Black Marsh Trail 2

It’s a long way down so I didn’t want to stand too close to the edge. Fences keep people safe in a number of areas.

Lookouts, strategically placed, provide good views. The coastal path of the Black Marsh Trail is one of my favourites.

This trail parallels another trail through the forest along North Cape, each part of the trail providing a unique island experience. Both open to the Black Marsh, a huge peat marsh which drops off the sandstone cliffs onto the beach 10 meters below.

There are some unusual plants on the Black Marsh. The only one we could find was the pitcher plant. 

My husband and I are from Newfoundland and know this plant well since it is the provincial flower of that island. The plant lacks chlorophyll and is carnivorous which attracts insects into the pitchers on the ground where they are digested. The flowers are unique. We didn’t expose the pitchers in the bog at the base of the plant because we didn’t want to disturb the marsh.

Walking along the coastal trail near the marsh, one sees the effect of the icy blast of winter on the trees along the cliffs. 

They are art now, weathered remnants of former majestic glory. They have found an artistic raison d’être in this natural gallery until the sea finally claims them.

The sea stack draws visitors to this place as well. It has changed over the years of course, from its days as an elephant in the late 1990s to the shape it presents today. 

On the way back along the coast, we stopped at the lookouts. 

The trees clinging to the edge of the cliff defy gravity.

I walked the trail to the lighthouse and watched as seagulls floated on the breeze. 

Bank swallows darted overhead. After numerous photos, I captured this shot of one leaving the nesting area. It’s hard to capture bank swallows in flight.

We had a picnic and made a few more stops before we headed home. 

Enjoying the cove

Low tide is special at Canoe Cove. There are numerous tidal pools which provide ample opportunity for exploration and discovery. 

My husband and I recently accompanied our daughter and the three grandkids there and we had a great day. It started with a picnic. Social distancing isn’t a problem there.

Along the beach, starfish were a big hit with the kids. The purple stars, 

some tiny but all small, were the first starfish the children had ever seen and they were so excited. We found some of them on the damp sand waiting for high tide, so they gently scooped up the little stars and placed them back in the water. 

Hermit crabs were a huge hit as well. We saw an occasional tiny crab looking for a new shell. The children watched the small creatures and wished them well in their search for a new home. The beach had lots of remnants of crabs and we even found one big enough for dinner but let it go.

The exposed sand had holes where we found razor clams if we dug deep enough. We also found soft shell clams and bar clams.

We have never dug clams for food but intend to do so this summer. These clams were put back in the sand. I can imagine a time when clam digging was an important part of the food supply for many islanders.

Meanwhile, the Bank Swallows were darting around the cove as well, but unlike the last time we visited, people stayed away from the area of their nests. Consequently, the birds went to and from the nests for the entire time we were there.

A small flock of cormorants, accompanied by a few gulls, relaxed on the only rocks visible in the sandy cove. 

They periodically dived in the water, resurfacing far from their point of entry, eventually returning to the rock where they spread their wings to dry their feathers. 

Our grandchildren enjoyed the day and we will return before long. Story time that night was about the animals along the beach. Now the oldest child reads to the other two and the middle child has begun to read to her younger brother as well. Sigh...time like the tide waits for no one.

We will enjoy the cove while we can.

Canoe Cove

We discovered Canoe Cove this week. We hadn’t been there before but the beach quickly became one of our favourites on the island. 

It was a hot day at low tide when we arrived at the Lloyd Inman Memorial Park. The park has all the facilities for day use and is in a beautiful location. We had a picnic at one of the covered picnic tables and walked to the beach at Canoe Cove just below the picnic/play area.

The beach at low tide is long and wide, 

with numerous tidal pools spread over its expanse. The tidal pools have sea life in abundance and we were thrilled to see starfish, a first for us on the island. 

They and hermit crabs will be very popular with our grandchildren.

No sand dunes here. The sandstone cliffs which line the cove have a layer of rich red soil above them where Bank Swallows have their nests. We watch the birds flitting around but they stayed away from the nesting holes while people walked nearby. 

There is concern for these swallows in Prince Edward Island due to the speed and amount of erosion of the cliffs. Earlier this spring, residents were asked to report sightings of the birds. You can see how much soil is lost when the bank collapses.

People swam and others walked a long way off-shore without getting their knees wet.

We observed the sandstone cliffs as we always do and found a sea arch in the making. 

The layers of sandstone show how high the tide rises.

My favourite photo of the day shows the cove, children on the beach and the coniferous trees lining the shore.

We will visit again soon.