Port Maitland Beach


The Beach
Living where we do, we are very fortunate to have almost 900 feet of beachfront on our property, and hundreds more feet of waterfront along the Sandyland Ponds in front of us. When we bought the property, I learned about rods as a unit of measure, and found out that our oceanfront is 54 rods which is 891 feet. We also learned that the break in the sandbar that leads saltwater in to mix with where Beaver River flows past us is called a guzzle. I knew the term brackish, meaning a mix of salt and fresh water, but interesting to get to understand some of the other older terms.
Most of my time as a photographer on our property is focused on the marsh and the ponds, which change throughout the seasons, and sometimes I focus on the waves in the ocean. This week, I’m thinking more of the beach itself. I spoke of the changes to the beach as ocean levels rise and storms become more intense, but this week, I got thinking more about the beauty of the beach and what it represents. A piece of land that is the divider between ocean and dry land, and with our 20 foot (or 5.5 meter) tides, there is a LOT of beach by times.
As we were walking the dog, we noted the shorebirds fattening up for their migration to South America. We also noted a falcon zipping along, perhaps drawn by the prospect of a meal of slow, fat sandpipers or plovers and we noted the loons just offshore diving for fish. The dog enjoys the small surf, and loves to fetch balls tossed into the water.
There is a lot less garbage on the beach this season, as one local resident started a one-man campaign to collect as much trash as he could – bringing back bags and bags of rope, plastic and other refuse. Others joined him and to their credit the commercial fishermen chipped in and helped as well. The beach, as a result, looks very nice.
But, the seasons are progressing, and we are as I write this having a visit from a post Tropical Storm, and getting lots of rain. The guzzle will flow rapidly, and the beach will change. All of which to say, I need to get on the beach and take more photos of it as well as the marsh.
After all, changes need to be recorded, and the beauty that is the coast needs to be shown to people.