Day 6.318: Popham Beach State Park

I'd decided for my first solo day in Maine yesterday to see something of the coast. On a Saturday in November, hiking a trail would mean making sure I couldn't be mistaken for a deer by bleary-eyed hunter, so I decided a beach was a safe option. I drove about an hour total - north then south again on the far side of Casco Bay - to an area of long peninsulas and islands known as Maine's mid-coast.

This is what I found:

Oh yeah!

I love that in photos you can't tell that it was crazy cold and windy - it really was that beautiful though.

I walked around for quite a while marvelling at the patterns in the sand made by wind and water - and then by the transitions between them.

There were islands just off shore:

One of them would have been accessible if I'd been willing to brave some cold sea water:

but did I mention that it was barely above freezing (if at all) and windy - so paddling was out of the question.

Until I actually did.

Yes I took off my shoes and socks and paddled over that stream.  I didn't actually stop to take photos while in the water though - I took those first while still shod. Shoeless time was definitely kept to a bare (see what I did there?) minimum.

Between that area and the low-tide-ish sea was an area of grasses which must be just above sea level at high tide.  There I saw a flock of today's mystery birds - they were doing circuits and I got a lot of quite decent photos but have still completely failed to identify them.

Anyone know what they are?

The only other live animals I photographed were of the domesticated variety:

Apparently only (mad) dogs and Englishmen go in the water in November in Maine.

I loved how the wind was exposing things in one place (sand dollar on a pedestal and the other top photo here) and burying things in other places (shell, lobster pot and dead crab).

As I was leaving, the tide was coming in - the largest waves washing over parched dry sand.

Apologies for the 23 photos.  If it's any comfort, I took a lot more than that!