A Blogger Visit

Our fellow Blogger blogger Dot-Com, who hails from Dublin in Eire, is over here across the pond this week on business. It just so happens that the business she's here on isn't far from me at all, so she popped over today to get the guided tour of the out-of-the-way spots I hang out in.

We visited Ballard Park first, walking the trails and listening to birds. She was especially taken with the blossoming Crabapple I posted a macro of last Friday, and took some shots of her own. We saw Goldfinches, lots of Catbirds, and a male Eastern Towhee; we looked at the almost-ready-to-bloom status of the Lily-of-the-Valley and the Canadian Mayflower on the Valley Trail, and she marveled at the uniqueness of the Puddingstone boulder. And she posed for me at the Sacred Oak on the floor of the quarry.

We went down Hazard Rd. to Gooseneck Cove because I had promised to show her Egrets, but the closest we got was to flush a Great Egret just as we got down to the Cove, so she only saw it fleeing us. No Snowy Egrets were in the shallows at the head of the Cove doing the Snowy Dance to stir up lunch. The next time I'm down there I'll have to have a word with them about showing up and performing when they're needed!

And I'll have to do the same with the Common Terns on Tern Rock at the Ocean Drive end of the Cove. We went down there next, and looked at the ocean, and at the water pounding through the new culverts, and at Tern Rock. Yesterday I went down there to reconnoiter in advance of today's trip, and to my joy discovered that the Terns had returned (sorry about that!); they were busy out on the rock noisily building their nests and squabbling. Today? Dead silence, and no Terns. Hmmmm... Thanks, guys!

After that we drove through my "country lane" walk, and then over to Hammersmith Farm to look at the sheep and goats and llamas. And before heading back into town, we went over to Forty Steps on the Cliff Walk so she could see some typical Newport coastal scenery - the rocky coastline.

And that was our tour. Below are two pictures - Dot-Com at my Sacred Oak and then taking pictures of the coastline at forty Steps. Unfortunately, when I'm playing tour guide I get too caught up in the role to take my usual pictures of the flora and fauna. Oh well, you already have plenty of that anyhow.























© 2009 by A. Roy Hilbinger