Early July on the island

Every summer we hope to spend a day with our daughter and grandchildren at Canoe Cove. It isn’t always an easy day to plan because of the month of vacation out of the province the family has every year. Then dance camps fit around those plans. Besides, you have to plan a Canoe Cove visit around the tide schedule.

The Cove is an indentation in the coastline along the south shore of Prince Edward island on the Northumberland Strait. We arrived just after high tide and in time for a picnic lunch in the park. By the time we’d finished lunch and the youngest two had enjoyed the playground, patches of sand were appearing in the Cove from the falling tide. A small flock of Great Blue Herons had settled into the inner part of the Cove below the fields.

The girls and I watched Cabbage White Butterflies as they flitted from flower to flower along the perimeter of the park. I took numerous photos and eventually managed this one which shows an eye and its proboscis, a straw-like tube which a butterfly uses to extract nectar from blossoms.

We established ourselves on the sand and before long the falling tide exposed sand patches and tidal pools around the cove. 

Off shore, one could walk out a great distance and still be knee deep in the water.

While the others enjoyed the water, I followed the shoreline to where I had previously seen Bank Swallows. Before long, I came upon the bank area where part of the flock is nesting this year. 

I watched silently from a distance as bird after bird entered and exited the holes. I captured several with the camera and while they aren’t great shots, I was pleased to have any photo of these great birds.

Daisy, the golden grand-dog was with us on the beach and she loves time in the water. 

The water in Canoe Cove is as warm as bath water so everyone enjoys going for a dip there.

Meanwhile, we walked between the raindrops several days last week. Early morning was a good way to avoid the worst of the humidity. It will be brutal the early part of this week as well.

And as always, the succession of wildflowers continues as we make our way through nature’s beauty.

  

A day at the beach

It was a sunny but windy day and the tide was low, a perfect morning for the park and beach at Canoe Cove. We love to visit that beach with our daughter and grandchildren, so we headed out early to get maximum time there at low tide. The kids were so exited when they jumped out of the car, all laughing and talking at the same time. The Cove is a great place for all of that energy. 

First they checked out the playground at the park. Meanwhile the tide was headed to its lowest point and before long, we headed down for a walk in the sand and tidal pools. We watched a pair of Great Blue Herons fishing for an early lunch. 

Also, this is an area of coastline which is home to seals. They are in the distance in this photo but as so often happens, I didn’t notice them until I looked at the photos later.

This cove drains off most of its water during low tide so all that remains is water in low lying areas. The exposed sand shows the action of the water on the sea bed. 

Seaweed is strewn around the beach and we spent some time observing the Toothed Wrack variety 

which anchors itself to rocks via a holdfast. 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if each person in the world had a holdfast to anchor us when the storms of life are particularly rough?

We explored the animal life remaining on the beach including barnacles and periwinkles attached to the rocks. 

The periwinkles in the tidal pools were crawling over the sand and explored our feet when we walked among them.

It was an interesting sensation. Around the exposed seabed, we found several dead crabs which were intact. 

We didn’t find any starfish that day however.

Several jellyfish were in tidal pools and stranded along the beach. 

The children always avoid them but are curious about them too.

Overhead, the Bank Swallows darted through the air in pursuit of insects and from the exposed shoreline, we watched as they entered and left their nests through the holes in the bank above the sandstone.

Along the shoreline, driftwood of various sizes stands against the elements, 

while trees drape their roots over the elevated shoreline. Those trees will eventually be but a piece of driftwood too.

Our grandson played with toys to make a channel in the sand. It flooded later with the rising tide, a lesson in tidal action he will remember.

The girls had mud baths, coating themselves in some muddy sand along one of the tidal pools. They had a natural spa day with the mud bath and the periwinkles tickling their feet.

Lunch in the park at a covered picnic table was a cool affair in the shade on that windy day.

As we left the park, the rising tide sent people off the beach as the Cove filled with the rising sea.

Canoe Cove at low tide is a great place for children to explore and swim. The added bonus of the day park facilities makes it an ideal location for families to spend the day.

A day with the swallows

At Canoe Cove on the island there is a beautiful park. We love to go there with our grandchildren, especially when low tide allows beach exploration. However, during the spring, no matter the tide, 

my husband and I have watched the Bank Swallows there and were eager to see the tiny avian speedsters again. The birds weren’t in the same location as before, but had moved their nests along the coastline. 

Erosion destroys many nests each year and it’s tough for the birds because they must dig new nests into the banks when they are tired after the long journey north. The Bank Swallows at Canoe Cove managed again this year.

We stayed inside the chained area away from the bank but patience paid off. The adults,

returning to the nests with food for the young, 

were fast but we were able to “capture” them. 

It was a thrill to watch them do their aerial acrobatics over the area.

While we had our picnic lunch, the sounds of the birds and their occasional passes overhead, provided entertainment unique to Canoe Cove. The view across the Cove shows a typical island scene for late May, fields of dandelion in full bloom. 

After lunch we drove back towards home, stopping at Cavendish Grove along the way. The Grove has changed a lot in the last month, 

the water in the pond having been replaced by reeds and grass. 

There were two geese still in residence and mallards as well but grackles and blackbirds were most prevalent. However, Tree Swallows glided and flitted overhead, a sight new to us at the Grove. It was impossible to take a photo of them in flight. I have one photo of a Tree Swallow on a wire which I took in North Rustico recently. 

Watching the swallows was an experience of natural magic provided by the island.

Wood Islands

We visited the Wood Islands Park on the east coast of Prince Edward Island this past week. This day use park is across from the ferry terminal and features a beautiful lighthouse. While my husband and I have taken the ferry on a number of occasions, we have never been to the park.

The ferry had recently left port for Nova Scotia and was visible in the distance.

It was a beautiful day and we walked around the small park as hundreds of Cabbage Whites made the rounds of the late summer flowers all around us. 

This one is a perfect specimen while many others look tattered at this point in the season. 

I saw something bobbing in the water periodically and watched for it to resurface again. It was a long distance off shore. 

This is the best photo I could manage of the seal who was fishing as birds flew over the water to the breakwater nearby. It is the first seal we’ve seen here on Prince Edward Island though they are common along the east coast here.

Cormorants and seagulls have taken up residence along the breakwater. It looks like a few Great Cormorants were hanging out with the Double-crested birds. Great Black-backed Gulls were obvious among the seagulls.

I walked down to the beach and was surprised to see dozens of Bank Swallow nests along the shoreline but not one bird was visible. They may have left for warmer climes already. 

Opposite this park is the fishing port of Wood Islands which lies adjacent to the berth for the ferry. Lobster season finishes at the end of June along this part of the coast so some boats are out of the water already.

Close to the lighthouse lies a Victorian Rose Garden planted there by one of the light keepers. Most of the roses are spent now.

However nearby, some of the biggest, reddest and shiniest rose hips made me wonder about rose hip jam. 

In one jam recipe, it takes a kilogram, 2.2 pounds of rose hips to give 500 ml or 2 cups of jam. You have to cut the hips and discard the seeds. I won’t be making that jam any time soon.

There is a back range light near the main lighthouse in the park. It houses an amateur radio station with an antenna nearby which makes the Canadian flag on top look like a postage stamp.

We had other stops that day and already were two hours from home so we didn’t stay long. However, this park is worth another visit.

 

Bank swallows

They are tiny and fast, as they do acrobatics in the air. Bank swallows have fascinated my husband and me this spring and summer along the coastline of Prince Edward Island. However, photos have been difficult to acquire.

The small birds eat insects which they pluck from the air. We have only seen a few land on the ground during our several encounters with them. They are always in erratic motion. 

You can check out the sound of bank swallows here.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bank_Swallow/id

Our most recent encounter was at Red Point Provincial Park on the east coast of the island. During our picnic lunch, we watched the antics of the birds and pondered how to photograph them.

After lunch, we headed for a walk on the beach where a bank of five meters high explained why these swallows were present. A colony was established in the bank, groupings or single holes covered the top meter along one section of bank.

As I stood there and observed the holes, dozens of the tiny birds returned and swirled overhead, then headed into the holes. Imagine the sounds of so many of these swallows as you stand there watching! They disappeared into their nests and after a minute or so, exited again.

I continued to watch, wondering if there were any stragglers. After ten minutes, they were back again to repeat the scene. Again they left and returned.

Finally, success! I focussed on one hole and there she was, peering out. 

Later, another clung to the exterior of a hole and stayed long enough for me to photograph. 

The final photo was a motion shot which froze two of the little beauties in flight. 

Curiosity, observation and patience are important qualities when it comes to bird photography. The results can be special. However, had I not taken any photos, the experience of standing under the noisy, swirling bank swallows, was a once in a lifetime experience.