Photos, videos and docs of Anne Elliott, with the keywords: "supermacro"

Slime Mold

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 12:26:55 +0000

Slime Molds are so difficult to see, often no more than a very small, coloured smear on a log, so I was very happy when I actually found this one when I spent a bit of time at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park, SW of Calgary, on 4 August 2012. Needless to say, a macro shot. There were disappointingly few fungi that I found in the forest that day, compared to two and three years ago.

Tiny Bishop's Cap seeds

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 15:57:21 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

This plant is so small that I can never see, with the naked eye, whether an individual flower still has its petals. It's hard enough to notice one of these tiny, thread-like plants as it is. It was growing in an undulating area of such deep, soft moss that's difficult to walk on and especially to kneel down on and then get up again, ha. Photographed at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park on 14 July 2014.

This native plant belongs to the Saxifrage family, Saxifragaceae. It is also called Naked Mitrewort, Bare-stemmed Mitrewort, Common Mitrewort, Miterwort, and Northern Bishop's Cap. There are 5-8 tiny flowers on the upper half of the slender, flowering stems, 7-20cm high. Each exquisite flower has 5 greenish-yellow or white, snow-flake design petals, with ten stamens, 6mm (just under quarter of an inch) across. The seed capsules, 2 - 3 mm long, open widely into shallow cups containing shiny, black seeds that ripen in late-summer. The seeds are very new in this photo - they have yet to darken to black.

www.borealforest.org/herbs/herb24.htm

Monday, 14 July 2014, was another hot day, and my computer room became unbearably uncomfortable. That meant only one thing - I would have to drive around in my car for some air-conditioning. Spent about four hours cruising the backroads SW of the city, not seeing a whole lot. Went as far as Brown-Lowery Provincial Park, with the intention of doing just a very short walk into the forest. Didn't get that far, though, as there were things to photograph around the edge of the tiny parking lot and just part way along the path that leads to the two short boardwalks.

The first thing I saw and heard was a Tennessee Warbler and when I reached it, discovered that there were now several young ones, too. Talk about friendly little birds - not sure that they didn't think I was going to feed them. Interesting to see birds that acted rather like the Black-capped Chickadees - just as fast-moving, too, making it difficult to get even a half-decent photo.

The next thing that welcomed me to the park was a beautiful Western Wood Lily. They always almost glow amongst all the greenery. A few other plants that I photographed included Sticky Purple Geranium and Richardson's Geranium, Purple Avens, One-flowered WIntergreen, One-sided Wintergreen, Pink Pyrola, Twin Flower, Creamy Peavine, Round-leaved Orchid and this Bishop's Cap that was already in seed.

On the way home from Brown-Lowery, I saw a couple of fun things. One was a Wilson's Snipe on a wooden post to which was attached a Bluebird/Tree Swallow nesting box. I've never seen one by a nesting box before. The other thing I saw was a Ruffed Grouse female walking along the side of the main road. Didn't realize what it was until I had driven past it. Did a quick U-turn and, rounding a bend, saw not just the adult standing on the road, but also a young one. I pulled over to the edge of the road and very slowly walked a little closer - then I noticed about four other youngsters in the grass. Mom walked very slowly to the middle of the road and one brave little soul took a few very hesitant steps towards her. It wasn't quite sure that it liked being that far out in the open, so started to return to its siblings. This was repeated a few times, with me becoming more anxious that a car was bound to come racing down the road at any minute. Another of the babies tried to take a few brave steps - which is when a vehicle appeared. With Mom and two of her babies on the road, where they'd been for maybe 10 minutes, I just had to signal to the driver, who slowed down, waited a moment, and then got out of her car and loudly clapped her hands. Off they all flew, into the long grass. I suspect she was a country girl - and not a photographer, lol! If only she had scared them off to the side of the road that they had been trying to get to! And so ended my fun experience ..... and I returned to my house, that felt like walking into an oven.

Pressia quadrata Liverwort

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 05:59:59 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I am SO tired after a wonderful day in the mountains today! I don't get out there very often at all, and certainly not as far as we went today, so it was an absolute treat! Friend Sandy had found an interesting, tiny Liverwort there (seen in my photo) very recently and wanted to go back to see it at a different stage, hoping it would make ID a little clearer. She asked if I wanted to go with her - ha, yes, you bet! We went past Banff and Lake Louise, as far as Bow Lake along Highway 93. They do say that this scenic highway is the most beautiful in the world, and it's easy to believe.

"The Marchantiophyta i/mɑrˌkæntiˈɒfɨtə/ are a division of non-vascular bryophyte land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like other bryophytes, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of genetic information.

It is estimated that there are about 9000 species of liverworts. Some of the more familiar species grow as a flattened leafless thallus, but most species are leafy with a form very much like a flattened moss. Leafy species can be distinguished from the apparently similar mosses on the basis of a number of features, including their single-celled rhizoids. Leafy liverworts also differ from most (but not all) mosses in that their leaves never have a costa (present in many mosses) and may bear marginal cilia (very rare in mosses). Other differences are not universal for all mosses and liverworts, but the occurrence of leaves arranged in three ranks, the presence of deep lobes or segmented leaves, or a lack of clearly differentiated stem and leaves all point to the plant being a liverwort.

Liverworts are typically small, usually from 2–20 mm wide with individual plants less than 10 cm long, and are therefore often overlooked. However, certain species may cover large patches of ground, rocks, trees or any other reasonably firm substrate on which they occur. They are distributed globally in almost every available habitat, most often in humid locations although there are desert and arctic species as well. Some species can be a nuisance in shady green-houses or a weed in gardens." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchantiophyta

A multitude

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:07:42 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Digging into my fairly recent archives from mid-February, I came across this macro of tiny water droplets. Maybe it's because each one (with its reflection) looks like a tiny mushroom that makes them appealing to me, LOL.

Unnatural nature

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:41:40 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

The vein pattern on a petal from a blue-dyed Carnation - in case you were wondering what on earth "she's found now", LOL. Just loved the colour and the neat design.

Petal and buds

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 22:05:59 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Just a close-up of part of a petal and buds from my Orange Star plant, using my little Raynox DCR-250 lens. Just liked the colours and shapes. Not the most inspiring images today - been busy all day, but wanted to still post my usual daily shots. Was out all morning (maybe three and a half hours) walking at Carburn Park. We saw a Merlin, and we enjoyed watching a little Black-capped Chickadee dive into a small cavity and then a while later, he appeared at the opening with a mouthful of wood chips, LOL. We also watched a Red-breasted Nuthatch, upside-down, excavating a cavity ready for nesting time. Saw a couple of White-tailed Deer and there were also four (?) Wood Ducks the far side of the Lagoon. Called in at Fish Creek Park on the way home. Something like -8C this morning ... brrr... so back to thick winter jacket, fleece jacket, long-johns and two pairs of mitts.

Petal perched

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:51:40 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I'm posting early (again) today, as I am taking my camera with me when I go for my afternoon volunteer shift. I'm really hoping that the very strong winds will have died down by late afternoon, so that I can go and look for Prairie Crocuses (which I have still not seen yet this year). Would be nice if the grey sky could brighten up, too : )

Took this photo of a water droplet on a petal, back in mid-March. It always amazes me how the drops retain their perfect roundness with nothing to support them from below.

Undulating

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:22:52 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

A macro from the beginning of March - edge of a rose petal. Was out at the Zoo for part of the afternoon, so I'll have some different photos tomorrow, thank goodness. Called in briefly at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, which is quite near the Zoo, on my way home, but there was little to see. Hope you are all enjoying the Easter weekend, whether you celebrate or not.

Orange Star centre

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 19:55:07 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I thought the centre of this flower was unusual. Bought this Orange Star plant from Safeway (of course).

Alfalfa

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 17:44:05 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Took this macro shot of an Alfalfa flower at the Erlton/Roxboro Natural Area in the city, on August 18th.

"Alfalfa is widely grown throughout the world as forage for cattle, and is most often harvested as hay, but can also be made into silage, grazed, or fed as greenchop. Alfalfa has the highest feeding value of all common hay crops, being used less frequently as pasture. When grown on soils where it is well-adapted, alfalfa is the highest yielding forage plant." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfalfa

Tiny and exquisite

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 17:29:37 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

This teeny flower is so small that I can never see, with the naked eye, whether an indiividual flower still has its petals. It's hard enough to notice one of these tiny, thread-like plants as it is. It was growing in an undulating area of such deep, soft moss that's difficult to walk on and especially to kneel down on and then get up again, ha. Photographed at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park yesterday, 30 June 2013, when I went for a drive along the backroads SW of Calgary and called in at Brown-Lowery just briefly.

This native plant belongs to the Saxifrage family, Saxifragaceae. It is also called Bare-stemmed Mitrewort, Bishop's Cap, Common Mitrewort, Miterwort, and Northern Bishop's Cap. There are 5-8 tiny flowers on the upper half of the slender, flowering stems, 7-20cm high. Each exquisite flower has 5 greenish-yellow or white, snow-flake design petals, with ten stamens, 6mm (just under quarter of an inch) across. The seed capsules, 2 - 3 mm long, open widely into shallow cups containing shiny, black seeds that ripen in late-summer.

www.borealforest.org/herbs/herb24.htm

www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/9183051909

Little round beads

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:50:40 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Another attempt at macro using my little Raynox 250. I still have to figure out the best way to take a sharp image, LOL, such as trying again to find somewhere that sells the size of GorillaPod (tripod) that my camera needs. I have a few small, dead Sunflowers in my kitchen and I happened to notice a teeny sparkle from some specks of moisture - barely visible to my eye - in the centre of one. I'm still in awe at the incredible beauty of something so tiny, that one would not normally even notice.

Dwarf Raspberry / Rubus arcticus

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:31:27 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I still remember the first time I came across this plant species growing low down in a tangle of grass and shrubs, wondering what it could be, it was so pretty. This macro shot was taken at Maclean Pond, off Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66), Kananaskis, on 1 July 2011. The attractive pink flowers of this plant, also known as Arctic Raspberry, are 1-1.5 cm across.

"This is a species of slow-growing bramble belonging to the rose family. Its dark red fruit is considered a delicacy. Many consider it to be one of the tastiest fruits in the world: for instance in Russian its name is the "berry of kings" (княженика). It grows in northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia (Siberia), in few locations in Estonia, Lithuania and in parts of North America."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubus_arcticus

Slime mold, Spirit Rocks Sanctuary

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:33:54 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

I know, it's "just" a slime mold (supermacro shot) showing different stages of development of the Plasmodium and honeycomb fruiting bodies of the slime mold Ceratiomyxa porioides (?, thanks Doug/RIP) - but I was so thrilled to see this when a few of us were lucky enough to visit Spirit Rocks Sanctuary, way back on 26 June 2011. Joanne Susut inherited this land, which she has named Spirit Rocks Sanctuary, from her parents and has donated it to the Nature Conservancy of Canada. It was about two and a half hours' drive north of Calgary, to near Rimbey. The day started off with rain and ended with rain, but luckily not a drop fell while we were walking. Four of us went from Calgary and we met up with three delightful and very knowledgable ladies there. Thanks so much, Joanne, for letting us explore your land - we appreciated it greatly and enjoyed spending this time with you and your friends. (I don't have the exact location to add to my map, so have just marked Rimbey, Alberta, mainly just to remind myself where it is).

Naked Mitrewort / Mitella nuda

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:46:28 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

This macro photo of the very tiny seeds of Naked Mitrewort was taken on a day of botanizing at the Medicine River Wildlife Centre, on 27 July 2012. The flowers of this plant are exquisite and extremely delicate and tiny. Like so many other wildflowers, this species is now at the seed stage. This plant is also called Bare-stemmed Mitrewort, Bishop's Cap, Common Mitrewort, Miterwort, and Northern Bishop's Cap. There are 5-8 tiny flowers on the upper half of the slender, flowering stems, 7-20cm high. Each exquisite flower has 5 greenish-yellow or white, snow-flake design petals, with ten stamens, 6mm (just under quarter of an inch) across.

Brightening up the forest

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:56:19 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Slime Molds are so difficult to see, often no more than a very small, coloured smear on a log, so I was very happy when I actually found this one when I spent a bit of time at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park on 4 August 2012. Needless to say, a macro shot. Sorry about all the fungi shots I'm posting - I'd happily add some bird photos, but I'm just not getting out there to see any birds!

Naked Mitrewort / Mitella nuda

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 17:20:20 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

This teeny flower is so small that I can never see, with the naked eye, whether an indiividual flower still has its petals. It's hard enough to find one of these tiny, thread-like plants as it is. This one did, but I'm sure I could have found a more photogenic one. However, I was kneeling in an undulating area of such deep, soft moss which made getting down and especially getting up again really difficult, so I couldn't face trying again. I guess you'd call this a supermacro, ha. If you only knew how many times I have tried to get even a half-decent photo of one of these flowers and almost always failed! Photographed at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park on July 8th.

This native plant belongs to the Saxifrage family, Saxifragaceae. It is also called Bare-stemmed Mitrewort, Bishop's Cap, Common Mitrewort, Miterwort, and Northern Bishop's Cap. There are 5-8 tiny flowers on the upper half of the slender, flowering stems, 7-20cm high. Each exquisite flower has 5 greenish-yellow or white, snow-flake design petals, with ten stamens, 6mm (just under quarter of an inch) across.

Protea flower macro

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Thu, 12 May 2011 19:16:25 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Not sure exactly what these are called, but this second shot shows which part of the Protea flower they are : )

Kalm's Lobelia / Lobelia kalmii

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:27:39 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

This is a photo from my archives - it isn't really spring here yet, lol, though the snow of the last couple of days is melting nicely! Some people have been having problems with their photos not showing up in all their Contacts' streams - think I must have been one of them today. Funny day on Flickr : )

Totally misleading, as any macro or supermacro shot is! This tiny, beautiful Kalm's Lobelia flower (and others) was found when botanizing Elkton Bog, near Cremona, on 30th July last year. This was a new plant for us, so we were excited and happy : )

"Lobelia kalmii is a species of flowering plant with a distribution primarily across Canada and the northern United States in temperate and boreal regions. It was formerly known as Lobelia strictiflora (Rydb.) Lunell and has a variety of English names including Kalm's lobelia, Ontario lobelia and Brook lobelia. Lobelia kalmii is a small plant (10 - 40 cm) of wet environments such as bogs, wet meadows, and rocky shorelines, including wet alvars, where it grows in calcareous soil or cracks between limestone rocks. It has small (1 cm) blue flowers , with a white center and has thin upper leaves and spatulate basal leaves. It starts flowering in July, lasting into September." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobelia_kalmii

Alfalfa

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:04:29 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

Alfalfa is one of my favourite wildflowers. There are so many colour combinations in one flower cluster, anything from plain, deep purple, to yellow or green, even pale blue and purple mix as in my photo here. Photographed (supermacro) at Erlton/Roxboro Natural Area on August 18th last year. The two images below have been previously posted.

"Alfalfa is widely grown throughout the world as forage for cattle, and is most often harvested as hay, but can also be made into silage, grazed, or fed as greenchop. Alfalfa has the highest feeding value of all common hay crops, being used less frequently as pasture. When grown on soils where it is well-adapted, alfalfa is the highest yielding forage plant." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfalfa