A Bit About Torr Head

the information board is not to be outdone

Twenty five minutes before the photos of Pam on Torr Head we enjoyed this view from high above. The placard captures and explains a great deal.

There is at least one tanker ship traversing the North Channel. You can just make out the Torr Road we followed through those farm buildings to the parking near the Coast Guard Station.

Here is a post published last year with more views of this coast.

Here is a gallery for easier flipping between photographs. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Unidentified Tree

silhouette

This branch of spent, lancate leaves with hanging seeds grows wild on the slopes above Treman Gorge in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.

Assistance with identification of this tree is requested. Please leave your suggestions as comments to this post. Thank You, everyone.

Here is a series of Lucifer Falls view from the overlook.

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Gorge Exploration

Fillmore Glen State Park, Moravia, New York

Late August last I captured these photographs and videos on the fly using an Iphone7 while Pam and I walked Fillmore Glen State Park, Moravia, New York. Click me for “The Space Station and the Waterfall,” another glen exploration.

Ephemeral Waterfall

Metal Intrusion

Spring thaw washed away the gorge wall, this functional metal bridge will outlast all but the most catastrophic gorge wall disruptions.

Graceful Waterfall Overview

Flora

White Baneberry, aka “Dolls Eyes,” a fascinating plant, entirely poisonous.

All parts of all Baneberry varieties (red and white) are highly poisonous, the bane of Baneberry. The berries are deadly. Ingestion of as few as two berries by children will cause death from cardiac arrest. Six for an adult.

Landscape Features

Overview, Spillway and Pond

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Greetings from Torr Head, Northern Ireland

Pam is standing on the closest point on Ireland to the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland, framed by the Irish Sea, blue from reflected sky on a June day.

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From a June 6, 2014 day spent among the Antrim Glens of Northern Ireland.

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Goodbye for 2022

Our last Monarch for 2022

We successfully raised nine (9) Monarch butterflies this season, leaving us feeling, “Let’s do more in 2023.” Today’s post cover is a portrait of the last. She flew yesterday, September 23rd, forty (40) feet up to the oak tree shading the back yard, lost to us in the leaves.

Her chrysalis is the second from right in the following family photograph.

Here are two videos of our last 2022 Monarch to emerge and the first.

Emergence of a Monarch butterfly from a chrysalis 4K UHD with relaxing music. A caterpillar attached itself with silk to hang by its two rear legs to transform to a green chrysalis. Fourteen days later the chrysalis shell becomes translucent. Inside the chrysalis the Monarch butterfly moves to shed the shell. The released insect’s abdomen pumps fluid, expanding the crumpled wings. The entire process takes twenty minutes, compressed in this video to about six (6) minutes.

A real time film of our first 2022 Monarch Butterfly emerging from the chrysalis, then expanding its wings in 4K UHD with relaxing music. The process takes twenty (20) minutes.

The butterfly emerges from the chrysalis about fourteen (14) days after setting. To the photographer needing to capture the moment a signal is the green, jewel-like chrysalis turns transparent, apparently darkening to reveal the compressed form of the butterfly. It can be hours before the insect breaks free, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV dslr camera is used for this. I set it on a Manfrotto BeFree Carbon Fiber tripod (with ball head), a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L macro lens for optics. The Mark IV has WIFI and HD video capabilities, so I connected the camera to an Apple IPhone 7 using Canon software. Monitoring the transparent chrysalis in real time, I continually reset the video from the IPhone until the butterfly emerged. I used AVS video editor software to produce the film for YouTube publication.

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Sky Reflections

A Wall with Moss Padding

A Finger Lakes Trail footbridge crosses Fish Kill on the edge of Treman State Park.

These are images of the sky reflected on Fish Kill from that footbridge on August 24, 2022.

Robert H. Treman State Park, Enfield, Tompkins County, Finger Lakes Region, New York State

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Contemplation II

Climb down the cliff stair, 223 of them, to this quiet place.

A sole individual views Lucifer Falls from the Gorge Trail footbridge.

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Click for a slideshow of this sequence of Lucifer Falls view from the overlook.

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Contemplation I

Climb down the cliff stair, 223 of them, to this quiet place.

A place for quiet contemplation within the Treman Gorge, only accessible via a 15 minute hike. Robert H. Treman New York State Park on a late October afternoon.

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Click for a slideshow of this sequence of Lucifer Falls view from the overlook.

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

From the Overlook

Autumn hills

Standing on Enfield Gorge rim above Lucifer Falls on a clear October afternoon, the slopes of the far gorge cloaked in shades of green, yellow and red.

Below, the Gorge Trail runs below a sedimentary rock cliff.

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

Click for a slideshow of this sequence of Lucifer Falls view from the overlook.

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Connecticut Hill Retrospective

Click to view this series on Getty.

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills