The Shore

The golden grand-dog loves Tignish Shore. The area has a beautiful beach which is almost deserted on weekdays. Georgie ran in and out of the surf as much as she wanted, 

in an place shared with terns, gulls and Northern gannets a distance offshore. The warm late summer day in this place was perfect for a walk.

Gannets were visible offshore when we pulled into the parking lot. The huge birds don’t nest on Prince Edward Island but sometimes, like this day, can be seen offshore diving for fish. They dive from various heights into the water with a splash, later to resurface. We watched for a long time and I took photos which stretched the limits of my camera. 

The path to this pristine beach is lined with wildflowers. 

Further along, pieces of green and white seaweed, flowers of the sea, are spread around the beach. 

I met a local woman and mentioned the cleanliness of the beaches on the island. She said the beach walkers in this area clean the beach every spring. The most common items they find are fishers’ gloves which wash overboard and come ashore on this beach. 

Seagulls and terns occupied the far side of the beach past the stream which flows from an inland pond. Georgie didn’t harass the birds but they didn’t like us getting within a certain distance. They were quite a sight when they lifted and floated on the breeze as their voices filled the air as well.

We will return to this beach with Georgie to enjoy the surf and the solitude before it gets too cold.

Question and answer:

Ginnie at http://goldendaze-ginnie.blogspot.com/ commented, “Thanks so much for including us in your wanderings with your husband. Is he a photographer too?”

My husband was always interested in photography. For years, he was the one documenting the family history in photographs. Now he has a camera with various lenses but he often uses a tiny point and shoot during our outings. He enjoys time with the grand-dog more than photography so he takes care of her while I take photos.

Gannets at Cabot Beach

The last Northern gannet I saw was along the shore of the Evangeline region of Prince Edward Island. The huge birds with a wing span over 2 meters, fish off the coast of the island this time of year. This one had seen better days unfortunately.

Gannets don’t nest on PEI. The nearest colony is located on Bonaventure Island, off the east coast of Quebec. 

I’d heard stories of fishers from around our island home, watching the birds offshore make their daring dives from above into the ocean and disappear for a time underwater. We had never seen them however until one day recently at Cabot Beach on the north shore of the center of the island.

The tide was low and I went to the water’s edge. Off in the distance, I saw a white bird dive into the water. Gannet! Another one flew in and did the same. They disappeared for a time then surfaced and floated around. Of course, I had my camera close by.

I was so excited to see these marvelous creatures! The distance tested the zoom on my camera and the pictures are not great. However, in my thrill to see them, I feel compelled to share the best photos nonetheless. One was taking off while the other watched the cormorant nearby.

Gannets are a wonder of nature!

Gannets

Northern gannets have been falling out of the sky around here which is not uncommon for these birds. However, falling onto our shores is not the way gannets usually fall.

Gannets are seabirds with white bodies, yellow heads, black wing tips and long sturdy beaks. The largest of the gannets is the Northern Gannet. They are huge, with a wing span up to six feet and live on the east coast of North America. The nearest breeding colony to Prince Edward Island is on Bonaventure Island, off the east coast of Quebec, several hundred kilometers as the gannet flies. 

Gannets are rarely seen on shore in PEI. If we do see them, they are off-shore, plunging into the sea after fish such as herring. 

This short video shows how gannets dive for fish. Diving gannets

When we have a gannet on this island, it is usually a dead one, which died from hunger or exhaustion, so far from its colony.

We saw the remains of three gannets this past year, two badly decomposed and one which a bird expert determined wasn't dead very long because the feathers were in great condition.

One of the birds was at Thunder Cove on the north shore. The other two were on the beach at Egmont Bay, including this beauty. 

The stick in the photo is twenty-eight centimeters or 11 inches long, so the wing span of this bird is enormous. 

The bird showed no sign of injury and was not tangled in a fishing net as is sometimes the case. Only a necropsy would be able to determine the cause of death. It is sad to see such a beautiful creature dead on the beach.

Should we encounter another dead bird such as this one around the island in the future, we know who to contact and where to bring the remains. We left this one to nature.