Category Archives: Nature Photography

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Chrissy Teigen is continuing her journey to normalize breastfeeding — and offering fellow moms a few tips along the way. Sharing a photo of herself breastfeeding her 4-month-old daughter, Esti, for a May 19 sponsored Instagram post, she wrote, “Esti has another bestie,” shouting out her Haakaa Ladybug Silicone Breast Milk Collector and highlighting how the breast pads save leakage and letdown.

Shortly after Teigen welcomed Esti with husband John Legend — with whom she also shares children Luna, 7, Miles, 5, and a late son, Jack — on Jan. 13, Teigen posted an Instagram video of herself attempting to breastfeed the newborn. Meanwhile, Miles showed off his counting skills in the background, though he quickly lost his audience. Sitting next to his mom, the then-4-year-old began at number 91 and eventually made it all the way past 170. As the counting dragged on, though, Teigen relatably seemed to be on the verge of succumbing to the exhaustion of mothering a weeks-old baby, as she appeared to be nodding off to sleep.

As always, she’s been candid about her latest breastfeeding journey, too. “I was so lucky because Luna and Miles latched immediately. Esti latched immediately. If anything, it was like me that was like, ‘I need to produce this,’” she shared with People in March. “I love pumping and I love trying to make as much milk as possible.”

However, the Cravings by Chrissy Teigen author noted she also “supplemented with all three children,” adding that she hopes other moms “don’t drive [themselves] crazy” if they use formula. “I’m surprised I have a drop of milk. I’ve done the lift augmentation twice. The fact that my nipple came off and was sewn back on, and I still have milk is incredible to me,” she continued. “I mean, Luna and Miles are thriving, and they’re great, and they were fed, and the most important thing is a fed baby. I used to be so scared, like, ‘Oh, my God, they’re not getting milk.’ I used to try to order donor milk online and freak myself out about everything. Not this time.”

The model’s candor in the breastfeeding discussion is hardly new. In November 2020, for example, Teigen posted a Twitter thread about normalizing formula usage. “Normalize breastfeeding is such a huge, wonderful thing. but I absolutely felt way more shame having to use formula because of lack of milk from depression and whatnot,” she wrote. “People have surrogates, people have trouble breastfeeding and all you hear as a new, anxious mom is how breast is best.”

She continued, “I remember pumping my ASS OFF, highest mode, so often, because I didn’t trust milk was going into their [mouths] if I breastfed. it drove me mad to the point I could only get an ounce. an ounce! … The stress of it, combined with the guilt that you cannot do nature’s most natural thing for your own baby is too much. I dunno why this is my crusade now. I just remember the sadness I felt and want you to know you are doing it right if your baby is fed, mama.”

She’s channeling her inner Queen Bee.

A never-before-seen photo of Kate Middleton was released on Saturday in honor of World Bee Day – and it’s buzz-worthy.

In the picture, which was posted on the official Instagram page for the Prince and Princess of Wales, the royal is seen dressed up in a beekeeping suit and protective gear, tending to the honeybees.

She is looking lovingly at the bees she’s attending to.

“We are buzzing about #WorldBeeDay ,” the royals wrote in the caption of the photo.

“Bees are a vital part of our ecosystem and today is a great opportunity to raise awareness of the essential role bees and other pollinators play in keeping people and the planet healthy.”

The photo was taken by royal family photographer, Matt Porteous, last summer at Anmer Hall, which is part of their Sandringham Estate in England.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CsdcUTmNhGk

And, as it turns out, Middleton seems to be quite fond of beekeeping as a hobby.

In 2021, she made a visit to the Natural History Museum in London, where she met with local elementary school kids and learned about the museums Urban Nature Project, which focuses on biodiversity and teaching others about the environment.

But, while she was there, she brought the kids a special treat – a jar of homemade honey from Anmer Hall, according to Harpers Bazaar.

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In a newly released photo, Kate Middleton is seen dressed up in a beekeeping suit. Instagram/princeandprincessofwales

“Would you like to try some?” she reportedly asked the kids during the visit, according to the outlet. “This came specially from my beehive.”

Middleton’s brother, James Middleton, has also opened up about his love for the creatures in the past, too.

“I have ten hives at Bucklebury & I’m fascinated by the little creatures,” Middleton’s brother wrote in an Instagram post in 2019, as he shared a carousel of photos of himself tending to the insects.

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Beekeeping is something that Kate’s brother, James Middleton, enjoys. POOL/AFP via Getty Images





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The photo was posted to Middleton and her husband, Prince William’s, official Instagram account. Getty Images

“From their waggle dance to the queen laying her own body weight in eggs a day… there‘s a lot to be said about these humble little creatures.”

He also likened the experience to a form of meditation.

“But that’s not it,” Middleton continued writing. “Bee keeping to me is a meditation it’s a chance to escape my mind and be so consumed by something that hours can pass by without knowing it.”

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The Princess has taken part in her fair share of outdoor activities over the years. POOL/AFP via Getty Images

“Meditation is a wonderful tool to help with stress, anxiety, depression and doesn’t just need to be practiced sitting down!”

The new photo of Middleton comes just a few weeks after the historic coronation ceremony of King Charles, which took place on Saturday, May 6 at Westminster Abbey.

The ceremony marked the official transfer of power to the new monarch after his mom, Queen Elizabeth II, passed away last September at the age of 96.

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Together, Middleton and Prince William share three children. Getty Images





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During a 2021 visit, she brought a jar of homemade honey to elementary school children. Getty Images

She had reigned for 70 years at the time of her death.

King Charles became the oldest king to be crowned at 74 years old.

Last week, King Charles and Queen Camilla made their first joint public appearance since the coronation, visiting Covent Garden in London.

They met with local community members and even made a trip to a craft market called The Apple Market.

Michael Shaughnessy, co-founder and president of Friends of the Presumpscot, back paddles while canoeing the Presumpscot River on May 9. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Michael Shaughnessy pushes off and settles in for a 5-mile paddle down the Presumpscot River on a sunny spring day.

He’s eager to canoe from the Mallison Falls dam in Windham to Saccarappa Falls in the center of Westbrook, where last month the city added more than 5 acres of public waterfront access.

A city councilor and longtime river advocate, Shaughnessy is happy to share the wonders along a stretch of the 26-mile river that was set free when the dam at Saccarappa Falls was removed in 2019. Leading the morning ride is David Butler, a registered Maine Guide who lives in Windham. And there’s plenty to see.

Trees bend toward the river, their roots clinging to the edge where fiddleheads unfurl in dappled sunshine. Swallows dive and skim insects from the shimmering surface. A great blue heron takes flight from the shallows, banking upward to show off its pale belly and full wingspan before heading downriver.

A great blue heron flies above the Presumpscot River on May 9.  Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

But Shaughnessy notices things that others might miss. He thrills at the sound of little streams trickling into the river, swollen from spring rains. You wouldn’t have heard that a few years ago, he says, before the Saccarappa Dam was removed and the river shifted closer to its true course.

“They’re so beautiful – like little gems,” he says. “It’s just more evidence of how the river is transitioning from what it was to what it can be.”

Until the early 2000s, the Presumpscot had nine dams that hampered its flow from Sebago Lake to Casco Bay and blocked Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish from returning to spawn upriver. Even then it was the largest fresh-water source flowing into the bay.

Winding through Windham, Gorham, Westbrook, Falmouth and Portland, the river hosted one of Maine’s first gristmills in the 1650s, its first dam and paper mill in the 1730s, and its first hydroelectric dam, built in 1889 for the former Smelt Hill Power Station, all at Presumpscot Falls in Falmouth.

Seven dams remain, remnants of when the river was tamed to power mills, transport goods and serve as an open sewer for industries and communities that turned their backs on its beauty and abundance.

“At one point it was known as the most dammed river in America and people were proud of that,” says Shaughnessy, co-founder and president of Friends of the Presumpscot, a nonprofit that’s been fighting to protect and restore river habitat and recreational access since 1992.

Shaughnessy and others mourn the loss of a free-flowing natural resource that the Indigenous Wabanaki named for its many falls and rapids, and that area schoolchildren now learn about as part of the Maine Native Studies curriculum.

“The Presumpscot churned with fish before it was dammed,” says Butler, the Maine Guide, also a Friends member. “Damming the river was genocide for the people who ate the fish.”

David Butler of Windham, a registered Maine guide, poles his way along the Presumpscot River in Westbrook on May 9.  Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Mike Sanphy, president of the Westbrook Historical Society, remembers what the river was like when he moved from Portland to Westbrook in the 1960s. People used to swim in it, he says, but they joked about having to keep their mouths shut because they never knew what might float by.

“It was always a grayish brown and it had a certain smell to it,” said Sanphy. “It was disgusting. Now, it’s coming along real nice. They’re trying to bring it back and it’s getting real close.”

RESTORING THE PRESUMPSCOT

Saccarappa Falls in the Presumpscot River in Westbrook now flows freely after the removal of the Saccarappa Dam in 2019. The dam ran from the concrete abutment at left to the abutment where the mill wall is painted white, at right.  Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

The sound of rough water intensifies as Saccarappa Falls comes into view. Parted by Saccarappa Island, the Presumpscot splits and courses white and wild over the rocky river bed.

Shaughnessy avoids going over the falls, digging deep and paddling fast to the island’s sandy shore. Rimmed by rocks and trees, the grassy river outcrop is peaceful yet energizing. Walking to the edge, he points to where the old dam crossed the falls, from the island to the old Dana Warp Mill building.

The river rushes below, churning oxygen into the water that makes it healthier for fish. It also sends indiscernible negative oxygen ions into the air that have reported health benefits for humans, known as the waterfall effect.

“It’s a great place to just soak it all in,” he says. “It’s so good for people.”

Michael Shaughnessy takes a photo on his phone on May 9 of where the Saccarappa Dam used to span the Presumpscot River in Westbrook.  Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

In April, the city purchased 1.7-acre Saccarappa Island and a narrow 3.7-acre parcel that extends 3,500 feet along the river’s northern shore, from the Bridge Street bridge to the railroad bridge. The land deal with Sappi North America, which operates a paper mill further downriver, included a 980-foot trail easement along the river’s southern shore.

It was part of a 2018 settlement that included the Friends of the Presumpscot, the Conservation Law Foundation and a variety of state and federal agencies. The city bought the land with $350,000 donated by the Westbrook Environmental Improvement Corp. and the Cornelia Warren Community Association.

It’s the latest in a long-term effort spearheaded by those who want to restore the river as a life-giving regional watershed and the soul of the city.

“The river is the reason Westbrook exists, whether because of the Indigenous population that was here first or the colonial settlers who came after,” said City Manager Jerre Bryant. “Over time, it lost its natural features. With what has happened over the last couple of decades, it’s becoming an attraction once again.”

Rejuvenating the river has meant putting the needs of fish before people – at least initially.

The Smelt Hill dam was removed in 2002. Four years later, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s authority to require fish passages and minimum water flow standards around the Presumpscot River dams operated by the paper mill in Westbrook, then owned by S.D. Warren Co.

A fish passage was installed at the Cumberland Mills dam, near the paper mill, in 2013. Three years after that, Sappi negotiated a deal to remove the dam and power station at Saccarappa Falls in return for license extensions from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for several dams upriver.

With Saccarappa Falls running wild and a fish passage added in 2021, migratory fish now have access to the entire bottom half of the river. Alewives and other species have resumed annual late spring runs from Casco Bay to the base of Mallison Falls dam. Additional fish passages are anticipated there and further upstream at Little Falls dam.

“The fish are coming back, though not in the numbers they once were,” Shaughnessy says. “But with the success of each smaller run, more fish will return in the future.”

IMPROVING ACCESS

Michael Shaughnessy takes a photo with his phone while standing on Saccarappa Island in the Presumpscot River in Westbrook on May 9. The City of Westbrook purchased the 1.7-acre island in April. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

The city’s plans for the newly acquired waterfront property include developing a park on the island, with possible access via a footbridge that would be built at the end of Dana Street. A new riverwalk along the northern shore would connect to an existing trail and boardwalk on the southern shore, creating a recreational loop through downtown.

The improvements are expected to attract more businesses and residents to the city center and emphasize the river as a community focal point. Senior housing, single-family homes and condominiums are being developed nearby. City officials say interest in riverside properties is strong, despite post-pandemic inflation and economic uncertainty.

“The river is returning in a whole new way to be the focus of the city,” said Mayor Mike Foley. “It really makes the downtown area stand out.”

Discover Downtown Westbrook agrees. The nonprofit’s website features a photo of the river and the bold statement, “A River Runs Through Us,” borrowed from a novella and 1992 film with a similar title.

“We believe the river is one of our most valuable assets,” said Amy Grommes Pulaski, executive director. “One of our goals is to celebrate and reconnect people with the river.”

Upcoming events planned on or near the river include a Thursday evening summer concert series July 13-Aug. 31 in Vallee Square; a community paddle and grill Aug. 16 at Riverbank Park; and an Outdoor Film Fest Sept. 9 at the park.

Shaughnessy says he appreciates the work Pulaski’s group is doing and all the interest and attention the river is getting, but he has reservations.

He takes stock of the improvements as he and Butler pull their canoes out of the Presumpscot at the Lincoln Street boat launch, one of four in the city.

Shaughnessy says he welcomes greater investment to preserve the waterway, improve public access and restore river habitat. But he worries that cleaning up the Presumpscot and making it more desirable will encourage development that didn’t happen when the river was dammed, dirty and smelled foul.

A few homes and camps dot the riverbanks from Saccarappa Falls to the Mallison Falls dam in Windham, but much of it appears to be undisturbed.

“I hope it doesn’t get too developed,” Shaughnessy says. “Because to be this close to nature in the most populated region of the state is really remarkable.”

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This photo taken on May 19, 2023 shows milu deer at Shishou Milu Deer National Nature Reserve in central China’s Hubei Province. After years of efforts by protectors and continuous improvement of the local ecological environment, the population of milu deer at the nature reserve has increased rapidly. (Xinhua/Hui Xiaoyong)

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Gateway School Life Lab science teacher Caprice Potter sits in a monarch butterfly “throne” wearing a sunflower crown during a retirement sendoff for her at the Santa Cruz school on Thursday. Potter, has who has been instilling the love of nature, gardening, nutrition and science for 35 years, has worked with more than 1,000 students at Gateway. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

Gateway School Life Lab science teacher Caprice Potter sits in a monarch butterfly “throne” wearing a sunflower crown during a retirement sendoff for her at the Santa Cruz school on Thursday. Potter, has who has been instilling the love of nature, gardening, nutrition and science for 35 years, has worked with more than 1,000 students at Gateway. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

© Sarah Reingewirtz/Los Angeles Daily News/TNS
Children check out the Columbian mammoth in La Brea Tar Pits Museum’s new interactive and hands-on Mammoths and Mastodons exhibit in Los Angeles on Wednesday, December 19, 2018. Admission to the Tar Pits, George Page Museum and the Museum of Natural History is scheduled to go up. But the increase must be approved by the Board of Supervisors. A vote is expected on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.

Museum-goers who love nature, butterflies and giant mammoth fossils may have to fork over more cash to gain access to three Los Angeles County museums that are asking for a 20% hike in admission fees to help them pay for operating costs that rose due to inflation and higher usage.

The county’s Natural History Museum (NHM), La Brea Tar Pits and George C. Page Museum have floated a proposal before the county Board of Supervisors to raise adult general admission prices from $15 per person to $18. They are also asking for a bump in reduced rates for seniors, students and youth, ages 13 to 17, from $12 to $14. Tickets for children 3 to 12 are $7.

The fee hikes go before the supervisors on Tuesday, May 23 and will require three votes of the five supervisors for approval.

These museums, which feature popular exhibits from the Butterfly Pavilion at the Natural History Museum to fossils of saber-toothed cats and giant sloths dating to the Ice Age at the Tar Pits and Page Museum, will  collectively raise about $1.1 million in revenue if the new ticket prices are approved, according to a letter contained in a county report written by Lori  Bettison-Varga, president and director of the museums.

The revenue will be used to offset rising costs associated with educational programs and free admission for school field trips, maintenance of facilities and increases in employee wages and benefits, the letter stated.

Providing free admission to all school children, teachers, veterans and active military, has cut into the county museums’ operating budget. Before the March 2020 start of the COVID-19 pandemic, one-third of the Natural History Museum’s 1.3 million visitors got in for free. In 2022, the Exposition Park museum saw a jump in school field trips, and free admissions now account for about half, the letter said.

As the museums ramp up to handle more visitors, costs have risen, wrote Bettison-Varga. The Natural History Museum anticipates completing a welcome center and a commons that will be available to the general public without paid admission. These improvements are also adding to operating costs.

A survey of other museums both in the county, in California and outside of California, Bettison-Varga wrote, showed that the proposed admission fees are not out of line. The letter stated that ticket prices were last increased in 2015.

“The proposed fees are well within the range charged by similar institutions, and are among the lowest in the county,” she wrote.

For comparison, the survey found:

• The Autry Museum of the American West at Griffith Park raised the price of adult general admission on Jan. 1, from $14 to $16, a 14% increase.

• The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) raised adult general admission from $15 in 2017 to the current price of $25, a 67% increase. L.A. County adult residents are charged $20.

• At The Getty in Brentwood and the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, admission is free.

• The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach raised adult general admission in the last few years. The survey said admission in 2017 was $29.95. The museum website indicates admission is $36.95. This represents a 24% increase.

Griffith Park has no admission fee, but some areas charge for parking. Admission to the Griffith Park Observatory is free, but the observatory astronomy show requires a separate ticket.

Griffith Park was donated to the city of Los Angeles by Colonel Griffith J. Griffith who required as part of the donation that the park would always be free to enter. Two attempts by the Los Angeles City Council to charge admission fees ultimately failed, explained Gerry Hans, president of Friends of Griffith Park.

In 1981, pay booths were installed at the park to collect $.50 on weekdays and $1.00 on weekends per car as a way to generate revenue for the city’s Recreation and Parks Department. That led to a lawsuit and protests. In 1984, the city removed the toll booths.

“During the time of the fee booths’ operation, many of the park’s concessions and venues were hurt financially with less people entering, including the LA Zoo, train rides, and pony rides. There were protests about double taxation, and toll booths were even vandalized,” Hans wrote in an emailed response.

In San Francisco, the city’s California Academy of Science in 2017 charged an adult general admission of $35.95. In 2023, the price of admission is $48.75, a 36% increase, the survey found.

Chicago’s Field Museum in 2017 charged $22.00 for general admission. In 2023, admission is $30.00, a 36% increase, the survey revealed.

©2023 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit dailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

© Photo by John Eaton
A labyrinth on a nature trail at the Lafayette Community Garden and Outdoor Education Center.

LAMORINDA, CA — Patch reader John Eaton sent in this peaceful scene of a labyrinth on the nature trail at Lafayette Community Garden and Outdoor Education Center.

Thanks so much for sharing, John!

It’s Your Shot: Pictures You Take and We Share

Have you got the next incredible photo? If you have an awesome photo of nature, breathtaking scenery, kids caught being kids, a pet doing something funny or something unusual you happen to catch, we’d love to feature it on Patch. We’re looking for high-resolution images that reflect the beauty that is Lamorinda, and that show off your unique talents.

So, bring ’em on. No selfies. Not here.

Send your photos to [email protected]. In your email, please be sure to include information about when and where the shot was taken and any other details about what was going on.

The article Labyrinth In Nature: Lamorinda Photo Of The Day appeared first on Lamorinda Patch.

“Civilization exists by geological consent subject to change without notice.” This quote from historian Will Durant was a favorite saying of Madeleyne Bridge. It’s inscribed on a plaque mounted on a stone to the left of the bridge named in her memory at Heil Ranch. Maddie and her late husband Ray were hikers and Boulder environmental activists for many years.

Maddie’s Bridge over Plumely Creek was originally built in 1999 but was severely damaged “without notice” in the 2020 Calwood fire and had to be removed. The Longmont Open Space Department loaned Heil Ranch a strong, sturdy bridge that was placed upstream. Then, this spring Maddie’s Bridge was rebuilt and opened to the public in early May, and the loaner bridge was returned to Longmont.

Maddie’s Bridge (near the main parking and picnic area) serves as a gateway to two lovely trails — Lichen Loop and Grindstone Quarry — that are regenerating after the Calwood Fire. Charred ponderosa pines and invasive mullein bear stark witness to that fierce fire that burned 5,000 acres in five hours. Following the fire, most of Heil Ranch was closed to the public until last year while the Boulder County Open Space Department undertook extensive restoration. Throughout the forest you’ll notice many mesh “tree tubes” protecting ponderosa seedlings, many of which are now over a foot tall.

Almost three years have passed since the fire. Golden banners, yellow parsleys, blue chiming bells, and white locoweeds and sand lilies are reclaiming the scorched land, and greener-than-before grass covers the blackened soil. After crossing Maddie’s Bridge, the trail goes uphill a short distance and forks with the Lichen Loop heading straight and the Grindstone Quarry Trail branching to the right.

Going in a counter-clockwise direction, the 1.3- mile Lichen Loop continues uphill to the ponderosa forest before leveling out and then descending through flower-filled meadows. In the past we’ve encountered wild turkey flocks, mule deer herds, and Abert’s squirrels on this route. And, of course, there are multi-colored rocks covered with green, gold, orange, and chartreuse lichens. Be sure to take the short detour up to the old kiln where crushed limestone was converted to quicklime. The 1.4-mile Grindstone Quarry Trail heads up to a viewpoint of nearby ridges and of Bear Peak to the south before dropping to a meadow. As you traverse the meadow, watch for an unmarked spur to the left that leads to the quarry. Peter Haldi, an early postmaster for the town of Altona, established the
quarry in the early 1900s to provide grinding-wheel stones for sharpening metal tools.

From the quarry you can either retrace your route back, or you can continue down to a lower parking lot and connect to other trails. Or, you can spot a second car at the lower lot for a one-way, mostly downhill hike of about two miles. The network of trails at the Heil Ranch Open Space allows you to make various connections and longer loops. You can explore a variety of terrains and see historical sites, such as the Altona School. Check “Heil Valley Ranch trail map” online for ideas. Also, check online for trail closures, especially after all the recent rains. Bikes are allowed only on designated trails, and to protect wildlife, dogs are not permitted.

To reach Heil Ranch, take U.S 36. to Left Hand Canyon and turn west. In a short distance turn right onto Geer Canyon Road that goes to the Main Trailhead parking and picnic area.

Ruth Carol and Glenn Cushman are the authors of “Boulder Hiking Trails,” available from Amazon.