Early autumn

It was a wet morning as we headed to Covehead and nearby Tracadie Beach on the north coast of the island, east of home. We were meeting our Australian friends, Frank and Helen* there. We were lucky the rain stopped but the sky was spectacular, overcast with shades of blue. It was a picture perfect day!

At Tracadie, the remains of a 19th century fishing wharf spread across the sand, 

the pylons weathered but still surprisingly strong despite their age.

The dunes in the distance protect the area against the ravages of a stormy sea.

Like last year when we visited, a Bald Eagle was atop the tallest dune, surveying his domain. We suspect eagles nest nearby. 

Later, at our favourite picnic area near Bubbling Springs, we had a leisurely lunch before we stopped by the lighthouse at Covehead. There we walked past the lighthouse onto the beach and under the nearby overpass. 

Across the inlet, a flock of Double-crested Cormorants congregated. It always amazes me how tattered the birds can be, yet they manage to fly so well. I wonder how the most tattered ones do during their migration south which will begin soon?

Our walks this week included the Confederation Trail with Daisy, the golden grand-dog, before she went home. We spotted this old building, nestled into the countryside. 

It may collapse from the snow this coming winter. What stories can the old place tell?

I was lucky to photograph this White-throated Sparrow along the boardwalk. The Sparrows are in abundance there this time of year.

The birds, as tiny as they are, are just as interesting as the Great Blue Herons, but much harder to spot and photograph.

On our recent visit to the national park at Covehead, driving along the parkway, I counted at least 30 Great Blue Herons in Covehead Bay. It is impossible to stop there so I couldn’t photograph the beauties. However, the Heron which frequents the salt marsh along the boardwalk in Summerside was present this past week and I managed some photos again.

My favourite was taken from the bridge looking towards the marsh where the bird stealthily fished.

Another day, the Heron waved from a tree top which is a rare photo in this area.

Along the boardwalk, the trees have the look of early autumn. We will head to some of our favourite trails to see the autumn colour over the next month.

We are fortunate to be able to enjoy the beauty and variety on our island home.

*You can see Helen’s blog at http://outandabout3.blogspot.com/. 

Picnic at the beach

On the way to another favourite beach for a picnic, we watched a farmer doing some adjustment to the plow he pulled behind his tractor. This time of year is busy for the people who grow our food. 

We stopped at French River as well to watch the boats coming home and spotted a female Belted Kingfisher in the trees watching the shoreline. She was a beauty.

Our destination, the beach at Yankee Hill, the site of the New London Lighthouse, is an area where fishing boats enter a channel to return to French River and other ports along the coast. 

The boats are only a few meters from shore and we love to watch their progress through the channel. We visit here several times every year.

A well used path from the parking lot crosses the dunes which are undisturbed otherwise. I took this photo of driftwood without doing any damage to the Marram grass.

We had our portable table and chairs with us and set them up for a great view of the channel entrance. Before long boats were passing mere metres from us, headed home.

In addition, as we ate, a Bald Eagle flew overhead and disappeared down the beach. Meanwhile, we could see hundreds of cormorants on a sandbar and pylons in the channel. As we ate, we watched the huge flock take flight.

Shortly after, fog emanated from the sand, creating an eerie look of smoke on the water, like the lyrics of the old song.

Even the boats released fog in their wake.

Before we left, I photographed the old pylons in the channel to compare their condition to last year. In the photos I noticed a Bald Eagle sat atop a pylon, surveying his domain. Did its presence scare off the cormorants?

The wonder of island beaches keeps us returning again and again.

Going home

One of my favourite settings in the world is a beach. This feeling about beaches developed during my childhood by the sea. At that time, it was the North Atlantic and a beach with smoothed beach rocks rather than sand. For me, the sound of the sea is like music, the smell of the sea takes me back in time and the sight of its gentle lap or waves of various heights comfort me. It is one of the reasons I love Prince Edward Island so much. Though it is part of my psyche, the sea is also physically near wherever I am on this island. 

A recent wander brought my husband and I to Thunder Cove, on the central north coast. The beach there feels like it goes on forever.

From the red cliffs near the parking area, the shoreline becomes sand dunes covered in Marram grass behind which are several areas with cottages, though few are visible from the beach. This beach is pristine, beautiful red sand with little seaweed at the high tide mark.

It wasn’t crowded. The further we walked, the more likely the beach goers were cottagers accessing the beach via an occasional trail through the dunes or stairs.

We kept the golden grand-dog on lead because Semipalmated plovers darted along the sand as the waves lapped the beach. 

At the east end of the beach, more sandstone cliffs separate Thunder Cove from the next beach, a shorter though equally beautiful one. 

The sandstone here is well weathered and doesn’t look stable. It is not an area for climbing though one might be tempted to do so. Above in the earth over the sandstone, a hole indicates a bird might be home, probably a bank swallow.

Two men prepared to launch a catamaran into the on-shore breeze as the tide receded. We watched as they hoisted the sails but didn’t see them leave.

This beach is nothing like the beach of my youth, however, the essentials are the same. The sound, smell and sight take me back to another time and place but one just as beautiful. The truth is when the sea is in your blood, you are never far from home.

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.