Author: MichaelStephenWills

My photographic style centers on the use of natural light to visualize emotion and evoke memory. The evolution of my style began early in the year 2002, with an imperative to capture personal and fleeting memories. My son and I traveled to New York City, to view the first Saint Patrick's Day parade after September 11, 2001. My work from that parade was so successful and satisfying (see "New York Fire Department, Saint Patrick's Day 2002") I just never stopped.

Iquique Tender Views

From Ship to Shore

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Ninety minutes after docking our assigned tender pulled away from the Regatta for a twenty minute trip to Iquique. A tender is a boat with an enclosed seating area designed to transport about twenty persons in quiet waters from an anchorage to port. I recall the morning announcement from the ship Captain advising use the winds were high (or the waves), and he negotiated a mooring with the port, instead of the planned docking, in order to save our visit to Iquique.

Click any photograph for a larger view and use Ctrl-x to zoom in closer.

The approximate anchorage of the Regatta marked with a pushpin. The tender transported use from the Regatta to the base of the island port.

Above is a screen capture from Google Earth, the entire Iquique harbor is pictured from Punta Negra (see photo from yesterday) to the base of the island port connected to the mainland with a road. The tender port is at this base, on the shore side. If you wish, download the following PDF document with a clearer image. You will need a PDF viewer.

regattaanchorageiquiqueharborDownload
Shipping containers being unloaded from the container ship San Christobal.

Here are some of the sights visible from the tender. I recall sitting next to the large rear window. Above is the large red container ship. From earlier posts, the San Christobal is docked at the outer berth. The ship is being unloaded, you can see a yellow shipping container on the crane.

Today, aneconomic reason for Iquque’s prosperity is the status as a duty free zone the government dubbed “ZOFRI.” Another is tourists flocking to this “Miami of South America” for duty free shopping (there is a mall), the shore lined with tall hotels and condominiums. Adventure-seekers love the surfing and hang gliding from the escarpment.

Notice the fishing nets in the stern with yellow floats

This is the scene close to the tender port, past mooring for smaller fishing and other boats.

Replica of the Chilean navy ship Esmeralda sunk during the Battle of Iquique. It is a nautical “living museum.” From the website: “The museum script of the Museum ‘Emerald Corvette’ is represented by thirteen museum scenes that inspire the guided tour, where it was recreated what life was like on board on May 20, 1879, the day before the historic Pacific War day.” The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is to the right of the ship stern. Here is a previous post with more about the Esmeralda in historical context.

After disembarkation, I looked back for this shot of our tender pilot.

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Copyright 2020 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Flight

Dried and Hardened, Ready for Flight

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Clinging to my sleeve, the newly emerged Monarch wings dried. It is a process of excreting the fluids pumped into wings, crumpled from folding within the chrysalis, to expand them. The clear drips of water on my arm are this fluid. I spent the hour sitting by our pool, savoring the summer morning. The butterfly signaled readiness, wings dried and hardened, opening and closing them slowly. Offered my finger it crawled to my hand, across to the thumb and, running out of space, took off.

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Pre-flight Wing Flaps

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First Flight

Ninety minutes later, I returned to the tree to find the Monarch still perched on the branch. A few minutes later, gone.

I used the IPhone 7 for these views..

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Copyright 2020 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Distended

Fully open, soft and useless

MichaelStephenWills

Emerged from the chrysalis a butterfly’s wings are crumpled, useless. Here it is fifteen minutes into freedom after abdominal fluid is pumped into the wings, opening them. Full of this fluid, the wings are soft, still useless.

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Click me for better experience viewing the following video. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page. Note the replay icon (an arrow circling counter-clockwise.

I used the cage access door and the IPhone 7, with flash, for these views inside the cage.

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Copyright 2020 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Crumpled

Helpless

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Emerged from the chrysalis a butterfly’s wings are crumpled, useless. Here it is four minutes into freedom, abdomen bloated with fluid.

Click photograph for a larger view and use Ctrl-x to zoom in closer.

Click me for better experience viewing the following video. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page. Note the replay icon (an arrow circling counter-clockwise.

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Copyright 2020 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Emerge

Watch a Monarch butterfly leave the chrysalis

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Watch the transparent chrysalis carefully and tiny movements are apparent before the skin splits, the butterfly slowly emerges.

Click photograph for a larger view and use Ctrl-+ (press down Ctrl, hold, then click plus sign repeatedly) to zoom in closer.

Click me for better experience viewing the following video. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page. Note the replay icon (an arrow circling counter-clockwise.

I used the cage access door and the IPhone 7 for these views inside the cage. Flash was used for the still photograph.

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Copyright 2020 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Inside the Cage

Caterpillar to pupa to chrysalis

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Still hanging, quiet, motionless the chrysalis from the caterpillar photographed yesterday becomes translucent the same evening, Day 9 since pupation.

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Day 10, early morning, the outer skin, fully transparent, signals emergence is immanent.

Click me for better experience viewing the following video. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page. Note the replay icon (an arrow circling counter-clockwise.

I used the cage access door and the IPhone 7, with flash, for these views inside the cage.

Thank You for visiting.  Click me for the first post of this series.

Copyright 2020 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Chrysalis

Caterpillar to pupa to chrysalis

MichaelStephenWills22 Comments

Our monarch butterfly sanctuary is a dense stand of milkweed, over the years the established plants grow rapidly late May through June, blooming in July. The flowers have an incredible scent, attracting numerous pollinating insects.

A colony of pesky sparrows nest nearby. In spite of a reputation for tasting bad, the sparrow actively feed on the hatched caterpillars. My strategy is to examine the plants early morning, placing rescued caterpillars in this old birdcage.

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The caterpillars and milkweed leaf is placed on the cage floor. I pile up the dried leaves, replacing with fresh each morning.

Sadly to report, the last, ravenous caterpillar stage is also carnivorous, cannibalistic. These two, below, were the only ones left except for one in the pile of dried leaves.

Here is a closer view of the two fifth stage instars searching for a safe location to pupate.

A few hours later one has successfully created a silk pad, attached itself and assumed the “J” shape. To the left a second caterpillar and silk pad.

The next morning, the first has formed a chrysalis. The second, hung spent.

This unsuccessful individual never completed the chrysalis, dried up and fell. My sources write the pupa transforms to a chrysalis through shedding of skin, the following photograph tells a different story. The chrysalis appears to extrude from the skin; arising over, or from, the skin rather and beneath it. I have never recovered a shed skin underneath a successful chrysalis.

Nine days later, Tuesday, July 28, the chrysalis hangs. I check several times a day.

These photographs are from a 100mm “macro” lens, handheld. The birdcage works well for protecting the monarchs. Is a poor location for photography.

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Copyright 2020 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Weedy Orchid IV

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Broad-leaved Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine), a wild orchid, is a wide ranging, invasive, plant now found across North America. I suspect this success is based on a partnership with fungi. Commonly known as the “Weedy Orchid” it is not especially particular on the fungus partner, accepting a wide, curiously undefined for lack of research, variety.

In this the fourth of a five part series, the 50 mm lens f-stop is tamped down a bit, narrowing the diaphragm to f2.2, yielding the column of orchid faces in sharp focus. The nodding top, bent into the frame, unfocused, stem and leaves soft focus, still lots of detail discernible. Background far less distracting.

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Today’s header image is from yesterday’s post, by way of comparison.

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.to be continued.

Copyright 2020 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Botanic Garden of Belfast

In closing

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The Ulster Museum is set among the Botanic Gardens. It was in the gardens on this rainy Saturday Pam and I wandered for twenty minutes to sweep away the cobwebs of our rainy drive from Coleraine.

I do not have an identification for the following photograph. If you know, please comment. Thank You.

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  • photo by Pam Wills

“Tropical” palm trees and bromeliad are found throughout Ireland. Thank You Gulf Stream.

  • photo by Pam Wills
Bromeliad in flower

Another unidentified plant…..

  • photo by Pam Wills

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Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
  • SON
  • photo by Pam Wills
  • photo by Pam Wills
  • photo by Pam Wills
Botanic Garden Slide Show

Paper Thin and Wet

Poppies!!! Petals like paper

MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

The Ulster Museum is set among the Botanic Gardens. It was in the gardens on this rainy Saturday, after the Foxglove flowers of yesterday’s post, flourishing, bright red poppy flowers caught my eye.

Here is a take on poppy flower buds on long stems among leaves.

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Poppy is a storied plant, most species do not produce the narcotic alkaloids associated with sleep and death, pain control. Papaveroideae, the sub-family of these plants, is derived from the Latin for paper, papyrus. You can see the association in the following photographs, petals drenched in water, crumpling like wet paper.

Poppy Flowers drenched by the rain

….and more.

..to be continued…..

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Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills