Autumn colours

We walked every day this past week, despite the rain or threats of rain. The colours of the autumn leaves kept us going but the week finished with some gorgeous sunny days. My husband and I visited the boardwalk, Cavendish Grove, the Rotary Trail and the Confederation Trail. Each was more lovely than the last.

Along the boardwalk this birdhouse is framed quite beautifully by Red Maples.

One morning a Great Blue Heron waved as it waded in the water on its perennial search for fish.

It was particularly windy another day and the sea resembled chocolate milk as the red sand was stirred up by the rough water. A Solitary Sandpiper fed along the shoreline. It is late leaving the island this year.

The Rotary Park was particularly beautiful and over two days, we walked different trails to see the whole area. 

The Red Maples present some interesting colouration as seen in this photo of fallen leaves.

At the far end of an open field by one of the trails, we could see Canada Geese and as always, I focussed on them with my camera. I discovered decoys, not geese and four hunters in what appeared to be a pit in the field. 

We saw them both days we were on those trails last week. I hope they were successful in the hunt but I can’t help but root for the geese too. 

Cavendish Grove this time of year is as lovely as always even though not all of the leaves have changed colour yet. As you can see, it was a peaceful and quiet place for a picnic. We were the only people there.

I ventured into the glade which was devastated by hurricane Fiona. Nature moves on though and where there is a tree standing, there is beauty against the autumn sky.

On the way to the beach, the seed heads of goldenrod stand out against the red leaf background.

The beach at Cavendish has the windswept look of autumn. May it come through the winter without much loss of the sand dunes. They are not recovered from Fiona yet as you can see.

I stopped one day to take photos of a field of over 20,000 pumpkins being harvested in our area. The orange gourds will be sold around eastern Canada over the next week for Jack-o-lanterns.

My favourite photo of the week is from a walk on the Confederation Trail on Saturday with our daughter, the three grandchildren and the golden grand-dog, Daisy. My husband and I let them get ahead of us for a bit so we could take a photo of them that day. Oh how time flies!

I hope you have a wonderful week!

The wind

When I wrote recently about the geese nesting at Cavendish Grove I didn’t share photos of how the glade, tucked into the grove had been altered by post-tropical storm Fiona. The glade was a beauty which we visited from spring to fall every year to see nature’s parade. Leaves played with the light filtering through the giant trees.

One could walk through the glade and pause amid the majestic maples and other deciduous trees. Autumn was a wonder. 

However, one cannot walk through the glade any more.

Many trees are down now, blocking one entrance entirely. Large trees took their shallow root systems with them when they toppled and blocked the path. Other trees fell across their neighbours and are tenuously held there. In my lifetime, the glade will not return to its former glory. Wind can destroy in minutes what takes generations to grow.

Recently, on one of our morning walks along the boardwalk, a sunny day reminded me of another side of nature on a windy day. With an easterly wind approaching 60 kph, a flock of gulls was gathered at the mouth of the stream which crosses the boardwalk. 

They floated on the breeze, often waiting for a strong gust of wind to lift off the earth. Their joy in the fast moving air was palpable. Young and old alike gathered to have fun in the wind. Watching them was a joy!

Finally this week, I’d like you to meet Kirby. He walks regularly with our friend along the boardwalk and we often meet them along the way. We always give Kirby some treats, so he recognizes us from a distance. 

Kirby would pull his owner off her feet if she didn’t release him to run to us and he runs like the wind! Look at that smile!

Life can be sad but there is much joy if we just stop and look.

To the Grove

The national park on Prince Edward Island received a great deal of damage from the storm known as Fiona. Recently, after much work by park personnel, a few areas of the park, including Cavendish Grove, were opened to visitors. The last several weeks, high winds with lower temperatures have precluded picnics, but on a cold day, with less wind, we took a picnic and headed to the park, anxious to see for ourselves what was left of one of our favourite places on the island.

My husband and I stopped at Cavendish Grove to see how the old trees in the Grove fared with the storm. We had a quick look and decided to return there for lunch since, to our surprise, many of the trees in the Grove appeared to have survived. 

The overlook at Oceanview in Cavendish is open in spite of damage to the viewing area. We could see Cavendish Beach in the distance, but people are not permitted on the beach due to the damaged dunes. 

Off-shore, birds which I couldn’t identify at a distance provided a challenge for the camera. However, later looking at the photos, I saw Long-tailed Ducks, gulls

and Common Eiders.

We continued along the Gulf Shore Parkway to MacKenzies Brook where the sea arch, seen here in late October,

became a sea stack last month. The arch was weakened by the storm and it was only a matter of time for the top to collapse.

We drove on to North Rustico where down by the lighthouse, the damage from Fiona is evident.

Back at Cavendish Grove, we cleared the ice from one end of a picnic table and covered the bench with layers of towels against the cold.

The beef stew was delicious, piping hot and with the hot tea, warmed us to our toes.

A walk to the beach followed. The damage to the trees along the way was sad to see. 

This trail used to be beneath a canopy. It will be different next summer. However, along the way, shots of colour from the wild flowers and shrubs lifted our spirits.

Nature does her best in the harshest of conditions.

The beach is closed to visitors but some dunes were visible through the trees. 

The Lake of Shining Waters was shining with a skim of ice over its surface that day. 

We only saw two other people in the park that day but it was good to see that the park will continue in spite of the damage.

Family time

A sunny day last week before school opened, we headed to Cavendish, in the centre of Prince Edward Island, with our daughter and grandchildren. We stopped at the shopping centre for a look, then on to Cavendish Grove.

The Grove, with its pond in the spring is the home to waterfowl such as geese and ducks. This time of year, the pond has long since dried up and the birds have flown. However, the Grove still has its green glow and while some leaves are looking spent, soon they will show their best autumn colours.

We had a picnic there and played among the trees. Apple trees in the Grove drop the fruit to the ground and the children like to squish a few. They also like to hang from the trees and we played games with sticks we found. Family time in the green glow of a late summer day was a perfect end to summer vacation.

One day this week, we picked up the children from school and armed with snacks and milk, had a picnic along the boardwalk by the bay in Summerside. Later we did a scavenger hunt for items found in that area. Time feeding peanuts to the chipmunks, squirrels and blue jays was lots of fun as well. Our youngest eats as many peanuts as he gives the animals.

The boardwalk and the Grove are places my husband and I love and enjoy. Time with our family doing simple things with the grandchildren in these places is special. We are fortunate to live near family on this island and we do not take a minute of this time for granted.

A day with the swallows

At Canoe Cove on the island there is a beautiful park. We love to go there with our grandchildren, especially when low tide allows beach exploration. However, during the spring, no matter the tide, 

my husband and I have watched the Bank Swallows there and were eager to see the tiny avian speedsters again. The birds weren’t in the same location as before, but had moved their nests along the coastline. 

Erosion destroys many nests each year and it’s tough for the birds because they must dig new nests into the banks when they are tired after the long journey north. The Bank Swallows at Canoe Cove managed again this year.

We stayed inside the chained area away from the bank but patience paid off. The adults,

returning to the nests with food for the young, 

were fast but we were able to “capture” them. 

It was a thrill to watch them do their aerial acrobatics over the area.

While we had our picnic lunch, the sounds of the birds and their occasional passes overhead, provided entertainment unique to Canoe Cove. The view across the Cove shows a typical island scene for late May, fields of dandelion in full bloom. 

After lunch we drove back towards home, stopping at Cavendish Grove along the way. The Grove has changed a lot in the last month, 

the water in the pond having been replaced by reeds and grass. 

There were two geese still in residence and mallards as well but grackles and blackbirds were most prevalent. However, Tree Swallows glided and flitted overhead, a sight new to us at the Grove. It was impossible to take a photo of them in flight. I have one photo of a Tree Swallow on a wire which I took in North Rustico recently. 

Watching the swallows was an experience of natural magic provided by the island.

In our element

On our second time back at Cavendish Grove this year, the gate was open for another season. Yay! Several geese families which return every year were settled in for another season and some of the frogs were singing as well. Spring! Besides, the return of the contrails overhead made it feel as if life was beginning to return to a semblance of normalcy after two long years.

We walked to the beach which is clear of snow now.

Along the way, animals go about their lives and if you take the time, you may see Osprey, Bald Eagles, Song Sparrows, Grackles, Gulls and Ravens, as we did. One of the gulls was playing, all alone, floating on the breeze along the shoreline.

The Ravens were especially interesting. They can be hard to distinguish from crows but are larger and have a fan-like tail. My husband found a large empty egg shell nearby and placed it on a post. 

Before long, one of the birds checked it out. The Ravens obviously raid nests of the Geese and Ducks in the area. 

Back at the Grove, we passed a Chipmunk, busy filling its pouches. It stopped to watch us for some time and eventually climbed into a hole in a tree. 

My husband and I had lunch overlooking the water, listening to the peepers and the geese. This is our favourite picnic spot on the island.

There was a new resident at the Grove this spring. A muskrat was active in the water and on the islands. We identified an area which could have been its lodge 

but before we left, it looked like a goose was moving in. I wonder if she was evicted.

A good landlord can make all the difference.