Swamps, Bogs, Wetlands – Page 5 – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Ice Abstracts

Light Plays

January 17, 2023December 2, 2022 MichaelStephenWills7 Comments

Surface of ice formed over a flowing creek. One is a HDR of three exposures, the other is a single exposure. Yes, that is dirt you see under the ice. How did that happen?

Readers: Can you tell which is the HDR? Please answer with a comment. Thank You

All are macros from a Kodak DSC Pro SLR/c with a Canon EF 100 mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens stabilized on a Manfrotto 468MG tripod with Hydrostatic Ball Head

Fillmore Glen State Park, Moravia, Cayuga County, New York.

Click for my “Finger Lakes Memories” Fine Art Photography Gallery.

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Meadow Stream, winter 3

Meadow Idyll

January 7, 2023November 27, 2022 MichaelStephenWills8 Comments

Snow under the gathering light of February, edges rounded by sunlight. Can you identify the animal tracks?

*Overflow from a Kettle Pond threads through a meadow before feeding Fall Creek. The O.D.von Engeln Preserve at Malloryville.*

All were from a tripod mounted Kodak DSC pro SLR-C with the Canon lens EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Meadow Stream, winter 2

Meadow Idyll

January 6, 2023November 27, 2022 MichaelStephenWills4 Comments

The glacial marls through which this water flows to emerge here clear and pure were under threat from development in the 1980’s and 1990. Thanks to the efforts of the landowner, the uniqueness of this environment was preserved.

The first two photographs are combined and enhanced in photoshop to yield the third, combination, photograph.

All were from a tripod mounted Kodak DSC pro SLR-C with the Canon lens EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Meadow Stream, winter

Meadow Idyll

January 5, 2023November 27, 2022 MichaelStephenWills15 Comments

This water emerges from glacial marls, pure and clear, before flowing into a kettle pond. Here we see it on a winter afternoon meandering across a meadow before joining the Fall Creek of the previous postings of this week.

The first two are the same photograph. One has been enhanced in Photoshop. The other was perfected in Lightroom. The third is a different photograph taken about the same time, also peracted in Lightroom.

All were from a tripod mounted Kodak DSC pro SLR-C with the Canon lens EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Hanging Around

not mistletoe

December 5, 2022November 18, 2022 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

Spanish Moss is neither moss nor Spanish. Scientific name Tillandsia usneoides, this flowering plant is in the family Bromeliaceae that includes pineapple. Here it hangs from a cedar tree along Blackpoint Wildlife Drive.

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Brevard County, Florida

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Autumn Wonder

Cornell Botanical Gardens

November 8, 2022November 3, 2022 MichaelStephenWills9 Comments

“Cornell Botanic Gardens is a living museum with a mature botanic garden and arboretum—part of what makes Cornell one of the most beautiful campuses anywhere. We steward over 3,600 acres of biologically diverse landscapes that represent the full range of ecological communities found in the Finger Lakes region.” — from their web site

Pam and I need venture no farther than across the valley, from West to East Hill, for an experience of autumn in all its glory. These IPhone 7 photographs and videos are from a recent visit.

We took in the artistry of the railing, the stone steps, gentle curves.

Granite boulders harvested for a Holocaust Memorial by Andy Goldsworthy

I marveled at the absence of Gypsy Moth egg masses on the Oak trunks, in spite of evident though modest leaf damage.

Labeled Diversity, specimens from the Oak Collection

Houston Pond is visible in several of the “Buena Vista” images…..

Houston Pond reflections from the pavilion

Another version of reflections from Houston Pond taken from pavilion

“No Place Like Home” — Back on West Hill, our Japanese Maple was waiting for us.

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Fall Creek View

from abandoned railroad bridge

July 29, 2022July 22, 2022 MichaelStephenWills5 Comments

Fall Creek meanders through the esker fields of the Malloryville Preserve. Here is the view from an abandoned railroad bridge. A major watercourse of the Finger Lakes, throughout the 19th century Fall Creek provided water power for local industry: grain grinding mills, cooperage and furniture. Here the stream bed is wide, flow slow and pacific for a mirrored surface, the effect broken by a single drop from an overhanging tree or, maybe, a fin’s flash.

Pam and I visited Malloryville last weekend to enjoy a “socially distanced” walk with family.

Click image for a larger version.

Click Me for another Malloryville post, “Formed By Water.”

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Bog Bodies

In the the long view

July 12, 2022July 12, 2022 MichaelStephenWills3 Comments

On this occasion we will explore a time machine found four miles south of Kells, County Meath, Ireland.

Step into this pool and you, too, can emerge 4,000-odd years later, skin intact, to achieve fame and fortune, a place in a museum and the record books if such exist 6019 AD. Reference the Cashel Man from Cúl na Móna bog near Cashel in County Laois, Ireland who now resides within the National Museum of Ireland.

Click photograph for the expanded view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

True, post mortem fame is hollow for the individual. Maybe, attaching your life story engraved on a gold plaque with a gold chain encircling your torso will offset the loss of your bones (dissolved in the acidic waters) and life itself.

The water of this pool is colored dark by long decayed vegetable matter. Beware of walking the bog surface, it is dangerous and destructive to the environment. Pam and I visited Girley Bog on our tour of County Meath, Ireland.

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

The Waterlily Genus Nymphaea

Congrats to all fathers and grandfathers, Happy Fathers Day

June 19, 2022June 12, 2022 MichaelStephenWills4 Comments

The McKee informative placard divides the Genus Nymphaea into “Hardy” and “Tropical” waterlilies. “Hardy” being plants native to temperate climates, such as New York State. I do not have photos of these from McKee. Nor are there examples of Lotus.

**The idiosyncratic categories of McKee Gardens**

What I have is an abundance of the “tropical” varieties.

“The family Nymphaeaceae, of which the genus Nymphaea is a part, is thought to be the most basic of all the Angiosperms. A minute flower of the Nymphaea type was found in early Cretaceous deposits in Portugal, dating early waterlilies to at least 115-125 million years ago.“

*Bright sunlight washed out the flower, not so for the reflected image*

Here is a brightly colored “tropical” flower well above the water surface on an erect stem emerging from the water.

“Angiosperm,” the word referring to all flowering plants, is composed to two greek words angio-. meaning enclosed, and -sperm, meaning seed. “DNA studies indicate the Nymphaeaceae separated from the rest of the angiosperm family tree…..before the separation of the monocots and dicots.” – see reference.

Click me for wonderful sculpture at McKee Gardens

Reference: The Botanical Garden, Volume II, by Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix, Firefly Books, pp 382-383

Ulumay Wildlife Sanctuary

Brevard County Park on Merrit Island

February 22, 2022February 22, 2022 MichaelStephenWills

Ulumay is the name of the Native American settlement of the Ais people decimated by disease after the arrival of Europeans. The park is a natural lagoon and bird rookery linked with canals created for mosquito control and surrounded by a manmade dike. A trail on the dike provides access to the waterways for the fisherman, birdwatchers, and paddlers.

Ulumay Marker just off Sykes Creek Parkway

This informative placard, placed at the entrance. Note the 600 park acres is surrounded by residential properties.

I left Pam at the entrance, seen below at the words “Ulumay Wildlife”; she had a reasonable concern about alligators. It is quite possible to find a large specimen blocking the one and only trail. “What? Me Worry?” When pursued by an alligator, remember to zig-zag.