Taking in the Sun
Blackpoint Wildlife Drive meanders through marsh environments where humans are just visitors.
Here the Alligator is the apex predator that will attack and eat the unwary tourist. This eight-foot monster, resting on a hummock 20 feet from the road, absorbed only sun. In town, it is on the menu.
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Brevard County, Florida
along the River Bannon
The tenth and final of a series of idiosyncratic posts from a walking tour of Kinsale by Dermot Ryan. My Sony Alpha 700 captured the events back in May 2014.
We are headed toward lunch along the River Bannon. The Kinsale Chocolate Boutique, Exchange Buildings, 6 Market Square, did not survive the pandemic. This iconic corner is now the First South Credit Union (sigh).
With headquarters in Dublin, the Irish Red Cross provides in Ireland (click the links to learn more):
PRISON PROGRAMME – COMMUNITY BASED HEALTH & FIRST AID
EMBLEMS OF THE RED CROSS MOVEMENT
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
Come out of the center town to walk along Pier Road, River Bannon on its way to the harbor, on one side, town parks on the other.
Across from Kinsale Town Park rises this Tall Ship mast and other memorabilia from Kinsale’s maritime heritage.
A few hundred feet away are moorings for the Kinsale Yacht club, ” located in Kinsale, County Cork lies just 120 nautical miles from Wales, 240 from North West France and only 500 from the Galician Coast of North Spain. Most significantly it is only 30 km by road from Cork, Ireland’s second city, and between the two lies one the region’s main assets – Cork International Airport – with its daily links to many European capitals. Keelboats and Dinghies. The club runs inshore and offshore races, has active cruising and powerboat sections and most significantly for any real club, a strong and dynamic junior training program. Kinsale Yacht Club and marina are only a few minutes walk from every shop, hotel, pub and restaurant in Ireland’s gourmet capital.” — from the Yacht Club web site.
Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
“Devil Fish”
110 recycled flip flops were used by Ocean Sole Africa Project artists to create these seahorse sculptures from a 2020 exhibit hosted by McKee Botanical Gardens, Vero Beach, Indian River County, Florida.
Manta Rays are large, flat-bodied fish having a width ranging from 18-23 feet (5-7 meters) wide. Mantas gracefully swoop during feeding, scooping up large quantities of plankton, 60 pounds (27 kilograms) per day, with the flat fins on either side of their head.
Mantas are known as “devilfish” because of their horn-shaped cephalic fins, which are imagined to give them an “evil” appearance. The movement of pectoral fins drive them through water, like birds flying through air.
All mantas are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Anthropogenic threats include pollution, entanglement in fishing nets, and direct harvesting of their gill rakers for use in Chinese medicine. Their slow reproductive rate exacerbates these threats. They are protected in international waters by the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals, but are more vulnerable closer to shore. Areas where mantas congregate are popular with tourists. Only a few public aquariums are large enough to house Mantas.
Northernmost, glaciated section of the Allegheny Plateau
For my last autumn posting this last day of November 2022 this colorful hall of trees is on the long descent of Lacey Road from Cortland to Tioga Counties where it passes close the meeting point of three counties near the Robinson Hollow State Forest, the third being Tompkins County.
We are travelling south on a northernmost, glaciated section of the Allegheny Plateau. In the 19th Century a lawyer named Calvin J. Robinson was a prominent citizen of nearby Richford.
Protected Storage
The ninth of a series of idiosyncratic posts from a walking tour of Kinsale by Dermot Ryan. My Sony Alpha 700 captured the events back in May 2014.
Look closely to see this quote “The Onion is the truffle of the poor.” –Robert J. Courtine. Crackpots was decorated with unusual pottery, a casualty of Covid-19.
From a placard inside the stone walled “Town Pound.” “The Town Pound was an essential part of the administration of the old town, located near the Market House, the Potato Market and the Broadstone. It had replaced the Old Pound at the top of Barrack Street and was for the care of stray livestock, especially pigs and horses, with a scale of penalties for offenders. The Pounds were always kept as secure places, as shown in the records of the Kinsale Corporation, with an entry of 1673 itemizing a sum of sixteen shillings for the repair of the pound!” By Local Historian, Dermot Ryan.
The Tan Tavern is on the other side of Guardwell street, seen here over the stone wall of “The Old Town Pound” historical site.
“Kinsale Town Crest
I don’t recall where exactly this quote was placed. It is associated in time with the Town Pound (photo time stamps). Morgan Spurlock of the documentary “Supersize Me” is an American of Irish descent.
Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Evolutionary Success Story
Up to 150 recycled flip flops were used by Ocean Sole Africa Project artists to create these seahorse sculptures from a 2020 exhibit hosted by McKee Botanical Gardens, Vero Beach, Indian River County, Florida.
Seahorses are tiny fish with heads that look like…horses! Their curved flexible tail is used to grasp objects, mostly anchoring the seahorse to plants.
Their genus, Hippocampus, includes 46 species indicating evolutionary success for their body shape and adaptations. Just hatched seahorses cling together in groups, hook by their tails. Excellent at camouflage, a seahorse hides from predators while waiting to ambush dinner.
sunlight, dappled shade
South/Southwest view from the long hill into Harford, stopping to admire the effect of sunlight, dappled shade and bright yellow, orange, red against the distant ridge sheltering Robinson Hollow. Near Harford, Cortland County, New York.
An ivy clad nook
The eighth of a series of idiosyncratic posts from a walking tour of Kinsale by Dermot Ryan. My Sony Alpha 700 captured the events back in May 2014.
Ducking into an alleyway with the haughty name, “Chairmans’ Way,” we stepped into a different world.
Promising a castle, it delivered these charming offerings.
This doorway, yellow roses (Pam’s favorite) and Calla Lilies.
An ivy clad nook / cottage.
Happy “Profitable Friday” 2022
Up to 400 recycled flip flops were used by Ocean Sole Africa Project artists to create this Manatee sculpture from a 2020 exhibit hosted by McKee Botanical Gardens, Vero Beach, Indian River County, Florida.
Manatees are protected under the Endangered Species Act and under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Today, the range-wide population is estimated to be at least 13,000 manatees, with more than 6,500 in the southeastern United States and Puerto Rico.
Florida has cherished the Sea Cow with the population increasing 25% from 1991, going from 1,267 to more than 6,300.
Happy Thanksgiving (USA) 2022
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 