Early autumn

It was a wet morning as we headed to Covehead and nearby Tracadie Beach on the north coast of the island, east of home. We were meeting our Australian friends, Frank and Helen* there. We were lucky the rain stopped but the sky was spectacular, overcast with shades of blue. It was a picture perfect day!

At Tracadie, the remains of a 19th century fishing wharf spread across the sand, 

the pylons weathered but still surprisingly strong despite their age.

The dunes in the distance protect the area against the ravages of a stormy sea.

Like last year when we visited, a Bald Eagle was atop the tallest dune, surveying his domain. We suspect eagles nest nearby. 

Later, at our favourite picnic area near Bubbling Springs, we had a leisurely lunch before we stopped by the lighthouse at Covehead. There we walked past the lighthouse onto the beach and under the nearby overpass. 

Across the inlet, a flock of Double-crested Cormorants congregated. It always amazes me how tattered the birds can be, yet they manage to fly so well. I wonder how the most tattered ones do during their migration south which will begin soon?

Our walks this week included the Confederation Trail with Daisy, the golden grand-dog, before she went home. We spotted this old building, nestled into the countryside. 

It may collapse from the snow this coming winter. What stories can the old place tell?

I was lucky to photograph this White-throated Sparrow along the boardwalk. The Sparrows are in abundance there this time of year.

The birds, as tiny as they are, are just as interesting as the Great Blue Herons, but much harder to spot and photograph.

On our recent visit to the national park at Covehead, driving along the parkway, I counted at least 30 Great Blue Herons in Covehead Bay. It is impossible to stop there so I couldn’t photograph the beauties. However, the Heron which frequents the salt marsh along the boardwalk in Summerside was present this past week and I managed some photos again.

My favourite was taken from the bridge looking towards the marsh where the bird stealthily fished.

Another day, the Heron waved from a tree top which is a rare photo in this area.

Along the boardwalk, the trees have the look of early autumn. We will head to some of our favourite trails to see the autumn colour over the next month.

We are fortunate to be able to enjoy the beauty and variety on our island home.

*You can see Helen’s blog at http://outandabout3.blogspot.com/. 

The north shore

We were slow to return to our excursions around the island after Fiona. Trees are down everywhere and trails are slowly being cleared. Two weeks post storm, we returned to the boardwalk and later to beaches where we love to walk and have picnics. My husband and I will enjoy autumn as much as we can since we will be limited by the weather soon enough.

On one recent outing we went to the north central shore, first to the New London Lighthouse which I have featured numerous times on this blog. The old sentinel made it through another storm unfazed by the look of it. 

Not the beach and sand dunes however. In June this year, you can see the extent of the beach across the channel.

Post Fiona, the dunes are greatly reduced and the sand washed out to sea. It will be a slow return.

Closer to the lighthouse, the storm surge destroyed the Marram Grass and dumped sandstones over the area.

We walked the beach towards the cliffs where our daughter fishes for bass. We had never been to this area before and on such an autumn day, it was the perfect time to check it out.

The red sandstone stood out against the natural blues. 

The faded October grass and wildflowers at the edge of a farmer’s field cling to the red soil as long as possible, hanging over the edge as more soil washes or falls away.

A lone tree nearby shows the direction of the prevailing wind and withstood the wind speeds brought by Fiona.

A sea stack, difficult to see in its entirety from the path, is beginning to become a sea arch. If you look closely, you can see two glimpses of sea blue through the sandstone.

Anglers park along the cliffs and take a path down to the shoreline below  It is too treacherous for these old legs to attempt such a walk. We will return when our daughter is fishing there one day.

The wind was cold requiring gloves and a hat so we decided to have our picnic in a more sheltered area. On our way to North Rustico, we passed a flock of mallards enjoying the day at French River. I hadn’t seen mallards in some time, so it was a treat to watch them for several minutes 

and meet a new friend too.

The gazebo at North Rustico has a view of the harbour and is a great place to have lunch. Our turkey soup hit the spot, warming us to our toes.  

Our excursions will continue as long as possible this autumn and a hot picnic lunch will be on the menu.

A day at the beach and Fiona update

It is one of the most picturesque areas of Prince Edward Island. We visit St. Peter’s Harbour at least once every year, often in September. Our recent visit on a sunny but cool day did not disappoint. 

The lighthouse has been inactive 2008 and left to ruin until a local committee took on the tasks of repairs and maintenance. 

The small structure sits behind the sand dunes along the beach near the entrance to St. Peter’s Harbour. 

The well worn path through the dunes opens to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The beach stretches west and is strewn with seaweed, past some cottages behind the dunes.

To the east the remnants of an old breakwater are well weathered at the entrance of the harbour. 

Across the channel, visitors at the Greenwich part of the National Park, enjoy a stroll on the beach too. 

On the west side of the channel, the old pylons have taken years of relentless pounding much worse than today.

Meanwhile, along the shoreline, some of the last of the migrant shorebirds feed along the water’s edge. They walk quickly and appear to enjoy the company of a variety of birds. In the photo below, a Semipalmated Plover forages with some Sanderlings. 

Nearby, footprints in the sand show just how busy the area has been.

The sound of the ocean, the smell of salt air, and the sight of the breaking waves fill the senses.  As we head back to the car, crickets were chirping among the vegetation behind the dunes. A last look over the dunes will have to sustain us for another year.

P.S.

We have battened down the hatches prior to Hurricane Fiona tomorrow and Saturday. High winds and rain are expected, the amount of rain and wind speed uncertain as of yet. We are as ready as we can be!

Update: Saturday, September 24/22

Well, we are over part of what was the worst weather experience of our lives. The house shook and rattled but stayed in tact. The basement felt like the safest place but sleep was impossible. 

When we lost power at 1:00 a.m., the wind was so high, we wouldn’t chance going to start the generator. Through the night, unbelievably, the power came back on for an hour and a half. It was somewhat reassuring. Later, after the power went off again, by mid morning, the storm eased somewhat and we started our generator.

The worse part of Fiona occurred in darkness, when the neighbourhood was pitch black. With the sounds of nature’s fury and the creaking and shaking of the house, it was difficult to distract oneself from the onslaught. Dawn’s arrival by 7 a.m. was welcome. Now we are waiting for Fiona to blow herself out!

Anxiety has been our foremost emotion this week and especially overnight. When we could check in with family and assess the damage, the anxiety lifted. Everyone is well and while our house came through with minor damage, our daughter has water leaking from the ceiling. We are fortunate though. Many others in Atlantic Canada fared much worse. 

We will not soon forget Fiona.

Return to Clark’s Pond

We vowed to return to Clark’s Pond to see the Bald Eagles again during the Gaspereau run. The birds know where and when to gather for a Gaspereau buffet. This time we met with Helen and Frank, Australians visiting family on the island. Helen is a fellow blogger I had met on-line two years previously.

We started in Cavendish Grove, our favourite place on the island and made our way towards Clark’s Pond. Along the way now, wildflowers line the trail, the most appropriately named, Forget-Me-Nots, always catch my eye. 

The centres of the tiny blooms are white or yellow and tiny pink flowers are the last to open. 

It was a beautiful sunny day but the wind was high which usually means fewer birds. While there were some of the large raptors in the area,

they weren’t in the numbers we had seen the previous week. The younger birds have yet to achieve the unique feather pattern of the mature Bald Eagle.

We walked to the beach through the campgrounds down to where the stream enters the Gulf. 

Here the Gaspereau make their way from the Gulf of St. Lawrence into the pond, a short journey through the sand dunes. 

The sea was rough and the sound of the rolling waves filled the senses. The air was fresh and cool. We could see birds on the far side of the stream as they floated just above the beach.

Several juvenile birds rested atop the trees around the pond, including one which exhibited spiky feathers in the breeze. 

It stayed there the entire time we lingered.

The remains of a tree, against the sea and sky, shows how such beauty can be devastating.

Back at the Grove, the leaves have burst forth for those few warm sun-lit weeks again and the apple trees are in bloom. 

We had a picnic with our friends and enjoyed every minute in nature’s garden. 

Perfect.

At the lighthouse

Lighthouses are a favourite of mine possibly because I have always lived on islands. Listening to my mother describe her time staying at the Lighthouse at Cape Spear, Newfoundland, is part of it too. I have always had a fascination with the structures and Prince Edward Island is a great place to see them. One of my favourite lighthouses is at St. Peter’s Harbour.

This structure nestles behind the sand dunes beside the entrance of the harbour. The lighthouse is in a hollow in the dunes, moved there several years ago by a group of interested citizens, who wanted to save the old building.

The lighthouse had been decommissioned by the government and the citizen group worked on the building to save it. Their hard work has paid off. Now the building is in good shape and is well maintained, in a beautiful setting.

A trail through the dunes 

to the beach opens to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 

The beach is a beauty, unspoiled, wind swept, and to the west appears to go on forever.

To the east, the pylons for an old wharf are ravaged by sea and time, adding to the rugged beauty of the area. 

St. Peter’s Harbour opens to the south of the old wharf.

As we walk the beach, the old light peaks above the dunes, as it would have done years ago.

It is a link to the past, a reminder of the reassurance it provided fishers and their families all that time ago.