With the onset of beautiful weather last month, my husband and I made our annual visits to some of our favourite beaches on Prince Edward Island. We went east from our home for the hour drive to Savage Harbour on the northeast part of the island.
The sea is often rough along this shoreline and such was the case that day.
The onshore breeze cooled the air enough to require a jacket as we walked the beach at low tide and watched gulls sail on the wind.
A small flock of juvenile Black-bellied Plovers walked the beach too, though they stopped to eat periodically.
Further down the beach, Peeps and Semi-palmated Plovers gathered on the leeward side of small piles of seaweed left by the receding tide.
Later we had a picnic in sight of the beach, listening to the rhythm of the sea.
Cormorants flew overhead and nearby Warblers flew among the trees along the shoreline. We watched dragonflies, specifically male Autumn Meadowlarks, dance around us. Their colour makes them easily recognizable.
After lunch we drove about ten minutes farther east to St. Peter’s Lighthouse, one of our favourites on the island. Nestled among the sand dunes on the western shore of St Peter’s Bay, the structure is a wonderful surprise at the end of a red dirt road.
The beach looking west draws one forward and looking east,
the beautiful beach at Greenwich on the far shore of St Peter’s Bay is upstaged by the pylons of an old wharf.
At low tide, these pylons were still off-shore. This is a huge change from pre-Fiona, the tropical storm which did so much damage to the island just a year ago.
A photo from our last visit to the area, just prior to Fiona last year, shows the position of the pylons at low tide.
The sand obviously shifted along the shoreline with that storm. There is little beach left in parts of the bay at high tide now. The power of nature is a wonder to behold, though sometimes a scary one.
The sea and sky with the birds that day all made for a picture perfect day which was good for the spirit.
