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.

 

Gulls at play

During a recent walk on the boardwalk, the wind increased in speed as the sky cleared from the south.  As my husband and I proceeded, holding on to our hats, we noticed seagulls along the shoreline, riding the wind.

They stayed close to the shoreline, just above the beach area at low tide. It was fascinating to watch them. 

Better birders than I could identify the gulls playing there. They cavorted for the hour we were there, moving slightly along the coastline if a particularly strong gust of wind ushered them along. They revelled in the high winds while mere mortals struggled to stay upright and keep their cameras steady.

The birds weren’t making any sounds that we could hear in those high winds. Neither were they feeding. Occasionally one landed on the water but didn’t stay for long or take anything from the water. They resembled a bunch of kids enjoying the outdoors on an exceptional weather day.

The enjoyment those feathered creatures took in the high winds was a wonder of nature.

Small but mighty

As I walked along the road by Grand River, geese rooted for some perceived treasure in a field to the right.

They honked as they worked the field in a leisurely fashion. But a little sparrow made me stop and listen. She demanded attention. 

The tiny sparrow was high in the spruce tree as she looked down over the river.

The bird sang her heart out, fluffed up in spite of the pleasant sunny day, the volume of her song much larger than her size.

Below the road, large birds dominated the riverscape which included the surface of Grand River and its thin layer of ice. The gulls made that seaside gull sound, haunting in a way but welcome and familiar. 

The quacks of black ducks could be heard in the lull of the seagulls, a gentler sound but distinctive just the same.

In the background, geese were in conversation, their geese-speak in the distance sounding strangely like a human crowd.

Through it all, the most impressive was the tiny sparrow, head lifted in song, 

proclaiming her truth to the heavens with exceptional beauty, oblivious to the bigger birds. They could not compete with her melodious offering. That one tiny sparrow was more powerful and effective than flocks and gaggles of the larger birds. 

There may be a lesson here.