photos

Many times I've driven down Ellicott Street Road, Batava, and spotted this old barn and saw the picture potential. There is no good way, though, to get a picture of the barn from the public road. Yesterday, I contacted the proper owner and got permission to walk onto their property and take some pictures, which I did this morning.

In Stafford this morning working on a story (a story that won't be ready for publication for another day or two or three) and with a little time, thought Prentice Road would be a good place to go for some fall photos. There was a particular shot I wanted to get. It didn't turn out as well as I would like (I plan to try again as soon as I can), but here are four shots from my little trip this morning.

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One thing I haven't spent enough time doing is exploring the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge -- what a great resource for Genesee County.

Prior to the public hearing in Alabama Thursday night, I headed out to the refuge a few hours ahead of time with the specific idea of going to a part of the park I'd seen previously and thought was quite scenic. It's actually in Orleans County, but hey, most of the refuge in in Genesee County. I believe the area is called Ridgeneck Ringneck Marsh. It's off Oak Orchard Ridge Road, which is in the northern part of the refuge.

Here are the pictures I took.

BTW: Not that any of these pictures are worthy of entry, but entries are being accepted now for the Friends of Iroquois NWR photo contest. The deadline is Sept. 1, 2013.

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This morning, I was out of the house early with the specific intention of driving to Darien Lakes State Park to get a picture of the sunrise over Harlow Lake. It's sort of been on my list of local pictures to get for a couple of years.

Below, another picture from Darien Lakes, and a landscape taken on Walker Road in Darien.

It's another beautiful fall day in Genesee County. This morning I left the house just before sunrise to see what pictures I might be able to make. I drove to Creek Road and circled back on Cookson Road.

Above, the pond at Baskin Livestock on Creek Road at sunrise.

Cookson Road

Cookson Road

Back on Creek Road

With the afternoon shaping up as a beautiful fall day and some time on my hands, I took a drive out toward Alabama with the intention to make some pictures. Here are six shots that I came across.

Above, cattle in pasture off Bliss Road, Oakfield.

Tree on Roberts Road.

White birch off Sour Springs Road.

Stand of Pine Trees, Sour Springs Road.

Hay field off Roberts Road.

Sunset off Route 77 near Indian Falls.

A beautiful fall afternoon, I thought I would stop by Godfrey's Pond and see what picture-making opportunities I might find. Mother Nature still has some work to do with her fall palette, but things are coming along nicely.

Out and about for a bit this afternoon and I snapped a couple of pictures.

Above, irrigation on Kelsey Road, Batavia. Below, a tractor parked on a lawn off Route 5, Batavia.

A week ago or so I drove past this group of red barns on Route 98 in Alexander and noticed this attractive group of yellow flowers and thought it might make a nice picture, but the sun was bright and harsh at the time. Returning to Batavia from Alexander this afternoon, the light seemed better and the homeowner was home so I could get permission to move in for a closer shot.

I've always liked the yellow barn on Transit Road off Route 63 in East Bethany, but I don't think I've ever made a good picture of it. Perhaps this is it.

Today was the Antique Truck, Farm & Construction Show at the Stafford Fire Hall sponsored by Empire State Antique Truck Association.

If you like trucks and tractors, it was the place to be today.

The event will continue Sunday, depending on the weather.

Aiden, at 22 months, enjoyed his first visit to the Spray Park in Austin Park today while his family, from Clarendon, was visiting Batavia.

More shots from the Spray Park in today's 90-degree weather below.

The weather prediction for Sunday remains strong thunderstorms.

Speaking of butterflies, Brian Schollard sent in these two pictures of an Eastern tiger swallowtail from his garden. He said "My wife and I planted two butterfly bushes last fall. They were, I thought, killed off this spring, but happily they came back and are working nicely!"

We have a patch by the side of our house where milkweed started popping up and I decided to just let it grow in hope of attracting monarch butterflies.

When I stopped by the house today, there was a single monarch fluttering around (I couldn't get a good enough picture of it actually on the milkweed).

Hopefully, this is a sign of good things to come.

With things winding down from the storm this evening, I drove down Harvester Avenue and spotted this long puddle next to the railroad tracks and thought "that might be pretty interesting come sunset time." So at dusk, I drove back and made this photo.

I'm in Byron/Bergen on a beautiful summer day? Of course I'm going to try and make a few pictures.

Above a barn off Route 237.

High power lines a little further up Route 237.

Old truck, Swamp Road.

Train crossing Ivison Road, Stafford.

On my way back to Batavia, after being in Darien this morning, and before being rerouted by Billie out to Alabama for the cornfield fire, I stopped along Ellinwood Road, Corfu, to take pictures of this field of yellow flowers.

Before that, I took pictures of trains at the Colby Road crossing.

This was an interesting sight over Batavia this evening -- at 7:21 p.m. -- a rather large jet getting refueled. I only had a 270mm zoom lens on my camera and this photo is blown up quite a bit, but I can't see any markings on the white plane. 

On my way back from Indian Falls, I stopped on Townline Road near Maple Avenue, Alabama, to snap this picture.

It's a beautiful day, I'm at Dewitt (for the fishing derby), and I have my camera -- naturally, I'm going to take pictures of whatever seems interesting.

BTW: I highly recommend a visit to Dewitt. Paul Osborn, the county's parks supervisor, is doing a great job of creating trails, lookouts and rest stops around the lake. Dewitt is becoming one of Batavia's great assets.