Peter's Cove, April 27, 2012

Beachcombing series No.63

I stopped by Peter's Cove on a cool, damp afternoon when the overcast sky turned the air and the water silver.

I hadn't had a chance to beachcomb in weeks, so when I drove past this public access right next to the East Blue Hill Road I just had to pause.

 The first thing I noticed was this pair of ducks. I think they were Red-breasted Mergansers.  I just love the female's stubborn crest. The male's crest must be slicked back from diving, but hers is untameable!

 They didn't stay long.

These signs were posted all along the cove. A lot of beaches get closed for clamming when the spring meltwater and rains wash too much sediment and contaminants into the bay. Looks like this one got closed last year, too.

It was a very small and sheltered cove, and had the most striking, linear tide lines I've ever seen.

 They formed perfect stripes in the grasses (probably Spartina.)

 My favorite discovery was this amazingly weathered tree clinging to an undercut bank.

 No idea what species it was;

I was so fascinated with the scaly dragon-skin that the tides had made of its bark that I never thought to look at the leaves.

In the still life:   Driftwood, plastic bottle cap, Knotted Wrack (Ascophyllum nodosum), Blue Mussel (Mytilus edulis), asphalt, birch bark (Betula payrifera), Common Periwinkle (Littorina littorea), fishing bobber, acorn cap (Quercus sp.), Soft-shell Clam (Mya arenaria), lichen, granite beach stone, cigarette package fragment.