Birds and Back Strand

On Thursday (October 16), we headed back to Bray for another adventure (one that sadly did not include french fries).

Looking at Google Maps one day, I noticed there was a swan sanctuary at Bray Harbour.  I love critters so I suggested to Eli on Thursday morning that we pay a visit to the sanctuary.

Bus L14 has a stop right across the street from our house, which makes it very convenient to pop over to Bray when the mood strikes.  It was even on time, wonder of wonders.  And there were no screaming hordes of children, which was another plus.

Once off the bus, it was a short walk to the harbour.  And this was our welcoming committee.

It's a little disconcerting to have these huge birds slowly and ominously approach you.  You're allowed to feed the swans, which was surprising to me.  The informational sign said that leafy green veggies were best, but they could also have bread (whole grain over refined white) because swans are smart enough to balance their diet.

I'm sure they equate every new human arrival with a promise of food, but I had to tell these lads that we didn't have anything for them.  Next time, we'll need to bring some yum-yums for them to snack upon.

Interspersed among the swans were scores of gulls, pigeons, and little sea birds that I think were turnstones (so named because of their penchant of turning stones over while looking for food).  Gulls and pigeons are fairly opportunistic, so they probably figured out early on that they might be able to snag some grub if they hung out with the swans.

We stood and watched them for a while.  At one point, as if on a silent signal, the majority of pigeons suddenly took flight, some perching on a wire, others landing on a nearby roof top.

These are mute swans.  I noticed that there were a few brown swans in the mix, and those are probably younger mute swans.

While on Google Maps, I noticed there was a small beach a short walk up the road from the swan sanctuary.  We walked across the bridge over River Dargle and after descending a concrete ramp, we were standing on Back Strand.  And it was GLORIOUS.

It's a short stretch of sandy beach and on this particular day, it was mostly deserted.  There were a couple people with dogs there when we arrived.  They left soon after, and then it was just us and the beach.  And it was perfect.

We walked along, our shoes squishing down into wet sand, enjoying the lack of people and the rushing of the waves.  When I'm on a beach, I'm forever looking for treasures.  I said to Eli, "I wish I could find some sea glass, but I imagine this place gets combed over early in the morning."  A few minutes later, I found a piece of white sea glass.

There are huge boulders along the sea wall, and we both found one to perch upon, content to look out over the water and listen to the sea.

As we sat there, a man and his dog came down onto the beach.  The dog was very excited to be there, and twice as excited to see other humans.  He came racing over to where we sat and then bolted away, creating huge divots in the wet sand.

When we were leaving, the man (who had stripped down to swim clothes) called out to us and jokingly said, "Aren't you going to have a swim?"  🙂

When it was time to go, we stopped again on the sidewalk near the swans.  A man was sitting on a bench, and there was a swan at his feet.  He gently bonked the swan on its bill and the top of its head, and the swan very contentedly leaned toward him.  It was very sweet to watch.

We got to our bus stop, and Eli checked his transit app.  It said the L14 wasn't due for 31 minutes.  Ugh.  There wasn't really anything to do in this area, so we crossed the street and sat down on a bench, resigned to waiting.  And then Eli suddenly hopped up and quickly began walking back to the stop because here came the bus.

Looking at these photos while writing this post made me smile.  THIS was the experience I was craving when we went to the nature reserve on Tuesday.  Peace and quiet and a lovely communion with softly whispering waves.

I don't know if I'll be lucky enough to have this exact moment recreated, one where it's just me and a stretch of deserted sandy beach, but I know I'll be back.