A bench with a view

Sometimes I like to sit and take in the view 

when we’re walking along the boardwalk. Occasionally my husband sits with me, other times he continues on his way and stops with me on his way back. This particular bench has a beautiful ocean view and this time of year, the patch of wildflowers provides a lacy edge along the shoreline.  

The dominant bloom now along paths, trails and roadways is Queen Anne’s Lace. 

The Queen rules her domain by sheer numbers but the individual flowers are quite pretty, and a close look reveals a tiny purple flower in the centre of some. 

Blooms are tall enough to move with the wind making them a swaying sea of white to complement the blue beyond.

They dance to the beat on the breeze which only they can sense. The Queens can be mesmerizing to watch most island days when the breeze is a welcome relief from the heat, or for them, a welcome break from the routine of showing their faces to the sun.

The lacy ones welcome all who settle and grow around them, from the newly arrived Joe Pye Weed

to the ubiquitous yellow blooms of the week. 

Clover adds a bit of interest here and there. Chicory is new this year and goldenrod is just starting its tenure for this season. 

Looking through the cluster, you can’t help but notice the green glow, 

provided by leaves and stems, which is often overlooked when the showy blooms abound.

Put those blooms against a blue backdrop of sea and/or sky and you have perfection.

Something new every day

My husband and I walk the boardwalk most days about mid morning, before it is too hot. One of the good things about the area is the breeze along the coastline which cools us as we go. The area which we frequent, is different day to day and my husband and I enjoy discovering what is new or different. 

We always start at the gazebo to see what is happening at the salt marsh/pond that morning. 

There are usually American Black Ducks but if we are lucky, one of the Great Blue Herons who return to Bedeque Bay every summer is visiting the marsh too.

Birds are some of my favourite animals. Birds of any size, shape and description are fascinating to me and I enjoy observing them. I take numerous shots with the hope of one good photo. I especially enjoy photos of birds when several species are in the frame. 

I was pleased this month to see these three species co-existing at the end of the marsh, with the sea in the background. 

The American Black Ducks live in the marsh, moving easily between the marsh and the bay. 

Gulls are always around the bay and this may be a Herring Gull. 

We watched the Great Blue Heron disappear into the bulrushes.

The same day we saw an Osprey that lives in the area perched on a pole which gives it a great view of its domain. 

We hear Osprey and see them hunting sometimes along our way.

A Yellow Bellied Sapsucker was busy among the trees as well. This one stayed at this particular tree long enough for me to take a photo.

Another of the treats that day was the chicory plant which was blooming beside the trail.

It was the first such plant I’d seen along the trail and I’ve noticed it every day since. It is a pretty wildflower which is used in medicine and as a cooking spice.

We always notice the chipmunks too. 

They are so tiny this time of year. Could they be any cuter?

Every day our favourite place for a walk has something which is picture worthy.

Along the way in 2022

As we travel around the Prince Edward Island, there are always interesting things or curiosities which we see along the way. 

There is an area of the boardwalk which I call Hobbit House. It gets a lot of animal activity when birdseed or peanuts are left there. Hobbits visit when people leave for the day.

Recently our travels took us to the beach at Yankee Hill. Someone in the area put this sign up by the parking lot. 

There wasn’t much there that day but beach toys for kids are left there often. 

Some time later, the evening news reported about the items left at the sign having been stolen. My wish is that life never gets so newsworthy on this gentle island that such stories don’t make the evening news.

This fishing shack at Malpeque has an message which brings a smile to many.

In keeping with the fishing theme, someone decided to reuse fishing buoys found on the beach at Brander’s Pond. It is a good way to keep the stray buoys from littering the ocean or the beach.

This lone Canada Goose enjoyed his time among the gulls and swimming in the ocean with a cormorant. He was an unusual sight, the first goose we’ve ever seen on the beach. 

At French River a kayaker returned to shore after a paddle through the channel. It must be nice to see the shoreline from a different perspective and see cormorants close-up. 

My husband and I are planning to take our daughter’s kayak for a spin after tourist season when the West River area is less crowded. I miss riding my bicycle and the kayak would be something different to experience. It was my husband’s idea and he is not a fan of the water, but is eager to try it. You can bet there will be life jackets involved.

 

Fun at Covehead

One of our outings recently included a visit to the National Park on the central portion of Prince Edward Island with our daughter and grandchildren. Our destination for the day was Covehead 

but we started with a picnic at the Babbling Brook and FarmLands trailhead where my husband and I have had wonderful picnics in all seasons. 

The area looks quite different from three months ago when skeleton trees harboured birds busy consuming what was left of the sumac berries.

Following lunch, we went to the wharf at Covehead, where the lobster boats are tied up for another season. 

However the wharf is still busy as swimmers flock to the area to jump off the wharf into the inlet.

There is a bridge at Covehead which was the original location for the jumpers in the area.

Young and old alike jumped from the bridge, checking to avoid boats going to or returning from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. New fortifications on the bridge 

have made jumping there more difficult so the majority of jumpers now leap or dive from the wharf.

Our daughter and granddaughters were eager to join the fun that day. The girls jumped numerous times from the wharf, 

while our daughter jumped several times. My husband and I were happy to watch them.

Our grandson isn’t ready for jumping yet. Instead he went for a swim and joined the girls and his mother as they floated past in the strong current that takes people under the bridge and into the Gulf if you stay in the water. 

Most swimmers leave the water earlier though to jump again.

It was windy that day and gulls nearby stood into the wind. 

I wondered if they, like us, felt sand blasted as they stood their watch. Meanwhile a lone cormorant floated around in the water, fished occasionally or floated along with the current farther from shore but parallel to the swimmers. 

He dives from the surface of the water and doesn’t mind sharing the channel with these fine weather friends.

Note:

I used several photos I had taken on previous visits to Covehead.

A day at the beach

It was a sunny but windy day and the tide was low, a perfect morning for the park and beach at Canoe Cove. We love to visit that beach with our daughter and grandchildren, so we headed out early to get maximum time there at low tide. The kids were so exited when they jumped out of the car, all laughing and talking at the same time. The Cove is a great place for all of that energy. 

First they checked out the playground at the park. Meanwhile the tide was headed to its lowest point and before long, we headed down for a walk in the sand and tidal pools. We watched a pair of Great Blue Herons fishing for an early lunch. 

Also, this is an area of coastline which is home to seals. They are in the distance in this photo but as so often happens, I didn’t notice them until I looked at the photos later.

This cove drains off most of its water during low tide so all that remains is water in low lying areas. The exposed sand shows the action of the water on the sea bed. 

Seaweed is strewn around the beach and we spent some time observing the Toothed Wrack variety 

which anchors itself to rocks via a holdfast. 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if each person in the world had a holdfast to anchor us when the storms of life are particularly rough?

We explored the animal life remaining on the beach including barnacles and periwinkles attached to the rocks. 

The periwinkles in the tidal pools were crawling over the sand and explored our feet when we walked among them.

It was an interesting sensation. Around the exposed seabed, we found several dead crabs which were intact. 

We didn’t find any starfish that day however.

Several jellyfish were in tidal pools and stranded along the beach. 

The children always avoid them but are curious about them too.

Overhead, the Bank Swallows darted through the air in pursuit of insects and from the exposed shoreline, we watched as they entered and left their nests through the holes in the bank above the sandstone.

Along the shoreline, driftwood of various sizes stands against the elements, 

while trees drape their roots over the elevated shoreline. Those trees will eventually be but a piece of driftwood too.

Our grandson played with toys to make a channel in the sand. It flooded later with the rising tide, a lesson in tidal action he will remember.

The girls had mud baths, coating themselves in some muddy sand along one of the tidal pools. They had a natural spa day with the mud bath and the periwinkles tickling their feet.

Lunch in the park at a covered picnic table was a cool affair in the shade on that windy day.

As we left the park, the rising tide sent people off the beach as the Cove filled with the rising sea.

Canoe Cove at low tide is a great place for children to explore and swim. The added bonus of the day park facilities makes it an ideal location for families to spend the day.

Wildflowers of the island

While I enjoy flower gardens, I enjoy especially the natural gardens of wildflowers which Mother Nature produces every year. She is a clever one too since she orchestrates a succession of beauties, as some go to seed, other blooms take their place.

Now the lilacs and rockets of the roadsides and pathways are gone to seed. The daisies which spend some of their blooming time with those two, 

now commune with other blooms.The variety is lovely. 

Vetch, in its pink/purple beauty attracts bees 

as do the wild roses which are also in abundance. 

Red Clover grows tall, reaching for the sun in a crowded field, as does St. John’s Wort.

Numerous Broadleaf Meadowsweet blossoms line pathways now 

as Goats Beard claims a spot along an embankment. 

Some are gone to seed.

A close look on a sandy trail reveals Red Sand Spurrey, a tiny bloom about the size of a baby’s little fingernail.

It looks like a succulent and is easy to miss although it is worth one’s time. A tiny blossom on a vine among the shrubs, is easy to miss too. Bittersweet Nightshade looks delicate but its purple blooms with yellow centres cause one to pause and admire them. 

Blue Flag Iris always catches my eye along a trail. 

One works hard in a garden to grow blooms half so pretty. Buttercups, familiar blooms of our childhood, are favourites of the ants.

Tall Meadow Rue is almost waist high among the shrubs 

and Spreading Dogbane is a shrub with tiny bells.

Along the shoreline at Rice Point, some familiar blooms along with Bedstraw and Large Hop Clover almost hide the fence along a property line.

Wildflowers are so much prettier than fences.