Spring fungus
Photographer: AK Li
May 2024Banningwood Preserve
White-pored Chicken of the woods
Bumblebee on swamp milkweed
Photographer: Rochelle Davis
July 2024Private Lyme Habitat
The bumblebees and other pollinators love the milkweed flowers
Trout lily
Photographer: AK Li
AprilBanningwood Preserve
Fall Water Lily at Hartman Park
Photographer: Rich Sanders
September 28, 2024Hartman Park, Right of Way
I've always associated fall colors with trees and shrubs. Here, I lucked-out capturing a water lily in its autumn glory at a location so familiar to many. With the beaver lodge in focus I shot low as if I were in the water. For me, the raindrops on the lens and the clouds above drive home this change of seasons.
Asclepias
Photographer: Kent Girty (Photo of Distinction)
June 2024Private pollinator garden
Milkweed flowers and buds.
On the lookout for the wonderfully colorful monarch butterfly larvae and was intrigued by this flower and bud set against the green.
Last of the Oak Leaves
Photographer: Rochelle Davis
November 2024Selden Creek Preserve
The red oak and its companions against the blue sky show us the beauty of looking up, as well as looking down and around.
Swamp Milkweed Pod
Photographer: Birgit Musheno
September 23, 2024Private Lyme Habitat
Swamp Milkweed seeds ready to disperse on the breeze from their supporting pod. The parent plant arrived from just such a seed, a surprise and welcome arrival in a new meadow converted from lawn.
The Special Thin Rock
Photographer: Michael Lloyd
September 2024Mount Archer Woods – Town of Lyme
There is a really thin rock with shadows from the sun that created the look of a Face on the rock to the left and a skeleton face just above the tip of the thin rock..
Backyard Sunrise, not zoomed
Photographer: Sharon (Photo of Distinction)
10/26/2024
HomeEarly morning sunrise.
My grandniece was born this morning, I wanted to one day show her the beautiful sunrise on her special day.
Indian Pipe
Photographer: Kent Girty
August 2024Jewett Preserve
Monotropa uniflora, also known as ghost plant, ghost pipe, or Indian pipe. One of my favorite finds in the forest. This one is an unusual pink color. Actually not a fungus but a parasite that feeds off fungus Mycorrhizae. It’s in the same family as blueberries, cranberries, azaleas, and Rhododendrons. Who knew?
Late Afternoon
Photographer: Judy Davies
December 2024Private Lyme Habitat
Our new wind mill in our backyard on Joshuatown Road with beautiful Lyme “light” (setting sun) in background.
Northern lights in Lyme
Photographer: Gina McEwen
May 2024At the End of Ellys Ferry, Lyme near the CT river
Northern lights visited us in our own town on May 10th
Iced Lodge
Photographer: Birgit Musheno
December 14, 2024Thach Preserve
A beaver lodge and some brush in thin ice. The ice and weather created a spectrum of typical winter colors from purplish blue through golds, tans and greys.
Burning Bush
Photographer: Sue York
October 2024Pleasant Valley Preserve
Burning bush
Robin’s Egg
Photographer: Kent Girty
May, 2024Johnston Preserve
Always a delight to see these colorful signs of new life in springtime.
Winter Water
Photographer: Denise Gravatt
December 2024
Private Lyme Habitat
A frosty Christmas Day walk revealed ice crystals and typical beautiful Lyme rocks, water and woodland
Fun Guys
Photographer: Doug White (Photo of Distinction – Honorable Mention)
October 3, 2024
Ravine Trail, Joshua Town Rd
I laid down and took a selfie next to chicken of the woods fungi on an old log next to the trail to give perspective of its size. Wow. A startling phenomenon of the wilds.
Contrasts in spring
Photographer: AK Li
May 2024Jewett Preserve
Growth
Photographer: Christine Tappe
10/12/2024Ravine Trail
As we set out to hike the Ravine Trail for the first time I was struck by the beauty of a young sapling growing out of (and through) the root ball of an old tree. A simple reminder that life always finds a way to carry on.
Downed Tree New Life
Photographer: Galo Sarmiento (Photo of Distinction)
3/16/2024Selden Creek Preserve
The number of downed trees at Selden Preserve make room for new life.
Trail Gift
Photographer: Birgit Musheno
September 23, 2024Pleasant Valley Preserve
A flower token left along the trail one day by an unknown fellow hiker, an uplifting sign of communal joy in nature.
A boy and his dog
Photographer: Denise Gravatt
November 2024
Walbridge Preserve
Hiking can be done in all seasons, even hunting season. Just remember to wear your orange!
Newts
Photographer: Dave Brown
May 2024Jewett Preserve
Morning walk newt’s meandering on the trail.
Backyard Sunrise
Photographer: Sharon
10/26/2024Home
Early morning sunrise.
My grandniece was born this morning, I wanted to one day show her the beautiful sunrise on her special day.
Lush Moss
Photographer: Bryn Souza
3/16/224
Selden Creek Preserve
This bright green moss was a lovely sight when so much else was still mostly brown
Spring at Hamburg Cove
Photographer: Adam McEwen
June 2024Hamburg Cove, Lyme
Kids paddle boarding at the cove. Foto taken from the bridge at Cove road.
Cinnamon Fern
Photographer: Birgit Musheno (Photo of Distinction)
May 2024Banningwood Preserve
Close up of cinnamon fern growing near Roaring Brook in the Banningwood Preserve
Welcome to Tiffany’s
Photographer: Lisa Tiffany Simiola (Photo of Distinction)
October 2023Tiffany Farms
A mountain of a man with no days off still gets soft now and then.
Subject: John J. Tiffany III, modern day cowboy
Black and white in March
Photographer: Bryn Souza
3/16/2024
Selden Creek Preserve
Went for a long walk to appreciate local views.
Caught
Photographer: Birgit Musheno
October 14, 2024Banningwood Preserve
A fallen maple leaf caught by dry fern leaves, illuminated by late afternoon fall sunlight. I was captivated by the recursive curling forms, and the detailed tracery of the leaf structures revealed by the sunlight filtering through.
Sunset on the river
Photographer: Kristina White
February 2023
Private land in Lyme
The colors were on fire
Fallen Chestnut Oak Leaf in Selden Creek Preserve
Photographer: Rochelle Davis
November 2024Selden Creek Preserve
The many colors of the leaf, and the small parts eaten by an insect, are a beautiful contrast and show the change that happens in fall.
A flurry of Fungi
Photographer: Kristina White
December 4 2024Brockway Hawthorne Preserve
You don’t see a lot of mushrooms at this type of year but these fungi didn’t get the memo – they were luxuriating in the sun like it was Spring!
Ice Over the River
Photographer: Kent Girty
January 2024
Eight Mile River I think still in Pleasant Valley.
Fascinating and dramatic ice formation created as just the right conditions, cold snap freezing water vapor, conspired to form these wonderful shapes. Clear as crystal. Needed care not to slip in…
Path to Light
Photographer: Sarah Prineas
Dec 21, 2024Pleasant Valley, Lyme
Snowy path leading from shadow to light
Mt. Archer Woods – Tulip Tree Grove in Winter
Photographer: Steven Hoyt (Photo of Distinction)
February – 2024
Mt. Archer Woods Preserve
There are actually a couple of tulip tree groves in this group of preserves – one in Mt. Archer and the other bordering the Eno and Mt. Archer preserves. This photo was taken, I believe, on trail AW in the southwest section of the Mt. Archer preserve. I love the forest depth and textures that shine through on an otherwise drab day.
