Low tide is special at Canoe Cove. There are numerous tidal pools which provide ample opportunity for exploration and discovery.
My husband and I recently accompanied our daughter and the three grandkids there and we had a great day. It started with a picnic. Social distancing isn’t a problem there.
Along the beach, starfish were a big hit with the kids. The purple stars,
some tiny but all small, were the first starfish the children had ever seen and they were so excited. We found some of them on the damp sand waiting for high tide, so they gently scooped up the little stars and placed them back in the water.
Hermit crabs were a huge hit as well. We saw an occasional tiny crab looking for a new shell. The children watched the small creatures and wished them well in their search for a new home. The beach had lots of remnants of crabs and we even found one big enough for dinner but let it go.
The exposed sand had holes where we found razor clams if we dug deep enough. We also found soft shell clams and bar clams.
We have never dug clams for food but intend to do so this summer. These clams were put back in the sand. I can imagine a time when clam digging was an important part of the food supply for many islanders.
Meanwhile, the Bank Swallows were darting around the cove as well, but unlike the last time we visited, people stayed away from the area of their nests. Consequently, the birds went to and from the nests for the entire time we were there.
A small flock of cormorants, accompanied by a few gulls, relaxed on the only rocks visible in the sandy cove.
They periodically dived in the water, resurfacing far from their point of entry, eventually returning to the rock where they spread their wings to dry their feathers.
Our grandchildren enjoyed the day and we will return before long. Story time that night was about the animals along the beach. Now the oldest child reads to the other two and the middle child has begun to read to her younger brother as well. Sigh...time like the tide waits for no one.
We will enjoy the cove while we can.