Photo Essays

December 27, 2006:
A bridge, spider and dragon flies at MacRitchie Reservoir

Linda and her husband often walk around MacRitchie reservoir - about 13 km. Ellen frequently joins them - and discovered the Treetops Bridge and so today this was my adventure. What an adventure - camera, tripod, umbrella, flash - and about 6 hours of walking / photos

A map of the TreeTop trail. We started in the upper right and I finished in the lower middle section

dec 27 1816 sign

Here is the plan and specifications of the TreeTop suspension bridge. Just like the Ravenel Bridge - there are two backspans and a mainspan. Unlike the Ravenel Bridge - the mainspan is 150 m and instead of 8 lanes - there is one, width = 80 cm

dec 27 1778 treetop plan

The backspan with Ellen in front

dec_27_1782_ backspan.jpg

Just to give you some idea of the scale - here is a tree - about 30 meters high - like the length of Manny's boom on his crane

dec 27 1787 manny boom

and a view from the bridge

dec 27 1788 from bridge

The mainspan

dec 27 1793 treetops mainspan

Looking back from the other end

dec 27 1795 treetops mainspan

This is a one way bridge

dec 27 1800 backspan

and looking up one of the suspension cables

dec 27 1801 backspan suspension tiedown

the backspan exit

dec 27 1802 backspan exit

and the walkway - from the bridge to the forest / jungle

Bees in action - part 1

dec 27 1759 bee flower

part 2

dec 27 1760 flower bee

part 3

dec 27 1761 bee flower

and steps down into the forest

dec 27 1820 steps down

It is monsoon season - so some interesting photos of flowers with water drops (about an hour later - there was a serious rain

dec 27 1765 rain forest flower

Here is what in the US we would call a grasshopper. Here, I call them either a flower hopper or leaf hopper. This one is a flower hopper

dec 27 1770 flower hopper

from behind

dec 27 1771 flower hopper rear

and from the side - just like a grasshopper - except there is no grass in this rain forest

dec 27 1774 leaf hopper

and from the front - very cooperative leafhopper

dec 27 1776 leaf hopper

An interesting web

dec 27 1808 web

and all about catepillars - not the kind Michael and Jackie drive

dec 27 1810 catepillar data

This was just a fun photo

dec 27 1819 new fern

A dragon fly with 1 pair of wings

dec 27 1935 dragon 1wing

and a dragon fly with 2 pairs of wings

dec 27 1944 dragon 2wing

from the top

dec 27 1980 2wing dragon

another fun photo

dec 27 1956 ferns

another from the top

dec 27 1991 2wing dragon

From the side

dec 27 2063 dragon side

and from the front

dec 27 2040 dragon face

A butterfly

dec 27 2118 butterfly

and Nephila maculata - a cousin of Nephila clavipes that lives around Charleston

dec 27 2131 nephila side

Actually - wife at the bottom and two husbands (orange blobs) near the top

dec 27 2138 nephila wedding

She can dance

dec 27 2153 nephila dance

Husband #1

dec 27 2158 nephila male

and husband #2

dec 27 2159 2nd male

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

C. Frank Starmer

Photo Adventures with Curiosity and Learning