A beautiful sunny day without much wind drew my husband and me to the beach for a walk for the first time this year. We decided on the beach at Brander’s Pond to see how the sea stack there had fared over the last year. It is one of my favourite beaches but I have many favourites on Prince Edward Island.
Along the way we passed the Cavendish Farms Wetland, an area with huge grasses which the Red-winged blackbirds love. They found a way to land on the tall grasses,
which sway under their weight, making them impossible to photograph.
At our destination, the pond is mere metres from the shoreline and a stream flows to the beach nearby. This year, Mallards and Ring-necked Ducks swam there.
The local cottagers have fortified sides of the stream closet to the road which leads to the cottages lining the shoreline above the beach. The steam meanders more along the beach now than it has in the past however.
The sea stack looks much the same as last May, except the cormorants are hanging out there again. It is good to see the prehistoric looking birds back at one of their old haunts.
May 2020
May 2021
The face in the cliff looks more tired though. You can’t blame it after this past pandemic year.
The beach is in pristine condition, undoubtedly people picked up any debris which was deposited over the winter. Some seaweed is all that remains. We will only leave footprints which will vanish with the tide.
Walking along, we could see fog rising from the wet sand in the distance. We imagine the earth, like us, is ready to exhale.
The sound of the sea fills the senses. It is good to be back for another year.