Saints Rest Beach Report for Saturday, August 30, 2025
Today’s volunteer group included Shantel McCracken, Tanuja Balse, Pat Rogers, and Nancy Hamiliton, with Hank Scarth serving as lead volunteer.
The late afternoon brought passing showers, some fog, and gusty winds, which kept beach attendance low during high tide. Despite these conditions, volunteers engaged with 14 visitors out of the 26 people present. A group of five recent Filipino newcomers involved in community settlement shared their excitement for the SJNC programs as a means of connecting to the local community.
The shift brought a memorable scene as Tanuja witnessed a marriage proposal, complete with a photographer and a hopeful groom on bended knee—an experience that stood out even among the many interesting moments volunteers encounter.
Only three dogs were observed on the beach, all on leashes.
Today saw more typical mid-season numbers of peeps on the beach. There were 206 Least Sandpipers, 1,224 Semipalmated Sandpipers and eight Semipalmated Plovers observed. Despite the cool and blustery conditions, the birds seemed flighty, taking to the air in their spellbinding murmurations for no obvious reasons. View full eBird Report
Earlier in the week, Nancy Hamiliton photographed a Least Sandpiper attempting to eat small Styrofoam beads. She also spotted at least one other bird foraging for these beads. Today’s volunteers found such beads in several locations along the beach, raising concerns about the harm they might cause to the birds’ digestive tracts. This environmental threat adds urgency to the group’s educational efforts, and Nancy’s photo and the report were sent to the Canadian Wildlife Service.
Shift time: 16:15-18:15. Temperature 21C dropping to 16C. Winds SSW 17kph becoming SSW 18 with gusts to 29. Cloudy at the start becoming partially sunny and finally, fog.
Hank Scarth, Lead Volunteer