Shoreside

I could not believe it. As I rose today the sky was cloudless. Quick coffee, a bowl of cereal, and off to Martinique we headed. Martinique is my favourite local beach because it is long and has interesting points that one can circumnavigate. As well as that, there is a wonderful salt marsh on the other side of the road leading  out the peninsula. I find salt marshes fascinating. This morning the Piping Plovers were busy forging in the sand at the marsh. I heard them first then I saw them. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Piping_Plover/sounds. After delighting in the marsh life we crossed to the sea. It was perfect. Unfortunately on our trek up the beach we came upon a dead seal pup. I was saddened but recognize the wheel of life turns for all. 

Then I found my crab. I do not recall finding a crab with its tail still intact. I was thrilled. I carried it gingerly up the miles of beach protecting this perfect find. My hand was numb this morning and barely functioning and so it seemed like a particularly  noble  gesture to save this crab for drying and display. On the way back I found another perfect crab minus tail and I imagined how I was to position them while drying for optimum effect. 

On our way back I was surprised by the swiftness of the clean up the ravens had done on the seal. 

Once back to the area near where I parked my car I ever so carefully climbed the sand bank cradling my crabs and carrying a now heavy bag of clams. It seemed to be a clam morning for me. Normally I just pass by them but for some reason I gathered a dozen or so this morning. I carefully placed my two crabs on the floor of the back seat so nothing would happen to them. Just before I got home I stopped to talk with neighbours about the glorious weather. Molly woke up— jumped in the back seat and ate my crabs.

There will be other days and other crabs here in Nova Scotia.

The sand patterns this morning were truly lovely

Ground round is something else at East Chezzetcook— and Northern Pintails raise their young

Neighbours brought me an excellent bird book after I asked them about our mystery bird. So many almost fit but either their beak or feet were wrong then I found Northern Pintails in non breeding plumage and got my duck!

~*~*~*

Glorious summer day and Molly and I headed out to East Chezzetcook thanks to a tip from Neil. The ocean was quiet but the rolling waves put on a great show on a rock. In a salt marsh I found ducks or small geese that I have tried in vain to key out. I am sending a few shots in case one of you knows. 

The rocks were pounded round at East Chezzetcook. Molly and I absolutely loved it. I found a glorious mixture of clover and a white flower that may actually be poison hemlock. I am 100% open to correction on the hemlock.In fact welcome it please!

Over to you now

M

Iris

You know them

You know as I do, those times of contentment so deep, so profound, it would be a travesty to think or to utter a sound— Those times when one’s consciousness seems boundless and ones are senses so finely tuned that the sound of birdsong, birds on the wing,  the wind in the trees, waves rolling to shore then sifting through shore-bound stones are one sound, one moment, one essence.

As I walked the dunes at the end of Dyke Rd this morning I was aware that I was in such a place and time. I am not vain enough to think that I could ever capture an essence on film never mind an iPhone but I am resolved to return to that place with my Canon and capture the song sparrows on tall spiked plants, and the meadows of flowers that spread to the sea with my good lenses. For now though I will try to share with you moments in my morning at the end of Dyke Rd.

It has been a week now

This Monday (today) marks one week of my time in Nova Scotia. 

It has been a week filled with awe, touched by beauty, and I have been energized by new adventures. Molly and I have been to Lawrencetown beach once but Martinique three times. The beach has a long graceful curve and we can walk for miles and miles on hard packed sand. We have found  several clams and mussels, kelp, and “fun stones” as well as a deflated and quite dead jelly fish which I guess was a moon jellyfish although I really don’t know! We embarked on a Saturday hike with Neil and talked of geology, flora, of fog and fair weather. There is so much to learn so much to do. I suppose that might be an advantage of a nature lover for wherever you mingle with nature you can not but be moved.

Maze at Joggins

Walk with Neil

Lungwort (photo taken by Kate my daughter)

White Lady Slipper

Blueberry

Native Rhodera

Cinnamon fern

Sundew

Pitcher plants (I just LOVE them)

Bluets

Martinique Beach on a foggy day

To the Eastern shore

The  second leg of our journey to the Eastern was  idyllic . The weather was grand and the stop at Joggins as intriguing as ever. I was thrilled to find a recent rock slide  and to discover—on my own some fabulous fossils.

Arriving at Seven Lakes was truly exciting for me. There are Lady Slippers, pink red and white ones growing on my lot. Across the road from my lot is a trail through the woods with gorgeous Silvergreen Bryum moss which is positively thrilling to see. Twenty minutes from my lot is Lawrencetown Beach! A little further on is the gorgeous Martinique Beach. Why I took no photos that day is beyond me but Molly and I will be going there often so count on getting some seaside shots.

The Maze at Joggins

Along the maze are dead ends with stories of extinctions in the last 300 million years

Joggins Tide out

 Petrified Tree roots in cliff at Joggins

Fossils

Fossil I found

Lawrencetown Beach

Lady Slippers on my lot

Bunch Berry on my lot (Cornus Canidensis)

The trail opposite my lot and Miss Molly on the hunt!

There were magnificent twin boulders on the side of the trail.

Silvergreen Bryum