Good start to the day . . . wide awake at 5:30 AM . . . packed and out of Acadia National Park by 7:30 AM . . . and now I am happily sitting at the local Subaru Dealership getting little car looked at and giving her a much deserved oil change!! Next . . . if I can find a car wash here in Ellsworth, Maine, she will have about 8,000 miles of dirt washed off. Between the mud, snow and salt, my poor car has had a long ride. yet, Washington State is still in the sights, so she and I have a few more miles to go!
A strange creature this!! It was sucked into the wall at the RAnger’s Station . . . being very still and quiet. These are rare creatures in this world today. I just recently saw an article in a paper that had a picture of the last two of these being removed from New York City. I wonder if the children of today even know what this is and how abundant they were just a few short years ago, now they are virtually extinct.
My time at Caribou – Munroe Island Provincial Park was limited, not by the Park (which was really beautiful) but by the weather. I arrived at the park to sunny skies, temperatures in the upper 70’s, and a pleasant breeze. Perfect weather to get out and put some earthy miles under my shoes.
I set off for the beach at an easy pace. And then my eyes blew up . . . ALLERGIES!! I found that this tree/bush was in full bloom and the breeze was carrying these fuzzy clumps across the park. Naturally, the SEEK app could not identify this plant. The fluffy, almost cotton ball like clumps, carried tiny little seeds . . . and I cannot swear this was the cause of my sneezing fits, but I THANK GOD for Benedryl!!!Guelder-rose. Kind of an odd looking and bushy plant. I have seen these blooming all over in Nova Scotia. I saw that some were in full bloom but when they first start blooming, just the outer ring of tiny buds opens, then overnight the entire cluster will erupt into bloom.Not a great photo. Tiny little bird who was VERY fleet and kept slipping around to the opposite side of the tree every time I got it in focus. I believe this is a Ladder-backed Woodpecker.
Caribou-Munroe Island Provincial Park has a wonderful beach. However, at this time of year, at low tide, the beach is covered in masses of spongy kelp and very gritty sand and rocks of all shapes and sizes. The tides are also very impressive, with a rise and fall of at least eight feet, and on a shallow sloping beach, this means that at low tide there is A LOT of exposed beach!! You just need to be extremely alert to the tides, because the water will come back in VERY QUICK!!
The low tide and exposed tidal areas are perfect feeding grounds for the Piping-Plover.This little one was not too certain about the intentions of the crazy cyclops with the HUGE eye that was following it through the tide pools!!Yep . . . it got my curiousity as well! About a half mile out, across the exposed rocky shelf, I saw this thing . . . my brain was saying it was a “seal”, but I initially could only see a speck . . . until I got closer. This photo is at maximum reach for my telephoto lens. It sure had the shape of a seal.Harbor Seal . . . I am fairly certain!! I was already about a half mile out from the edge of the beach, across the tidal flats, slipping and sliding, when I noticed the tide changing. This gorgeous seal was still pretty far out, and I could not tell how much deeper the water was going to get . . . so . . . applying common sense to this situation (and not having a desire to make the local news!) I retreated back toward the beach and safety of dry sand!Monroe Island is a circular sandbar with a low center area that fills and drains as the tide rises and falls. It seems to have been the ideal place for these two Canada Geese to raise a family. However, they were none to pleased to see me invade their peaceful sanctuary. I retreated as soon as I took this photo so they could relax and get back to a simple life raising their offspring.Since I seem to be photographing a myriad of flowers and blossoming plants, I am also seeing loads of bumblebees. After watching them diligently service each and evry blossom, I appreciate what they do much more than ever before. Without the hard work of these relatively small insects, it would be virtually impossible for humankind to produce the amounts of food that we do to feed the hungry population. PLUS . . . they are just amazing to watch!And yet again, a new Song Sparrow alerting me that I am encroaching on its nesting area! When I first drove through Nova Scotia about three weeks ago, there were none of these colorful plants in bloom. Now they seem to have burst out of the ground and are blooming everywhere, sometimes in small clusters of bright colors, and in other locations they blanket the roadside and hills. These are known as Long-leafed Speedwell.As you can see, they are truly beautiful, absolutely wild, and apparently can be found around the world. I saw them in light purple, deep purple, white, light pink, a deep pink, and even occasionally in a rusty red color. There is no pattern to their color arrangement ( I was thinking that maybe soil pH affected the color like how pH effects hydrangias) but it is as random as random can be!
This was about all I got from Caribou-Munroe Island Provincial Park. I was supposed to stay another day and a half, but the rain and wind moved in, and was not going to vacate the area for about 72 hours. I decided to head south a day early and hopefully get past the rain . . . but that is a different story for tomorrow. See you then!
What the Walrus said . . . 