Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada
WILDLIFE NOT WELCOME IN OUR TOWN February/March, 2013 issue There is a village near where I live that boasts a large mill pond. Now, one would think that would be a bonus, especially to anyone wishing to locate along its banks. However, the presence…
WATCHING WILDLIFE CAN AND DOES REDUCE STRESS December, 2012/January, 2013 issue Two years ago, with my wife’s blessing, I spent just under a thousand dollars, erecting an aluminium garden shed, complete with wooden foundation and a small deck at its approach. The building wasn’t…
FIRST ENCOUNTERS OF THE LASTING KIND October/November, 2012 issue We no longer get to read Barry McCullagh’s great offerings in the Belleville Intelligencer. The man whose columns I always enjoyed, passed away about five years ago. The restaurant north of Brighton where we first…
A JURASSIC PARK RIGHT HERE IN OUR BACKYARD August/September, 2012 issue Popular legend says that Satan routinely visited this spot which might account for the name of the rugged terrain just a few minutes south of Tamworth. The sign identifies one cavern as the…
RESPONSIBILITY IN THE BACKYARD June/July, 2012 issue Last year, I had the pleasure of speaking to a horticultural conference on backyard naturalization at Peterborough’s Trent University. It is a subject that I have groomed and nurtured over the years and is also one which…
HOW TO RECHARGE ONE’S SOUL April/May, 2012 issue We came upon it suddenly along the Salmon River as we rounded a corner in the trail. There was no doubt it was as much startled as we were that morning. It was a fairly large…
LEARNING ABOUT BIRDS FROM THE TRACTOR SEAT February/March, 2012 issue I saw my very first pipit about 40 years ago while ploughing down a corn field one fall on our farm in Prince Edward County where I live. I was barely in my 20s…
UP BEFORE FIVE – THE FAMILY FARM December 2011/January, 2012 issue My wife has often accused me of taking an interminable length of time to complete projects. Such was the case with a book I just had published two months ago. My mother…
HANDLING THE FOUL AND THE LOATHSOME August/September, 2011 issue The bizarre object we were now staring at in the water was a cluster of Bryozoan, and it floated, half submerged, held in place by a sunken branch to which it appeared tethered. It was…
IDENTIFYING BY EAR NOT ALWAYS EASY, BUT GETTING BETTER May/June, 2011 issue After almost 40 years of listening to the recorded songs of over 300 species of birds known to occur in this area, I am pleased that I can now identify by…