County Photographer

Frosty fall leaves

2011-11-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

In the shadowy valley beneath the steep ridge at Macaulay Mountain Conservation Area in Picton, frosted leaves on wetland shrubs glow with a fringe of icy white.

Pecks of peppers

2011-10-01T21:14:00.000-07:00

End of summer harvest, all kinds of peppers, at a roadside vegetable stand in Bloomfield.

Blanding's on Bradley

2011-06-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

I met my first Blanding's turtle today on Bradley X-Road in the pouring rain. The species is considered threatened and only found in the north country.

Picton Cruise Night

2011-06-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

Old rock 'n roll plays on loudspeakers as visitors stroll, admire and chat with the owners of restored antique cars and trucks every summertime Thursday evening at the Picton Canadian Tire.

Picton plough

2011-02-05T18:53:00.000-08:00

The municipal snowplough makes its first pass along Bowery Street around 9:00 p.m. after an evening storm that added about 8 cm to the February snow banks in Picton, Ontario.

Who turned out the lights?

2011-01-15T06:37:00.000-08:00

These solar collectors near Wellington aren't generating any power when we need it, in the middle of a January snow storm.

Canadian clothes dryer

2010-12-18T07:38:00.000-08:00

Blowin' in the wind, saving precious energy and lookin' like Canada, clothes hang out on the line in Picton.

Storm over Main

2010-08-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

A summer storm approaches Main Street, Picton filled with tourists on an August Saturday afternoon.

Sundown Crystal Palace

2010-06-28T21:26:00.001-07:00

Following a torrential downpour, the sun set over the Picton fairgrounds and the Crystal Palace along Main Street.

Water world

2010-05-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

Prince Edward County has some amazing, lonely shoreline places with clear water of Lake Ontario and all kinds of wild water birds. This is Long Point as summer begins. Hot day, cold water. I know 'cause I dove in.

Snowy sundown

2010-03-07T17:21:00.000-08:00

Beaver Meadows Conservation Area near Bloomfield, Ontario is a waterfowl marshland sanctuary surrounded by a rich, mixed hardwood forest including maple, beech, oak, hickory, birch, hemlock and white pine. This forest community is rare and endangered in Prince Edward County in contrast to the ubiquitous thin soil scrub land of cedar and prickly ash.

Sandbanks sunset

2010-03-06T19:27:00.001-08:00

The sun sets at 6:00 as equinox approaches. Sturdy hardwood trees take a constant beating by the fierce winds off of Lake Ontario at Sandbanks Provincial Park.

Macaulay Mountain moon

2010-02-28T21:23:00.000-08:00

A full moon shines over Macaulay Mountain and the barn at the heritage park in Picton as the coyotes howl in the bush.

Olympic Snow Fort

2010-02-28T08:16:00.001-08:00

Bowery Street boys by candlelight at their awesome snow fort with watchtower.

Inukshuk in Picton

2010-02-02T22:27:00.001-08:00

A new Olympic entrance was added to the county fairgrounds in Picton, complete with a stone inukshuk keeping watch over Main Street. This is where the Olympic torch entered the fairgrounds for the celebration in December.

Cross-country ski season

2010-01-12T08:04:00.000-08:00

Conditions are good enough for an hour of xc skiing right out Picton's back door into the wilds of Macaulay Mountain Conservation Area. I blazed a trail clockwise around the drainage basin. Park at the heritage house, skate ski up the wide path through Whattam's Memorial Park, then keep on the level to the east of the frozen pond. It gets tricky through the cedars and hemlocks where snow doesn't completely cover the rocks and sticks but once you're up on the high ridge the only thing that can trip you up are the prickly ash bushes. Don't attempt to traverse the steep slope for a short-cut home; there's a crusty ice just below the snow.

Taking down a giant

2009-12-22T10:46:00.001-08:00

The tallest tree in Picton, probably near a century old, was brought down by an army of men and machines, including an industrial crane. It posed a danger to St. Andrew's Church due to its brittle branches.

Olympic cheers and tears

2009-12-16T08:06:00.000-08:00

The crowd of thousands erupted when Prince Edward County's torchbearer Joey Lavender lit the cauldron of the Olympic flame.

Jolly Old Saint Aidan?

2009-12-11T21:44:00.001-08:00

Santa was peering out at Bowery Street children today from the window of Picton artist Aidan Haley's house. The famous elf even had a striking resemblance to the homeowner who, oddly, was nowhere to be found at the time.

Walking the walk on climate change

2009-12-11T21:31:00.001-08:00

Picton citizens voice their concern to politicians in Copenhagen for climate change talks.

The swans of Lake Consecon

2009-12-04T19:30:00.001-08:00

A large population of wild swans find refuge in the marsh edges of Lake Consecon while other waterfowl wing southward.

Fair trade holiday shoppe

2009-12-02T16:46:00.000-08:00

A bright spot along Main Street, Picton, the new Ten Thousand Villages store makes your gift shopping help artisans in developing countries.

The Garlic Man then and now

2009-11-18T19:20:00.000-08:00

I met The Fish Lake Garlic Man, Ted Maczka, at the Royal Winter Fair around 1986 then again 20 years later at his home north of Picton.

Prince Edward County's light

2009-11-17T21:35:00.000-08:00

A solid fixture on the Prince Edward County landscape, this stone lighthouse at the Mariners Park Museum was moved from False Duck Island in Lake Ontario.

O Little Town of Picton

2009-11-17T21:28:00.000-08:00

Peaceful little hamlet viewed from
Millennium Lookout on Macaulay Mountain.

Issie's apple tree

2009-11-17T21:22:00.000-08:00

Nice when people think of me when they see a scene of beauty. Isabelle "Issie" at Books & Co. told me about this wild apple tree without foliage along County Road 10 so I dashed out there just before the sun went down around 4:00.

Downstream of Demorestville Dam

2009-11-14T16:40:00.000-08:00

Rocky and rushing, the stream below the Demorestville Dam and waterfalls.

Rambling Sophiasburgh scrubland

2009-11-14T16:33:00.000-08:00

Swampy grassland and scrub forest above Demorestville Dam in the dead of November.

Oak leaf

2009-11-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

Fall colour in the stream at Macaulay Mountain.

Moon over haunted Picton

2009-10-31T18:52:00.001-07:00

Picton's grand old homes turn spooky on Hallowe'en.

Drizzly splendour

2009-10-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

Sugar maple leaves blanket a car in Picton.

Sailing into autumn

2009-09-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

First day of fall aboard a sailboat in Picton Bay.

Solo kayak

2009-09-19T17:35:00.001-07:00

Still water, cloudless sky, all alone at Sandbanks Provincial Park, Ontario where huge dunes provide a panorama of endless horizons on Lake Ontario in one direction and this sheltered West Lake on the other.

Dangling dragonfly

2009-09-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

My mountain bike captured a big dragonfly at Beaver Meadow Conservation Area. I must have ridden through a spider web in the woods where it had been trapped. I managed to pull most of the sticky web off of its delicate wings so it might have a chance at survival.

The County Fair

2009-09-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

Hot summer night, bright lights, cotton candy, and all of the noise of the carnival rides at the Prince Edward County Fair in Picton, Ontario.

Giant pumpkin weigh-off

2009-09-12T20:44:00.000-07:00

It takes a whole crew to move a 300 or 600 pound vegetable to the scales during Picton Fair's 2009 giant pumpkin weigh-off on September 11.

Foggy harbour

2009-09-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

Clear skies, cool nights, foggy mornings of early September, Picton's harbour, Ontario, Canada.