NOT SINCE My Honeymoon

August 14, 2022 - day of the Not Since Moses Race in Five Islands, NS!  I decided to register for the 10 km run just a few weeks ago, so off I went, early in the morning from Amherst, to get parked and bussed to Soley Cove for the start of the run. 

It was an overcast day - just right for running - and we got a bit of drizzle along the way. This event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021, so folks were glad to be back at it: running on the sand, gravel, rocks, seaweed and mud. Sharon and I were here for the second annual NSM in 2008. We walked the 5 K, at the end of our honeymoon. Ah, the crazy romantic things we did! Back then, the run took participants out to the islands - we 5Kers finished on Moose Island, and later were taken back to shore by boat. Nowadays, everyone runs along the shore, and no boats are needed.

The scenery from Soley Cove to Five Islands is spectacular, even on a drizzly day. I turned my head and looked back quite a bit. I have not been running this year, but when I decided to take in NSM, I quickly got jogging. Last week I did ten kms a couple times, with some walking amid my running. Today, in the run on the beach, I paused my running very little, and made good time.

Here is the route I took (we took - was it about 100 or 200 people in the 10 k?). My app indicated I actually went just 9.06 kms. Whavever. It was an accomplishment and a fun time.

Here are some scenes from the final half, along the cliffs of Five Islands Provincial Park, by the basalt formation called 'The Old Wife,' and the finish line at Lighthouse Park.

My time was one hour five minutes. Fine by me, for my first official 10K ever. Surely it will not be fourteen years before I try it again. I paused for water and a granola bar, gathered my bag and my medal, and hopped a bus back to the parking lot. After a restful break with friends in Parrsboro, I took a scenic route home to Amherst, where Sharon was tinkering with household tasks. She it was who first walked with me in NOT SINCE MOSES, back in 2008.

Scatarie Island, Day 2

Last Wednesday was day two of two, visiting Scatarie Island, easternmost land of Nova Scotia. After setting out in the zodiac at 9 am from Main-a-Dieu (an hour late, due to fog) and making a visit to Hay Island, Prof Bruce took us down to a southeast point of land on Scatarie Island Wildlife management area. We wandered around this barren headland and enjoyed the sights and sounds. 

We kept on looking at the plants, in particular. This specific location was chosen by Bob, one of our members, because of a rare plant in this area. We did not find it, but many other delights were there. Including for the palate - I nibbled quite a few bakeapples and other ripe berries on the barrens. And we did see Swedish cornel - the red berries below - a very uncommon relative of bunchberry, here in NS.

Did I mention the barrens? The coastal carpets of Empetrum nigrum (black crowberry) around the edges of Scatarie make for a very open landscape, and a bed for many other woody plants and herbs to grow. Here is Bob getting a close look at something small and wonderful.

Below, on the satellite image, the red arrow shows the cove we visited. Next, Bob had planned for us to visit a couple other coves on the southern coast. But as we got back on board the zodiac, pilot Bruce pointed out that the wind was picking up from the south, and the swells from offshore were a bit strong. Not a good day to continue on that shore. So we changed plans, and headed back, past Hay Island, around the eastern end of Scatarie, and along the North shore. We ended up at Savage Cove, a beautiful stopping place. The water was much calmer in the lee of the big island.

On the way, Bruce continued to be an excellent biological and geological guide. He even piloted the little boat into a cove with a bit of a cave. The clear waters above pale stones gave the impression of the topics, but it was cool.

Savage Cove had another stony barrier beach. It made for an easy landing, and good walking. We explored the pond behind the beach, the nearby headlands, and a bog with some great plant material.

When we first peeked at the pond behind the barrier beach, two owls took off for deeper woods. 

A pelagic bird that nests on maritime islands is the Leach's Storm Petrel, a bird I am well familiar with, thanks to thirty years of trips to Acadia's Bon Portage Island, Shelburne Co. We had been told they nest here on Scatarie, and sure enough, I found a body washed up on the beach. Unmistakable in size, with white rump, webbed feet, and tube nose on the beak. These birds have a remarkable life history - but that is a story for another time.

It was time to go, on this warm afternoon, and Bruce Hatcher got back in the boat after some time scuba diving and collecting seaweed samples. He talked about them, including one species that was new to him, and emptied some samples out for us to peruse. He taught us a bit about sea urchins and their enemies. His perspective on the past decade and a half is insightful. He has seen many changes - invasive species come in, various 'pests,' and so forth. Temperature changes have the most significant impact, he'd say, and I'm sure he's right.

Goodbye, Scatarie Island. I will see you again, from the shores of Main-a-Dieu and Baleine. But will I visit you again?

Hay Island (Scatarie, Day 2)

It was Wednesday, day two of our botanical excursions to Scatarie Island, NS. And we got a bonus, as the day began. Professor Bruce offered to drop us off on little Hay Island, nearby. Of course we said, "Yes!" We had plans, this day, to visit a few coves by boat on the south coast of Scatarie, but that could wait for an hour, so we could 'make Hay while the sun shines.'

Hay is an untreed island, but lush with the expected foliage - well fertilized by the birds who nest there, as well as the seals. There were beautiful shorebirds around the rocky beaches, and on top just a few sparrows. The five of us spread out and surveyed this seldom-visited spot (by humans).

A rugged, barren place like this can be so picturesque, and I could have spent half the day there. But we had more of Scatarie to see, so we took just an hour to explore and take photos and enjoy this secluded place. The weather was great: just a bit overcast after the morning fog.

I mentioned seals. We had been seeing many in these waters, and on the shores of Hay were bones and decaying bodies. Here are three in one spot (below). Prof Bruce mentioned (frequent scuba diver in these waters that he is) that these gray seals which are so curious when we are in a boat on on shore, disappear if you enter the water yourself. They don't come near enough to be seen if you take a swim. Sea lions (which we don't have around here) on the other hand, he said, will come right up to you in the water.

As I rounded the island, quickly, I came upon a cormorant nesting colony on the beach in one spot. All the birds were grown and out on the water, staying clear of me. The bleached beach smelled as these places always do. Unforgettable!

Of course, the five of us from the NS Wild Flora Society were taking a good look at the plants - rather weedy plants - on this island. Like on others that are nesting colonies for pelagic birds, certain flora thrive, and others are killed off by the guano. (I'm reminded of Bear Island, which I would visit annually, in the Annapolis Basin.) Pictured below are marsh cinquefoil, jewelweed, fireweed, yellow rattle and bindweed (morning glory).

We bid farewell to Hay Island, and set off for parts of much larger Scatarie. The sky was getting more blue; the wind was picking up a bit from the south. More on that in my next post. Goodbye Hay! I might never set foot on you again.

Scatarie Island, Day 1

For a few months I have been looking forward to a couple days in August with members of the Wild Flora Society of Nova Scotia: a couple days exploring Scatarie Island, which is a wilderness preserve. I love the island experience! This island is on the far east of Cape Breton Island, the easternmost land in Nova Scotia. Above, you can see some scenes as we approached by zodiac. (Second picture above shows a deceased fin whale decaying on the beach.)

Above, you can see the route we took to get there, by boat and walking on the easternmost part of this island. Professor Bruce Hatcher of Cape Breton University was our excellent guide and transport; he gave a great tour on the way over - history, biology, geology and all. As a boatman he certainly knows these waters well.

We started near the northeastern end, where lighkeepers once lived and worked. The open barrens are carpeted with black crowberry and associated plants - lovely for exploring. A few cabins are still in use on the island by locals, and there were other visitors there for the day we were there - the first of our two days in a row. Her are some shots from the old lighthouse, no longer in use.

I did not get any photos of the birds, including beautiful migrating shorebirds on the rocky beaches. (How I love the ruddy turnstones.) I got shots of plants and some of the landscape. I neglected to get a group photo of the five of us from the Flora Society and Bruce H. :(

We had been provided with lists of plants on the island, form surveys from the past decades. A few rarities we looked for - and found a few, such as spurred gentian, first picture below. Most of us from the Society are or will be posting our findings to iNaturalist, as always. 

 

We looked for some orchid species, and eventually found a few. Above: little club-spur and rose pogonia. Below: heart-leaved twayblade, a rattlesnake plantain, and blunt-leaved orchid.

 

You never know what you will find, on a day of exploring a mostly-deserted island. It was a beautiful day. At northwest cove we met up with a couple groups of folks also visiting for the day. We went back the next day also, and think we had the island to ourselves then. Another post about that, in the days ahead.