Summer distractions

Last week was busy but lovely with many distractions. We walked the boardwalk, the Confederation Trail and enjoyed two provincial parks. Daisy was with us at Belmont Park and enjoyed playing in the water at high tide.

Most days were sunny with the wind blowing which made it perfect for picnics last week. The mosquitoes can’t compete with the wind which is always a bonus. 

Even when we don’t leave home for a picnic, we eat on our patio at every opportunity. We will have to move indoors soon enough when the temperature drops, the wind howls and the snow falls. Such is life in eastern Canada. For now though, meals are outside, under an umbrella or in a park under a tree. It is a beautiful time of year!

It was a great week in nature. Nearby a piece of land is for sale and the lot is covered in Queen Anne’s Lace. Walking past, with the breeze blowing the blooms, one is mesmerized by the white sea.

Along the boardwalk, in the salt marsh, Great Blue Herons drop by occasionally. This one looked to be laughing.

In Malpeque Bay later last week, this Great Blue had its mouth open too. Seeing two of these birds with open mouths was unusual, the second one looking as if it is in conversation.

Near the boardwalk is an Osprey nest which a pair of birds call home every summer. Early next month the birds will head south again, but for now they are raising their young which we expect to see any day. Meanwhile, the birds take turns watching the young ones and the mother had her eyes on something nearby as I took her photo from across the street. 

Twice last week we saw the same young fox on a lot between two houses across from the boardwalk. We wonder if people are feeding it.

The second time we saw it, two teeth were visible due to the way it was seated. We call it Boots because of its black legs.

One day, as I was stopped to talk to someone along the boardwalk, we watched as this adult Bald Eagle flew into an old snag it frequents. It flew off after a few minutes but not before I captured a photo.

One can see a tiny Black-capped Chickadee within minutes of seeing the huge Eagle. Birds are so varied, they make a wonderful study!

The island is alive with shorebirds now as numerous birds of various sizes stop on the island to feed in preparation for their journeys south. 

Yellowlegs are a common sight in the salt marsh and along the beach. They were joined this past week by Semipalmated Plovers, 

Black Bellied Plovers 

and Semipalmated Sandpipers. 

We will visit various beaches to see some of the avian visitors over the next month or more.

The scene at the wharf in Malpeque last week shows some boats still in the water although the lobster season is over in that area. Mussel boats are still active in the area.

We had a picnic at Cabot Beach and walked the shoreline as the tide went out. It is sad to see how much damage is done to the shoreline as the sand is washed away, leaving the vegetation to fall onto the beach. The rate of erosion is alarming.

I am happy to share some good news from the island too. Our daughter was Bass fishing last week and sent beautiful photos of the area on the north shore. She and her husband waited for low tide to walk to the sand bars. 

There were lots of migrating shorebirds there, including Piping Plovers. They are a threatened and endangered species which is increasing in numbers nesting on Prince Edward Island every year. 

I wish you a great week, filled with your favourite distractions.

A day at the beach

Cabot Beach Provincial Park has one of our favourite beaches in the province.  We visit this area every spring to watch the lobster fishers leave for Setting Day, the first day of the lobster fishery. This past spring the channel from the harbour was being dredged at that time, so my husband and I watched the dredging too.

Now lobster season on the north coast of Prince Edward Island is over so it is quiet on the water today but the channel through the waterway is marked along the margins of the sand bars. 

Last summer, the moving sand bars defied the markers and one boat capsized on its way into port, fortunately without injury. 

As the tide recedes during the hours we are there, the sand bars become obvious as swimmers venture further from shore in ankle deep water. Seaweed is exposed with the lower tide. 

The Marram grass has grown rapidly since April, recovered now from the duress of winter. The grass is on the beach above the high water mark and over the sand dunes. 

A walk further down the beach shows how the sand dunes are disappearing along the shoreline of the channel with each storm. 

I wonder how long it will be before the small stand of trees disappears into the sea.

At the other end of the beach, one sees the erosion of the cliffs and the beginning of a sea stack or arch. The beach is a study in erosion of a coastline.

Seagulls are busy on a sand bar just off shore. Their seagull chorus is reminiscent of other beaches in other places and times. Many gulls carry seaweed around, possibly for a nest though it is late in the season.

There are not many people on the beach as we take turns walking its length with the golden grand-dog. 

She makes friends easily and many ask to pet her which Georgie loves. I swear she smiles at everyone.

The kids play in the sand and dabble in the water as the tide recedes. It is a gorgeous day of island summer life.

Questions and answers:

Ruth at  https://ruth-hiebert.blogspot.com/  asked if I had ever dried peonies as she had. While I have dried flowers in the past, I have never dried peonies. It would be a great project however.

Cabot Beach at dawn

A week ago, we were at Malpeque for Setting Day, the first day of the lobster fishery in Prince Edward Island. However, while the fishers were busy on the water, Cabot Beach nearby was a treasure in itself that morning. 

The early morning light alternated between a glow or a shadow as the sun played with the band of clouds. Frost collected in random areas along the beach, a testament to the cold of the early hour.

Evidence of the usual suspects was everywhere as the footprints of the gulls varied from tiny to large. 

The sky 

and sand imitated the wave action. 

Between the bands of cloud above the horizon, part of a rainbow showed through, a rare sight indeed.

Remnants of sea life such as clams and crabs were spread over the beach as was abundant seaweed.

At the back of the beach, the Marram grass, which had survived the winter, waited for the sun to work its magic with chlorophyll for another year. 

                  

The sand dunes were alive with the sounds of numerous birds of various species. Overhead, Canada geese made their presence known as we walked back to the car. On the edge of the dunes, an osprey, perched atop a utility pole, 

waited to go fishing too, having watched the humans depart from the cove nearby.

Nature was astir and and we were fortunate to experience her early morning splendour. 

Out of the blue

A NASA photo recently posted by Canadian astronaut, David St. Jacques, shows how the red soil and sand weep into the water around Prince Edward Island.

                     NASA photo

Fishers around the island see the results of this erosion every year as sandbars off-shore make travel in and out of ports hazardous.

Every year, dredgers work along the coast of the island to make it possible for mariners to safely navigate the coastal waters. One area with problems in recent years is at Malpeque. There, a sheltered harbour provides protection from the storms which lash the north shore of the island but the channel to the Gulf of St Lawrence, past Cabot Beach, must be dredged regularly. Last year, one vessel capsized on its return to port. While fishers survived the ordeal, the event highlighted the danger and the problem with erosion of the coastline.

This spring, prior to the start of the lobster season, a dredger started work on that channel. 

Work continued on Setting Day, the start of the lobster season. We could see the dredger from Cabot Beach and watched with interest as the lobster and mussel boats passed the dredger on their way through the channel.

Boats kept between the red and green buoys which marked the channel. The boats were surprisingly close to shore, mere meters from the beach. Past the outside buoys, at high tide, 

you could see the shallow water, evidence of sand bars, which at low tide would be high and dry.

The dredger worked like a vacuum attached to an exhaust pipe from which water and sand poured. The pipe was long, emitting the sandy water on a nearby sandbar. 

Sometimes the water ran clear but within minutes, 

sandy water was emitted again. Always the opportunists, seagulls were camped out nearby to take advantage of any edibles which were dredged up and extruded. 

This is important work along the coastline of our province and we were interested to see the process in action.

A matter of months

When we visited Cabot Beach this past April, we were shocked to see the destruction of the sand dunes over the previous winter. 

We planned to visit again in August to see if the dunes recovered.

Four months later, the dunes appear to be doing well. 

The Marram grass has grown again, and there is no discernible path over the dunes this year. People are giving the grass an opportunity to establish.

Three months ago, my husband and I were on this beach for setting day, at the start of the spring fishery. The early morning fog was lifting as the boats passed the shore on their way to set their traps. The pillar buoy, just off shore, looked eerily suspended above the fog.

On this August day, that same buoy sturdily stands vigil over the narrow channel through the sand bars which parallel the beach.

On setting day, lobster boats were motoring through the channel as family and friends watched from shore.

This August day, mussel fishing boats are returning to port with their day’s harvest, while beach goers watch nearby.

On setting day, one dog accompanied his family to the beach. 

During our August visit, we understand the meaning of the dog days of summer.

Setting day

Island tradition was the cause of our 4:30 a.m. rise, but the fog was discouraging. While we don't get much fog, having it on this day was disappointing. We decided to go anyway.

As we drove to Malpeque, the fog lifted. By the time we arrived, the fog bank was visible off-shore but the basin was clear. 

 

                                      Pillar buoy visible above the fog

It was setting day, the day when the lobster traps are set in place for another season on the north shore of Prince Edward Island. On this day, over one thousand boats left various ports on the north shore loaded with traps.

 

This first day is a big occasion for lobster fishers, with family and others watching as the boats head out, loaded with the baited traps. Some watched from the wharf area as the boats pulled away. 

 

Others waited on Cabot Beach as the boats headed into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

 

The proceedings are under the watchful eye of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Fishery officers, present in the basin, checked the traps on-board to ensure fishers do not exceed trap limits. 

 

Traps over the limit were left on the wharf. The officers then followed the boats into the Gulf.

 

                                     Baited traps left on the wharf

Captains maneuvered through the marked channel in the basin. Family members waved and cheered as their fishers motored past. 

 

Even the family dog came along for some fun on the beach.

 

Each boat, in turn, navigated the channel. 

 

The water was rougher than we expected but the boats, though low in the water, 

 

quickly disappeared into the fog off-shore.

 

We could hear them in the distance. The first lobster of the season will be available this week.