Berczy Park

fellow volunteer Bill Schuett guides a student

Berczy Park is like an old friend to me: familiar as the place I used to eat my lunch when working downtown, but looking a bit worse for wear now, as I revisit with a group of school children from the local Downtown Alternative School on a field trip with Focus on Nature and 8-80 Cities.

We asked the students to use their cameras to do nature studies, plus express what they liked and didn't like about the place: how the park makes them feel.

photo by Saskia

photo by Rinad

photo by Sam

These young photographers were really great. They zoomed in on the pigeons, pine cones and flowers, while ignoring the drab concrete and rusty benches. They found beauty in nature even where there was little to be had. Nice work, Guys!

Stereoscopic Fun at the Museum

Hannah & Sadie - my FON friends. Use red/blue glasses to see this in 3D.

I had a great time at my open house party at the Guelph Civic Museum last night. Over one hundred friends, and friends-of-friends, came to see my exhibit Spring Ephemerals: a stereoscopic exploration of Ontario's native wildflowers.

I was bowled over by the expressions of appreciation I received. And I sold six prints! Thank you all for coming out and showing your support. It was very encouraging. The show will be up till the end of August.

with Jan & Katherine

with Lawrence & Paul

with Carol & John

with Paul & Marianne

from Tom Bochsler

from Tom Bochsler

Here are few snapshots taken during the evening by Gail & Tom.

Click on them to enlarge.

from Tom Bochsler

from Tom Bochsler

Titan Arum

I saw the largest flower in the world today. It's produced by the Titan Arum plant which was flowering at the Floral Showhouse in Niagara Falls.


The bloom can be 10 feet tall but only lasts for a day or so. Though it is native to Sumatra, it is related to the arums of Ontario such as Skunk Cabbage and Jack-in-the-Pulpit.

pollen inside the flower

Though the flower was a day old, it had already started to wilt. It also had a strong smell of rotting flesh!

The Colours of Point Pelee

Scarlet Tanager

a trail through Pt. Pelee

Just got back from a trip to Point Pelee, after spending three wonderful days with John, Carol & Cam - expert birders all - exploring the forests, marshes and mud flats of Canada's most southerly birding hotspots.


Behold the Scarlet Tanager! He has just arrived after a long trip from the tropics to mate and raise a brood before flying home in the fall.


The photos below can all be enlarged with a simple 'click' of the mouse.

Pt. Pelee marsh after sunset

Part of my pleasure is to simply 'BE' in a unique environment; one that I don't experience every day.

Common Yellowthroat

feather with morning dew

Ovenbird

Indigo Bunting

These close-ups of the Ovenbird (a type of warbler) and the Indigo Bunting were held by Bob Hall-Brookes, a bird-bander, who had just retrieved them from mist nets.

Spring on Bronte Creek

New life shoots up along the banks of Bronte Creek, a place to which I keep returning to feel the pulse of the changing seasons.

a question mark butterfly

a red admiral butterfly

Butterflies were easy to approach as they fed on the plentiful flowers of the mustard garlic plant, an invasive specie.

a 3D image pair of wild geranium flowers

Screech Owls

I would never have noticed them myself, but Martin Bosch was staring intently up into a maple tree in St. Georges Park in Guelph yesterday. What was he looking at? A mother Eastern screech owl and five babies! Quite amazing.

Arboretum Afternoon

Despite predictions of rain, the sun came out softly today. So Gail and I went for an afternoon walk in the arboretum of the Royal Botanical Gardens. Here are a few of my images of the magnolia and redbud trees that were in bloom.