July 16th, 2006
kejimkujik seaside adjunct
Yesterday, we spent most of the afternoon at the Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct which, although separated by some distance, is part of the Kejimkujik National Park. It’s located about 25 km. southwest of Liverpool, NS.
Our intention was to hike the longer coastal loop, but after about 15 minutes of walking over the barrens and bogs section, we decided to abort that plan as Sabrina seemed to be bothered by the heat (the sun was really blazing down on us). Instead, we took the trail that leads directly to Harbour Rocks and St. Catherines River Beach. The walk from the trailhead to the beach probably takes about a half hour. The trail leads through dense stands of alder, witherod, and other shrubs, and past boggy sections dotted with sheep laurel and pitcher plants. With the sole exception of a few low trees and erratics, this landscape prevails until just before the coastline.
At Harbour Rocks, as one might guess from the name, the shoreline is marked by rock formations (as in the above photo – click on all images for larger view), and clusters of large boulders, some of which are truly monolithic. Tall grasses, beach pea, daisies and other seaside meadow vegetation grow just above the rocky shore. Of course, I couldn’t resist looking around for insect activity and found a few bumblebees as well as a particularly brightly marked Three-banded lady beetle (Coccinella trifasciata).
Atop one of the rock formations, there’s a lookout area and scope where one can scan the rocky islets and distant beaches for seals and birds. As luck would have it, there was a group of Harbour Seals on the islet just offshore from the lookout, so we had a good view of them basking in the bright sunlight. A narrow pathway leads along a boulder strewn trail before emerging on the white sands of St. Catherines River Beach (see below). It’s a very long beach… I can’t remember just how long… but from April to August, about two-thirds of it is closed to the public to protect the nesting area of the endangered Piping Plovers. That still leaves plenty of beach to wander and explore.
We walked the length of the open section of beach without finding too much in the way of drift other than a few crab legs and a couple of complete crabs, including a European Green Crab (Carcinus maenas) (see below photo). This alien species is of great concern in North America as it feeds on other crustaceans, and from what I gather, also harms fish habitat by destroying eel grass and other aquatic vegetation. There’s quite a lot of info online about these crabs which some have nicknamed the cockroach of the sea. We also found a smallish dead Harbour Seal on the beach (I will spare you the photo that I took of it – of course, by now, you no doubt realize that I photograph everything of interest).
The tide was up when we arrived at the beach, so I shot a few little movie clips of the waves rolling onto the beach, as well as another of a little beach stream where incoming waves circled a cluster of boulders before flowing back into the ocean. I could probably stand on a beach watching this kind of wave and water activity for hours on end, so I decided to make these little clips as a means of reminding myself of the ocean once I’m back home. (Note: Both of these are quite small clips — one is about 300kb. and the other is 700kb. and they require QuickTime to play).
Tags: Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct, European Green Crab, Carcinus maenas