Savage beauty

Last week, my husband and I headed east for another picnic in an area of Prince Edward Island we had not explored. When we missed the exit to the community we had in mind, a sign for a picnic area caught our attention. We didn't find the picnic area but we found Savage Harbour. It was a happy accident indeed.

Savage Harbour, on the north coast of King's county, is a tiny fishing community, with a wharf and fishing boats in a protected little harbour. We drove past the community to the beach where we had lunch. With the exception of  two fishers that day, it was as if we were the only people on the planet.

 

 The beach runs along the coastline from the community to the channel into the harbour. 

 

The channel has a sea wall which provides protection from the sometimes rough sea. 

 

There aren't any dwellings in this area and the beach was deserted.. 

We parked by a sign, which we did not understand at the time. 

 

Our portable table and chairs were ideal as we ate lunch, listened to the sea and watched the waves spray the air on that windy day. 

 

We noticed cormorants and gulls as they flew into the harbour.

 

The beach felt wild in nature. Part of it was the wind that day, blowing the sand around at ground level, and the sea, rough by island standards. But the birds were the unusual factor, numerous in both number and variety, unlike any we'd seen at other beaches frequented by tourists.

Here the birds rested among the sea weed, 

 

flocks flew around the water's edge, 

 

or walked in the kelp, looking for food. 

 

We kept our distance, not wanting to disturb them. It gave me the opportunity to use my new camera with its zoom. The untouched and undisturbed feel of the place was special.

Later, we discovered the meaning of Canavoy Beaches; areas along the northeast shore of the island, including this stretch at Savage Harbour, where endangered piping plovers nest. Two pairs of the birds nested in this area last year. All terrain vehicles are discouraged on the beaches in the Canavoy areas as are dogs off lead.

I took many photos, using various settings on the new camera. 

 

It will be a slow process to learn all of them. I enjoy the photography as much as the writing now.

 

                                            Photo bombed by a gull. There's a cormorant on a post behind the gull.

 

Two days later, Savage Harbour was in the news. A female dolphin and her calf were in distress,  the calf in the grass on the shoreline and the mother in the shallow water. A rescue effort saved the two creatures.

Savage Harbour is a special place!

The story of the dolphins at Savage Harbour is here.