Kensico Dam – The Reservoir

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Another view of the reservoir, this time from the East Pavilion looking north. According to Wikipedia:

The Kensico Reservoir is a reservoir spanning the towns of Armonk (North Castle) and Valhalla (Mount Pleasant), New York, located 3 miles (5 km) north of White Plains. It was formed by the original earth and gravel Kensico Dam constructed in 1885, which impounded waters from the Bronx and Byram rivers. In 1917, a new masonry dam was completed, replacing the old dam and expanding the water supply by bringing water from the Catskill Mountains over a distance of more than 100 miles. The reservoir mainly serves to store waters received from the Catskill Mountains west of the Hudson River. Along with the West Branch Reservoir and Boyds Corner Reservoir, it is one of four reservoirs within the Catskill/Delaware system outside the Catskill Mountains region. The other reservoir is the Hillview Reservoir.

It has a surface area of 2,140 acres, an average depth of 43.6 feet, and a maximum depth of 120 feet. It contains 30,000,000,000 gallons of water.

The Kensico Reservoir also hosts fishing and boating recreation. Every year, the reservoir is stocked with over 2,000 brown trout. In April 2016, the Kensico Reservoir was stocked with 8,620 brown trout 8.5 to 9.5 inches (22 to 24 cm) long.

Taken with a Panasonic Lumix GX85 and Lumix G Vario 14-140 f3.5-5.6

Grasses in a pond

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For some reason I went out the other day intending to take some pictures of water. As I walked around, I came across this pond. I’ve seen it before, and it seems to come and go. Sometimes (as with today) there’s quite a lot of water; and sometimes it appears to be completely dry.

I think it’s a vernal pond:

Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are seasonal pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive plants and animals. They are considered to be a distinctive type of wetland usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe development of natal amphibian and insect species unable to withstand competition or predation by fish. Certain tropical fish lineages (such as killifishes) have however adapted to this habitat specifically.

Vernal pools are a type of wetland. They can be surrounded by many communities/species including deciduous forest, grassland, lodgepole pine forest, blue oak woodland, sagebrush steppe, succulent coastal scrub and prairie. These pools are characteristic of Mediterranean climates, but occur in many other ecosystems.

An inundated rock vernal pool on Enchanted Rock. Note the one inhabited by cacti in the background.
During most years, a vernal pool basin will experience inundation from rain/precipitation, followed by desiccation from evapotranspiration. These conditions are commonly associated with Mediterranean climate such as the Central Valley of California.[1] Vernal pool basins are often characteristics of Mediterranean climates, but occur in many other ecosystems, such as forested areas of the Canadian Shield, where they are difficult to identify because of the forest canopy.[2] Most pools are dry for at least part of the year, and fill with the winter rains, spring snowmelts and rising water tables. Some pools may remain at least partially filled with water over the course of a year or more, but all vernal pools dry up periodically. Typically, though, a vernal pool has three phases each year: it is inundated in the winter (inundated phase) with the vernal pool holding onto the water from 10–65 days, it dries slowly during the spring (flowering phase), and it dries completely during the summer (dry phase). Vernal pools favor native species because many non-native species cannot tolerate the extreme seasonal changes in environmental conditions. (Wikipedia)

Whatever it is I thought it would make a worthwhile subject

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Taken with a Panasonic Lumix GX85 and Lumix G Vario 14-140 f3.5-5.6

Pleasantville, NY. Waiting for the MTA Train

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This was taken through a window and it’s one of those pictures that I like, but which I can’t articulate exactly why. Maybe it’s the way the train tracks curve around? Maybe it’s the looming clouds? Maybe it’s the balloons (or whatever they are) in the tree to the right? Maybe all of the above? Who knows?

Taken with a Sony A6000 and Sony FE 24mm f2.8 G.