I decided that I needed to move down the street.  Maybe there were less clouds there.  So I picked up my camera, solar filter, and tripod and moved down the street to a neighbor's house that had a 12" telescope set up.  I was going to go over to the lake where there was a decent horizon but it looked like maybe we would catch a break (literally) and I didn't think I would have time to hoof it all the way to the lake.  Sure enough the clouds parted around 7:08pm and we got about 13 minutes of viewing time before a larger cloud deck moved in.  I took a number of great shots, the best one is shown here.  I wasn't fast enough to capture the plane in the center of the disk but I'm happy with getting it at all.  The perspectives here are wild if you stop and think about what you are looking at and the distances involved.  Nearly all of the shots have some clouds in the view but each one is uniquely different.  First glance reminds me of the day Voyager sent back the first images of Neptune and Uranus...although I don't recall ever seeing an airplane in the view.  I was glued to the NASA channel for weeks!

Well the kids didn't seem too interested in seeing this but I'm glad I got a picture of it.  Hopefully in time they will understand that you need to take advantage of these opportunities and most importantly to be patient.  117 years is a long time to wait to see it again.

Feeding Crows in Our Backyard

Two Crows visited our backyard yesterday to snack on some old bread.  These two just gazed in each others eyes for a really long time then preened each other.  I was able to get this shot by opening the kitchen window just enough to give me a clear shot without glass or a screen in the way.