Category: Season

Torr Head Stories II

Ancient Castles and Raithlin Island

MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

Knights of the Red Branch appear towards the end of “Deirdre and the sons of Uisneach”, a tale from 1st century AD Ireland, as protectors of the lovers Dierdre and one of the sons of Uisneach, named Naoise. The two fled to Rathlin Island, seen in the distance in the following photograph.

Distant Rathelin Island from Torr Head

From Rathlin Island they passed over the Irish Sea to Scotland where they lived happily for a term of years.

Sheep pasture above Loughan Bay

Click me for an earlier Torr Head post “A Bit About Torr Head.”

Barrach’s fort no longer exists, a Coast Guard Station was built over the site. There are other intact ruins on this picturesque coast. Here is one close to the Giant’s Causeway, Dunseverick Castle.

Dunseverick Castle

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Torr Head Stories I

Mysterious Barrach, Knight of the Red Branch

MichaelStephenWills18 Comments

Torr in Irish is a steep rocky height. Likewise, Corr means odd, uneven, rounder, convex, curved, peaked, projecting, smooth. Combined Torcorr is the townland where we stopped on the Torr Road, halted by our wonder at this sight.

In the distance, Torr Head projects into North Channel, the closest land to Scotland. Following the coast, the cliffs in front of Torr Head are home to numerous sea birds such as Fulmars (family Procellariidae) nad Oystercatchers (family Haematopodiadae). Along the rock beaches next Eider Ducks (genus Somateria). You might see the Common Buzzard (species Buto buteo).

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Click me for an earlier Torr Head post “A Bit About Torr Head.”

In the following photograph Torr Head seen from immediately above. I stand on the ancient site of Barrach’s fort, a knight of the Red Branch. After some internet research I cannot find another reference to this knight, other than the information placard on Torr Head.

A Bit About Coolranny Townland

Neat and tidy

MichaelStephenWills

2014, the count of townlands on and around the island of Ireland was 61,098 with most of Irish Gaelic origin predating the Norman invasion, first recorded in 12 century church records. The names have a pride of place reflected in the beauty of the namestones along Torr Road.

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Namestone on Torr Road in Coolranny townland.

The 82 acres of Coolranny forms a slice of land running from a ridge to Loughan Bay off the North Channel of the Irish Sea across from Scotland.

See this post for a description of wildflowers flowering here in the month of June.

A spic and span cottage on Torr Road, maybe the rectory for the Saint Mary’s Star of the Sea church.

An informative placard.

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Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Autumn Ithaca

Cass Park

MichaelStephenWills4 Comments

Pam and I arrived early to Cass Park for our grandson’s October afternoon soccer match, in time for a 2 mile walk on the generous footpaths. This is my impression of that time, from the IPhone 7’s camera.

Around the marina on Cayuga Lake

Red Accents

Watery Impressions from Linderman Creek flowing into Cayuga Inlet

Trees and Our Sky

Gracious Willows Line the Cayuga Lake Inlet

Cornell University on East Hill
Lake Excursioin Heading Out from Farmer’s Market
Carl Sagan’s former study perched above Ithaca Falls
View Across Cayuga Lake Inlet

A Packed Excursion Boat Under A Stunning Sky

A Few Animals and a wildflower

This completes our Sunday afternoon walk around Cass Park, Ithaca, New York.

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Torr Head Wildflower Meadow

can you see any other flowers/plans in this photograph? Please leave a comment if you do.

MichaelStephenWills15 Comments

We parked below the Coast Guard station, headed toward the height of Torr Head. I was stopped in my tracks by the hillside meadow wildflower profusion. 

Here are a few I identified, listed by common name: Bluebell, Daisy, Meadow Buttercup, Sea Campion, Yarrow.  We love daisies and buttercups around home.  We spotted Sea Campion on the Dingle Peninsula, as well.  Yarrow is common through Ireland.  I don’t recall seeing bluebells anywhere else. 

It was the bluebells in this photograph that clued me into why I took a photograph of the hillside.  The view north takes in coastal sheep pasture looking on a portion of North Channel and the Irish island Rathelin.

The web page I used for identification was wildflowersofireland.net . Great information and links to the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland with a distribution map.

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

A Bit About Torr Head

the information board is not to be outdone

MichaelStephenWills11 Comments

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.

View from Greenhill

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.

Informational Placard near Coast Guard Station

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

Another view from Greenhill

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

Unidentified Tree

silhouette

MichaelStephenWills8 Comments

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.

Unidentified Tree
Unidentified Tree

Here is a series of Lucifer Falls view from the overlook.
Lucifer Falls from Rim Trail Overlook
Lucifer Falls from Rim Trail Overlook
Lucifer Falls from Rim Trail Overlook
Lucifer Falls from Rim Trail Overlook
Autumn foot Bridge
Over the bridge
Over the bridge
Woman on Footbridge, Contemplation
Woman on Footbridge, Contemplation

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Gorge Exploration

Fillmore Glen State Park, Moravia, New York

MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

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.

Gentle Waterfall Series
Life Clings to Gorge Walls
Roots Hold All In Place
Ancient Rockfall Remembered
Welcoming Steps

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.

Turn Around Here for the Following View
I call these Hermit Falls
Can you ss “The Hermitage”?
View Back to Bridge
New Path

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

Erratic Granite Boulder
Spillway
Dam Pond

Overview, Spillway and Pond

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Greetings from Torr Head, Northern Ireland

MichaelStephenWills13 Comments

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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Hello!!

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

MichaelStephenWills12 Comments

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.

As the moment of emergence approaches, the skin of a Monarch chrysalis becomes translucent to reveal the butterfly compressed into that small space.

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