In the Evangeline region of Prince Edward Island, my husband and I had a picnic in the shadow of the cemetery in Egmont Bay, a peaceful area overlooking the ocean.
Afterwards, we walked the beach as we usually do, combining a walk with a new area to explore. We were not disappointed.
There are a few homes and cottages built back from the shoreline. As we walked east along the shore however, we approached an area without homes and cottages. There was an estuary where the Jacques River flows into an inlet of the Northumberland Strait. It was wild and unspoiled.
Spotted sandpipers were busy along the shoreline but scurried ahead of us down the beach.
Ring-billed gulls stood in the receding tide as unidentified small fish came to the surface of the water nearby. The gulls munched on some of them as we watched.
A pair of osprey nested in the forest beyond the beach, alternately circling overhead and perching in the trees.
Along the shoreline, a willet, a large shorebird, had its mottled brown plumage, which announced it was breeding season.
A beaver pond, positioned between the beach and the forest was an interesting discovery when we looked over the bank. Again, the beavers were elusive.
Along the beach, at the mouth of the estuary, raccoon tracks elicited images of marauding raccoons at sunset, ready to snatch anything they encounter.
We paused along that shoreline to absorb the wilderness feel of the place.