June in bloom

Our morning routine has changed recently to accommodate the weather. It has been humid in the afternoons, so our walks are earlier in the morning when it is cooler. Life has moved to the patio for the summer too, many meals cooked on the barbecue and eaten on the deck. I love this time of year.

It is lupin time now. 

We have seen some along our usual pathways but lupins require a special visit to large patches we know in the area. We will visit the lupins soon. Daisies are present too with their beautiful faces smiling in the sun.

We usually arrive at the trail or boardwalk after eight a.m. and the early morning has attracted some of our favourite animals too. A Great Blue Heron likes fishing at that time 

and a female Mallard likes that hour as well.

Away from the marsh, young foxes enjoy the early morning, playing near the boardwalk.

It is green and shaded along the Rotary Trail though light makes it to the trail in places. 

The wind, usually present here, rustles the leaves, creating its own sound track. However, the birds add their voices too, Warblers I can’t identify and Blue Jays or Robins which I recognize.

A nice addition to nature this past week was the presence of tadpoles near the surface of a pond along the Rotary Trail. 

Hundreds of the larvae were visible just below the surface of the water.

We’ve checked in on the Bald Eagle pair recently too. One adult was in a nearby tree while a young one was visible in the nest.

On-line, we keep a watch on the pair of Osprey at Blackbush, Prince Edward Island, where two of the four eggs have hatched and the parents are busy feeding the two hungry chicks. The photo taken from the feed is blurred but worth a look.

On the home front, the tomatoes, peppers and cucumber plants are all transplanted and doing well but beans have yet to break ground. We look forward to the produce from our strip of earth.

It is a glorious time in nature!

A sunny week

This past week was sunny, a run of days when one enjoys being out and about, not wanting to miss the lovely weather. A warm day in Summerside doesn’t mean it is warm along the north shore however, so warm clothing was a must. Of course we had picnics. Unfortunately a week of excursions meant the garden didn’t get tidied after the long winter, but window cleaning is well underway between outings. 

Our first visit to Covehead this year included a stop by the lighthouse and a walk on the beach. 

Along the north coast this time of year, you can hear the lobster boats even though on occasion they aren’t visible on the horizon. Sometimes their traps are close to shore and you can watch as fishers work.

Further along the shore from Covehead, we walked the beach at Brackley that day as well. Part of that beach is closed to visitors now, to allow an endangered species, the Piping Plover to nest in the area. There is still lots of sandy beach to enjoy however.

Another morning, at Yankee Hill, before the clouds lifted, the sun peaked through, shining on the sand dunes in the distance. It foretold of the sunny day ahead.

At Northport on the northwest coast of the island, we watched the fishing boats return to port for the day. This is one of my favourite places to visit during the lobster season.

We also visited North Cape for the first time this year. It was another cool day, with the sights and sounds of the boats off-shore. The sea stack was formed out of a sea arch this past winter.

A small flock of Common Eiders made the day though I had seen them in the water off-shore previously. This time, the ducks were relaxing on some rocks along the shoreline and we could appreciate their size. The males are black and white.

I was impressed with the feathers and reminded of the warmth of eider down contained in a duvet when I was young. It was a treat to observe these great ducks.

In between, we walked the boardwalk and the Rotary Trail where the forest floor is beginning to turn green as plants appear out of the leaf litter. Along the trails, the promise of lupins next month is welcome..

Witness

We have stayed close to home this past week, keeping our walking to the familiar boardwalk and the trails of the Rotary Friendship Park. My husband and I walked every day between the raindrops, dressed for colder spring weather while summer stands waiting around the corner.

The beauty of nature does not escape us as we walk the familiar trails which have plants sprouting, growing and blooming on the forest floor. 

Patches of plants such as wild Lily of the Valley 

and bunchberry make us stop to look.

Meanwhile, some apple trees are in bloom still 

and juniper also known as larch or tamarack, has its needles again and is looking particularly pretty. 

The animals are tending their young these days and over the last month we’ve watched a family of foxes with four kits, play in the distance. Now down to three kits, the young foxes venture further from home and play with each other while the parents hunt. This one posed nicely one day, the fuzzy fur showing its youth.

In the salt marsh one day, we watched as the mother fox hunted among the bulrushes, stealthily searching for unsuspecting birds or their eggs. This area is home to a female Black duck who is a great mother to her five ducklings. She is on guard as the ducklings feed. 

This momma definitely has her ducks in a row. 

This 10 second  idea shows the ducklings keeping up with her. Here

Lupins are beginning to bloom now and will do so for the next few weeks. The first we’ve seen this year had a slug feasting on it.

Earlier that same day, we had seen a Song Sparrow with a slug in its beak, probably food for its young. 

Meanwhile, the salt marsh is recovering slowly from the damage from sub tropical storm Fiona as bulrushes are growing again after a slow start. The local Great Blue Heron enjoys the setting as much as we enjoy its company. 

Belted Kingfishers fish in the stream and along the shoreline, occasionally landing in a place where we can watch their activity.

The circle of life is evident all around us as we walk the trails. We are privileged to be its witnesses.

The trails through the green

The trail welcomes you in and the golden grand-dog was eager to go. The leafy bloom of summer is well established and various shades of green urge us onward. We accept the invitation and head into the Rotary Trail.

It is easy to walk here with groomed trails through forest beside farmland. Trails off the main path are designed for mountain bikes. There is plenty of room for anyone who wants to bathe in the green.

Bird song fills the air. We stop periodically to listen and look for the singer but to no avail. The trees hide them well now, creating anonymity for those whose song we don’t recognize. 

An unfamiliar song draws the eye upward and there it is in a dead tree, singing its heart out, visible. On this grey day, the sky provides little contrast but this Red-eyed Vireo allows a photo. 

Each section of the trail draws us onward. Around every turn, the path through another green vista invites passage. My husband and I keep going, through a cave-like opening, where the canopy darkens the path except where a spotlight focuses the eye.

We pass a stand of pine which is showing off its new growth. 

Within a huge stand of deciduous trees the canopy shades the forest floor which is covered green now too. Sarsaparilla and fern love this location. 

The canopy and the green floor create a huge room which mosquitoes love as well. We walk through quickly having forgotten the bug spray.

In more open areas, false baby’s breath

has replaced the lupins of a few weeks ago. 

We walked for an hour then left for home, refreshed in body and spirit.