Island beauty

It has been a windy week and the temperatures have been cool, which we enjoy. It was a busy week and we walked between the raindrops a few days. The grasses along the boardwalk bent to the wind and we held on to our hats.

The bay was busy this week as well with sailboats, pleasure boats and an occasional fishing boat.

In the salt marsh near the mouth of Bedeque Bay, two Green-winged Teals joined the regulars, 

Mallards and Black Ducks. The Teals are small compared to the regulars and camouflaged in the marsh. Can you see the two Teals in the picture?

One day, I discovered a male Northern Flicker 

among the trees as I watched the now former nest site of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

We spent some time at Cavendish with our friend, Helen, last week. Sadly, I had forgotten my camera’s card that morning. We did manage some photos with the cell phone, however. The Grove has the green glow these days and was the perfect place for our picnic.

It was a great day and Helen and her husband, Frank, are like family now. We hope Frank will be able to visit next year again.

A chipmunk ran up a nearby tree after lunch was over.

Along the trail, a dragonfly flitted about, stopping long enough to be photographed.

We stayed close to home with our bike riding last week due to the high winds. However, we hope to be back on the trails this week.

Despite the wind, the peonies 

survived the worst of the week. The blooms are huge 

and plentiful but short-lived.

This past Saturday, an airshow at nearby Slemon Park, meant we could watch the show from the front of our house. The airport was part of the Canadian Air Force Base which was established during World War 2 and closed in 1991. The airport is still in use, such as the night our first grandchild was born in distress and was airlifted to Halifax hospital within a few hours of her birth.

I took photos of the aircraft during the show. 

The best photos were of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds 

in their Tutor jets. 

The loudest was a Hornet which flew over the house, the sound following it at a distance. It was a reminder of the sounds which many people in the world hear today and fear as the sounds of war. However, in an age when drones are used in war too, some cannot be heard apparently. Is that better? 

As we watched, safe at our home on a pleasant afternoon, it was impossible not to think of others in less secure situations in various places around the world. It was a reminder of how fragile our peace can be and a thought for those suffering now.

Meanwhile, we are thankful for the peace we enjoy and the beauty around us. We will never take it for granted.

Our daughter took this photo of her husband bass fishing on Grand River last week. I wish everyone in this world such peace.

Island idyll

Love of the eastern Canadian islands, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, where I have lived my life fills my spirit. The elements, the weather and the tides, feature strongly in that life. So too do the elements of land and sea, waves, beaches and cliffs. I am drawn to the sea, from a land rich in minerals and forests as in Newfoundland, and fields of rich red soil as in Prince Edward Island.

There is a freedom on these islands which we sometimes take for granted. I wouldn’t hesitate to take a walk alone at any time, or speak to a stranger. There is a sense that “strangers” are people like ourselves, friends we haven’t met yet.

It is peaceful here too, people commonly talk about the weather as the biggest news of the day.  While social issues including drugs are an issue as they are in many places today, many of us go about our lives unaffected by them. We enjoy nature, physical activity and each other. 

Many people on these islands don’t have family nearby, as young people, for generations, had to leave their island homes to acquire employment. Those of us fortunate enough to have family here, especially grandchildren, are fortunate beyond measure.

As we walk the trails and beaches these days, I leave modern devices, except the camera, behind. I appreciate what is here and keep a visual record of it. The sounds of a river or stream, the birds, the waves breaking on the shore all give me great joy. The vistas before me revive me in spite of the news of a modern world, out there, beyond these islands. 

When the modern world does intrude, as it did with the pandemic,  we hunkered down and looked after ourselves and each other as best we could. As a result, we fared well compared to other areas. 

Our population is increasing now, as immigration has opened our borders to people from around the world. In addition, people are moving to the island from across the country as workers are needed in every industry. We welcome everyone who comes to live here, like our ancestors from around the world came centuries ago. And like us, moving from one province to another, we hope everyone enjoys life on this gentle island as much as we do.

Island life is for me!

Give me an island in the blue sea.

The wind and the waves, let them carry me,

Where the rhythm of life mirrors the tide.

There I will settle, just let me bide…

Give me an island in the blue sea 

Where beaches and cliffs punctuate scenery.

With sand by the plenty and driftwood galore

I’ll put down my roots and enjoy what’s in store.

Give me an island in the blue sea

Where the voices of gulls soaring high speak to me.

Where eagles keep watch over water and sky 

And fly above all as they soar going by.

Give me an island in the blue sea 

With Marram on dunes and the wind blowing free.

The trails and the beaches, they speak to me

And life is as simple as living can be.

Amen

Adventures with Georgie

When our daughter is working night shifts, we take the golden grand-dog, Georgie, for a few days. She loves any walk but especially those on the boardwalk where there are lots of dogs and other animals. 

Every morning after breakfast she begins her “Let’s go for a walk,” behaviour. The silent stand and stare at my husband and I are the hardest to ignore. We would feel guilty if we didn’t take her. When we say, “Let’s go for a walk,” the dog does a little dance with her front paws. 

Georgie especially enjoys the squirrels and chipmunks. She stands firmly to watch them with a look of intense interest, head lowered. It is not easy to take her away from them.

During a recent squirrel encounter, the little rodent teased Georgie. It was high in a tree but came down to the base of the tree and approached her.

                           Can you see the squirrel coming down the tree?

When Georgie pulled on the lead to move towards it,

the squirrel scurried up the tree and sat on a twig to look down at the dog again. It repeated the behaviour a second time. 

The squirrel appeared to understand the dog could not reach it and didn’t mind approaching. You could almost hear the furry little critter saying, “Na-na, na, na-na. You can’t catch me,” as it looked down from on high.

The world would be a sadder, lonelier place without animals.

Question and answer:

Boud at https://fieldfen.blogspot.com/ and 

Perth Daily Photo at http://perthdailyphoto.blogspot.com/

asked about the red sandy beach in the last post titled Relief.

The soil and sandstone on Prince Edward Island are rich in iron. Exposure to air results in oxidation, creating the red coloured iron oxide or rust.

There are some beaches on the island where the iron oxide is washed away by the wave action in that area. One such example is the beach at Greenwich, Prince Edward Island, part of the National Park.

The middle

Our recent visit to Belmont Park, Prince Edward Island, was a day spent with our granddaughter, Caitlin, who is four years old. 

Caitlin is now the middle child in her family, after the birth of her brother Owen. This was her day with her grandfather and I, accompanied by the family dog, Georgie.

Belmont is a day-use park which is never crowded. It has a lovely beach,  

 

playground, picnic facilities, washrooms and is well maintained. That day, there was a breeze which helped keep the mosquitos at bay, while swallows danced overhead.

It was low tide when we arrived so we could explore the beach. Numerous jellyfish were stranded. 

 

We walked along and Caitlin led the conversation, which usually came back to,”What’s this?” as she explored the beach.

Before we had lunch, a group of young people, dressed in waders, approached the beach, walked into the water with a net, catching something in its mesh. Thinking this was a new fishery I was unfamiliar with, I approached them and queried their purpose. 

 

They were part of the CAMP program run by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada. It is an on-going project which is tasked with sampling the flora and fauna of the shores and estuaries around Prince Edward Island, parts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Such monitoring is vital to the continued health of our marine environment.

Meanwhile I took a few minutes to walk along the forested part of the shoreline while Caitlin played in the sand. Many trees are precariously perched, 

 

as if attempting to grow horizontally along the bank. 

 

Stormy seas or wind will one day topple these beauties as it has other trees.

 

After lunch, as the tide is returning, Caitlin and I walked along that same shoreline, though not under the dangling trees. We looked for a talking rock, a rock big enough for us to sit on, where we could chat and watch the scene before us.

 

She liked the idea of the rock as a talking place and found several where we could sit and chat as we moved along the shoreline. 

One of Caitlin’s favourite games that day was Ready, Steady, Jump. She tried to leap higher with each successive jump. After each attempt, she said, “Again,” as I repeated the three words. Poppy took lots of photos and Caitlin has looked at them numerous times since then. 

 

Simple pleasures make wonderful memories.

Caitlin may be the middle child now but she is as treasured as she's always been.

 

Evangeline

We recently visited the Francophone area of Prince Edward Island, the Evangeline region, just west of Summerside. The area is home to Acadians, 

 

French speaking descendants of the original French settlers to the island, who survived the expulsion at the hands of the British from 1755-1764.

Headed to Evangeline, my husband and I stopped first at a nearby provincial park at Linkletter. Here, at high tide, walking on the tons of seaweed was akin to walking on sponge.

 

The Confederation Bridge is visible in the distance as is the Indian Head Lighthouse at the entrance to Summerside Harbour.

 

Further along the south shore, we dropped by the park at Union Corner where the bridge is visible again but appears as a mirage in the middle of Northumberland Strait.

 

The layers of sandstone in the shoreline here are thinner than any we've seen elsewhere. 

 

Nearby, the shoreline was lined with cottages, some of which were fortified against erosion.

 

The lobster fishery begins in the summer on the south shore so the wharves are not busy as they are on the north side. In Evangeline, boats are still high and dry, waiting their turn at the lobster. We did spot one retired boat, which had seen better days. 

 

A cultural center in Abram Village is the site of summer musical performances in the Acadian tradition. 

 

Those musicians on the Galerie walls will be joined by those inside playing Acadian music. And of course, there is the food!

Acadian festival

Further along the coast, in the community of Egmont Bay, a beaver was busy in the Jacques River which flows out of Arsenault's Pond.

 

She, like the other beavers we've seen on the island, was impossible to photograph, as she disappeared under water when we tried a closer look.

The Jacques River has a fish ladder which allows trout, salmon, smelts and Gaspereau to swim up-river. Both the river and the pond above are licensed for sport fishing. 

 

Gaspereau, the Acadian term for alewife, is a type of herring which swims from the ocean inland to spawn, as do smelts. The ladder makes it easier for the fish to get into the pond. 

We were familiar with fish ladders from our days living near the Exploits River in central Newfoundland. There, Atlantic salmon, much bigger fish than smelts and alewives, use the ladder at Grand Falls-Windsor to swim up-river. We didn't see any fish negotiating the ladder in Egmont Bay.

We enjoyed our exploration of part of Evangeline and will return soon.