Field Trip

Danny, Michael, and I (Tom) couldn't be happier and more impressed with our members and friends! It would be wonderful if we all got to know each other better. Here's a forum to post images and short autobiographies of ourselves as well as any other info you would like to post about yourself. We are looking forward to meeting you all!

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Ken Ramos
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Field Trip

Post by Ken Ramos »

Well the weather has warmed up some here in Western North Carolina. So much so, that I was able to get out and do some foraging around in the mountains for a fresh collection of algae. As I have mentioned before, I do believe, the leaves being absent from the trees allow plenty of sunlight to reach the slower moving streams. This enables large blooms of algae and to my surprise, Cyanobacteria, to come about in colorful masses. It was a "Bluebird Day" here with temperatures in the lower 60s' and I could not resist the urge to get up and get out. :D

Image

Aside from the bubbles rising from the mass, if you look very closely you can see what appears to be whisps of dark green with a cotton like appearance among the mass of Spirogyra. These are blooms of Anabaena. When viewed through the scope after getting the collection home, I was surprised at just how much of the Cynobacteria there actually was. There are others too, that remain to be indentified.

Image

This is a much larger view of the area from which I took my collection. As you can see there are numerous decaying leaves and other vegetation lying in the water and the mass of algae appears as a mist among it all. There are mostly hardwood trees in this particular area and this is where water seeps up from the ground about 100yds. from the main stream, which is Curtis Creek. If my luck holds out I will post an image or two of the Anabaena found in this mass of algae.

The bubbles rising from the algae in the first photogrpah give the whole mass an even more displeasing appearance and even more so when seen on the surface of a pond. What I think this to be is methane gas which is rising to the surface and has become trapped among the filiaments. The gas gives the putrid smell associated with areas such as this and turns a lot of people away from investigating the beauty which lies in what appears to be a slimy, filthy, and ugly mass. Little do most people know. The gas is produced by the decomposition of the organic matter lying at the bottom of this small pool of water, the depth of which is only about four inches.

Aside from the algae and the host of protozoans and crustaceans to be found here, are numerous hibernating insects and insect larva. These make good specimens to be observed under the stereo microscope if you happen to have one and if not a good excuse to go out and purchase one. I hope that you my friends have enjoyed this little piece and will no doubt get out among the wetlands in an area near you and explore and see for yourself what can be found and explored under the objectives of your microscope. :D
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Post by S. Alden »

Very interesting reading Ken. I was outside today, but only in my yard (getting ready for my travel). I was looking for signs of Spring because I just cannot wait any longer :roll: . Hopefully, I will get my scope soon and can drag some stuff out of my pond to examine.
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Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

Glad you liked the post Sue. Yes, I too am looking forward to you getting that scope. You won't believe your eyes at the images it produces. I am also getting itchy for Spring to arrive myself. I want to try to get into the swing of Macrophotography also. Have a safe and enjoyable trip and be careful. Will be looking forward to your safe return. :D
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Post by Steve West »

Great pics Ken -- especially the second one. It's hard to make an algae bloom look any nicer!!!

Field trips are great for the soul. Did you take these pics with the G5 or the Fuji?

[OT] I have a new Minolta A2 coming in this week. I decided to dedicate the nikon 4500 to the microscope. The A2 will be next to useless for the microscope, but it will be nice to have fun camera for the rest of photography. It will be my field trip camera, and I haven't bought a new digicam in over 2 years.

Steve

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Post by Kenv »

Interesting post Ken - I like that second photo very much, lovely reflections.
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Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

Thanks Ken :D The reflections do make for a nice photogrpah and so does the deep blue of the sky reflected in the water. :)

Yes Steve, as Ken mentioned the second pic is the best and is my favorite too. These two photographs among the others taken were shot with the Fuji FinePix A340. It is no bigger than a pack of cigarettes and fits nicely into a small canvas case on my belt. It fits nicely in ones fly vest also. It is a great little camera, can shoot upto 4 megapixel images, beginning with 1mp, and takes only two AA batteries which is also handy. It makes a great field camera because of its size and is out of the way when traversing rough mountain terrain. My G5 has its home atop the Axiostar and never leaves there. Thanks for the comments gentlemen. :D
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Kenneth Ramos
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Post by Steve West »

Ken, I was looking at your pics again, and the first one shows bubbling from the algae. You know this looks exactly like the bright green diatom chains growing my aquarium (gas and all). Did you look at this stuff with the micro--is it indeed diatoms?

just curious,

Steve

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Post by Ken Ramos »

I looked at this stuff Steve and it is full of all sorts of things. The gas I believe is produced from the decomposition of the algae. As for diatoms, there are many small diatoms but I did not notice any that formed chains. Not to say that there are not any present, I just did not observe any. There are numerous cyanos in there, some that I could not identify but then again I am not familiar with them either. If you check my post "What is This" you will see the majority of what I came across. There were plenty of Stylonychia and a few Vorts, conjugation of Spirogyra here and there. I really need to identify and catalog what I am finding in this stuff. Thanks for your interest Steve. :D
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