We Meet Pete Corner At Corner's Corner.

Corner's Corner at 45045 Fruitridge Line was our destination.

What an awesome place! On Sunday we drove down to a 50 acre privately owned conservation area south of St Thomas to join Chris Baldwin and 7 other people (total 9 of us) at 8 am on the July London Photo Walk.

We were cordially greeted by the landowner, Mr Peter Corner who explained that his father was given the 50 acre tract as a wedding gift from his wife's Shaker father who owned the adjacent farm. He was asked if he wanted arable farm land or this Carolinian forest and he chose the forest. Talking with Mr Corner we heard all kinds of interesting stories. He had been a professional photographer and holds a collection of over 35,000 pictures taken all over USA and Canada specializing in pictures of warblers.

Above, organizer of the London Photo Walk, Chris Baldwin talks with Peter Corner. Below, the intricate trails on the unique property.

Giant elephant ear grows along the trail to the bridge.

From the bridge you can see the creek and numerous wood duck houses.

A couple dead critters along the way.

Looks like a little red fox.

My naturalist wife Wendy loves this place.

A derelict hay baling machine lays corroding away in the lush undergrowth. Pete told us the machine was from the 1940's and was operated by German prisoners of war nearby. He and his dad had used the machine when they had horses. He said the steam engine, belt driven machine which uses metal wire to bind the bales was capable of great compression so each bale weighed over 100 lbs.

Above a Great Spangled Fritillary.

A juvenile Widow Skimmer poses for me.

We'll call this one "a red dragonfly".

Above: A Banded Net-winged beetle

Whereas our "public" conservation areas charge big bucks to get in, there is no admission charge to this private park, so please be sure to make a donation to Pete's worthy cause.

I couldn't resist an opportunity to try an "artsy" pic or two.

"When Patents Were Important" (Click to enlarge)

In the most south-eastern corner of the property we came across this vintage Case stationary hay press/baler.

Preserved in 14 gauge baling wire, the original machinery nameplate survives. Below, I have embedded a YouTube video of how this "Rube Goldberg" machine works.

After the Photo Walk, we followed Chris to The New Salem Diner for a breakfast and conversation.Then we drove to Port Stanley and home to complete our day-trip.

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