The Beach in the Morning

I popped down to the beach this morning, and a short stretch of the Cliff Walk.

The Newport shoreline from Easton's Beach

Sanderlings feeding

Ring-billed Gulls

A female Cardinal chowing down on Multiflora Rose hips on the Cliff Walk

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Running Errands

I was all over town today running errands, and in some cases took the scenic route to get to them. Naturally the camera came along.

Two shots of the Common Burying Ground

A typical Queen Anne style Victorian house on Old Beach Rd.

A Herring Gull floating on the wind off the Cliff Walk

The entrance to Bois Dore, a mansion on Narragansett Ave.

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Theme Thursday - Reason

Some of the reasons why I love living here in Newport:

The ocean along the Cliff Walk

Foggy days at the beach

Walking the trails in Ballard Park

Gooseneck Cove's salt marsh at Hazard Rd.

When it came to music videos for this week's Theme Thursday, the first thing that popped into my mind was Tim Hardin's "Reason to Believe". I chose the original version with Tim singing over Rod Stewart's admittedly better selling one because (a) I can't stand Rod Stewart, and (b) because I think what Stewart did to this beautiful song was an abomination. I know, I'm a heretic. Then again, I've made a career of heresy.

The other song that occurred to me was another old favorite - Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason". No need for choosing between original or cover versions of this one; nobody could ever do this song like Tracy. Enjoy!

Photos & text © 2009 & 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Earl Looms...

... and provides some entertainment:

Those surfing shots were the rare ones; the sets were very far apart, and most of the waves were no more than knee or waist high. At 5:15 PM the wind still hasn't picked up, and I'm wondering now if it ever will. Technically the height of the storm isn't supposed to pass off Nantucket Island until around midnight tonight, so the storm, even here, isn't expected to intensify until after dark. But it has also weakened considerably, dropping from a Category 4 to a Category 1 in the course of about 18 hours and hanging farther off the coast than originally forecast. I think we dodged a bullet, although I'm disappointed that we didn't get better surfing. Oh well...

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Birds Here and There

A few bird pics from Thursday and today. On my way to doing errands on Thursday I took a brief detour to the Cliff Walk in hopes of surf (nope!) but did find some interesting Sandpipers on Belmont Beach at the end of Marine Ave. There were a couple of Spotted Sandpipers that I never got a good shot of, but this little Least Sandpiper came out very well indeed.

Today was the biweekly Sunday bird walk, and today we went down to Third Beach and then over to Sachuest Point. There were Goldfinches everywhere; this is peak season for them because all their favorite flowers are going to seed now. This little male American Goldfinch was in the parking lot at Third Beach, first in a big puddle drinking and bathing (we had a real dumper of a storm come through last evening), then up to some Chicory gone to seed, and then back to the puddle again. I seem to have irritated him; in both of the photos below he seems to be giving me that "Do you mind?" look. [Note: Click to enlarge.]























There was also a Short-billed Dowitcher hanging out with a crowd of Peeps (mostly Semi-Palmated Plovers and Least Sandpipers), but it was in direct, bright sunlight and wasn't photographing well. My buddy Bob was on the other side of it getting pictures which probably turned out, but by the time I got to where he was the birds had all decided to move elsewhere and flew off in a cloud.

After that we went over to the Sachuest Point National Wildlife refuge. Now, it's been a hot and humid week here. Yesterday was horrible, with heat in the upper 80s F (31º - 32º C) with relative humidity up in the 90 percentile range, and not a breath of a breeze. Today was starting to turn out the same (at 7:00 AM it was 77º F/25º C with 89% relative humidity) , but lo and behold, when we were out at Sachuest Point (which has absolutely no shade at all) a thin scrim of cloud covered the sun and a nice (and considerably less humid) breeze picked up, so our jaunt on the north loop trail turned out to be pleasant. Lots of Goldfinches, Mockingbirds, Catbirds, and Song Sparrows, and the offshore rocks were full of cormorants and two immature Eider ducks. But the best shot of the day happened as we pulled into the parking lot at the Visitor's Center - there on the peak of the roof, right over the main entrance, was this Red-tailed Hawk welcoming all comers, as if to say: "Hi there! I'm a wild bird, and if you want to see more wild birds all you have to do is look around and walk the trails. Enjoy your stay and come back often!" Needless to say Bob and I were snapping away!

Nothing from Ballard Park and Gooseneck Cove today. I bumped into some friends on Hazard Rd. at the Cove and we spent most of the time watching the antics of the Blue Crabs at the culvert - there was one small one doing some kind of major excavation and all the others were coming over to bug him about it, and then a big 'un came over and scared everybody off. There were some Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets flying over but not landing, and an immature Black-crowned Night Heron flew over and perched in a tree across the way from us, but it was out of camera range. Oh well, maybe later in the week...

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Sunday by the Water - Salt Marsh and Surfing

Today was the biweekly bird walk, but July is birding doldrums time around here, so there wasn't much interesting on today's walk. Afterward I went down to Ballard Park only to be driven out by swarms of Deer Flies. But Gooseneck Cove had beauties to bestow; it was close to high tide, and in July the lush green rising out of tidal water is somehow very moving for me. No matter how harsh and bright the light, this aspect of a salt marsh always looks so much softer.

After that I went over to the Cliff Walk at Ruggles Ave. There was a high surf advisory up, and the waves looked good when Mark and I drove by Sachuest Beach on the way to the bird walk. So I hopped over to Ruggles after all my other wanderings to see what the gang was up to on the waves. I'll have to admit they weren't particularly awesome waves, but some people were getting some good long runs, and the surf provided enough drama for three of my kind of surfing shot - lots of splash and lots of movement. And that handsome lad in the first shot is my good buddy Marty Casey, looking every inch the cool dude that he is. Enjoy!

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Two... Two... Two Days in One

I was out and about yesterday and today, but since I had my Theme Thursday post up for yesterday, I decided to post both days' shots together in one post today. I hope you don't mind!

Thursday

I just kind of wandered yesterday, ending up going down Bellevue Ave. and then heading over to the Cliff Walk and going back home that way. Below are the things that caught my attention. Below left is the trunk of an ancient, gnarled, and ivied Copper Beech along Bellevue Ave. There's something just so Ent-like about old Beeches! Below right is a Song Sparrow singing, with the ocean and Easton's Point in the background. And the bottom photo is yet more Wisteria, this time hanging over an old wooden fence above the Cliff Walk.

Friday

Today I went down to Ballard Park with a specific idea - to see how the Blue Flag patch in the Aspen grove in the Quarry Meadow was coming along. When I was down there Sunday there were buds, and considering the temps this week (we've been fairly warm) I wondered if they'd burst into bloom. Well, they sure had! We've had an unusually warm Spring this year, and the foliage and blooming schedule is at least two if not three weeks ahead of normal. These Irises don't usually bloom until into the second week of June. In any case, here's the patch of Blue Flag (Iris family) in the shade of the Quaking Aspen grove.

And of course I had to crawl up on one of the blooms to get a down-the-throat macro shot.

Also in the shade of the Aspen grove were these unknown white flowers. By the foliage and the structure of the flowers I'm pretty sure these are in the Lily family. The plant is somewhat low-lying, and the flowers are fairly small - 1/2" to 3/4" (1.27mm to 1.9mm). I've seen them here and there around town and they're almost always growing in shade. They're very pretty!

Down behind the Vernal Pond I found a hillside full of Celandine. Frank Amaral just cleared out this section between the pond and the quarry wall last year; it had been full of invasive plants, most notably Japanese Knotweed and Japanese Honeysuckle. Now that it's been cleared out more interesting plants like the Celandine can grow free from interference.

And at the top of that little hillside was a very dense patch of Buttercups. When you see these beauties you know that Spring is winding down and summer is not far away.

And that's two days' worth of pictures that passed quality control!

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

The Scenic Route

I took the scenic route on the way to do errands in downtown Newport - down Old Beach Road to Easton's Pond, across Memorial Blvd. to Easton's Beach, around the corner to hit a stretch of the Cliff Walk, and a stroll through the Salve Regina University area. Naturally, I had the camera with me.

An unidentified flowering shrub along Old Beach Road.

Least Sandpipers foraging along the moat around Easton's Pond.

The very large, very ancient Snapping Turtle who lives in the moat. My friend Nikki calls it the "Primordial Beast".

Yellow Wood Sorrel along the Cliff Walk.

Scarlet Pimpernel along the Cliff Walk.

Royal Paulonia along the Cliff Walk. This tree was imported from China by garden landscapers in the 19th Century, purportedly to add a little "oriental" exoticism to the gardens they were designing for the oceanfront mansions. They've spread out from those gardens since then.

Beach Rose along the Cliff Walk. This flower is ubiquitous along the New England coast.

Wisteria hanging decorously from a porch roof on Webster Ave.

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Butterflies, and a Leftover from Yesterday

The butterfly population is picking up. I saw these on the Cliff Walk while taking the scenic route to errands today. The top photo is of a Red Admiral, and the bottom shot is of two Clouded Sulphurs on one of the Cliff Walk's ubiquitous Beach Rose bushes.

I forgot to add one more moment in history for May 10 yesterday. On May 10, 1970, 40 seconds into overtime, Bobby Orr flicked the puck behind the St. Louis Blues goalie to win the Stanley Cup, and then flew through the air in celebration. This is probably the most famous goal in U.S. hockey history. Boston sports fans are hoping for another Orr moment as the Bruins are once again competing in post-season playoffs. Fingers crossed!

Photos & text © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Wanna Go For a Ride?

Heh, heh! This particular puppy got a way better ride than just hanging out the car window. These shots were taken at Belmont Beach at the end of Marine Ave. on the Cliff Walk.

Photos © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Fun, Fun, Fun at the Beach!

Yeah, you read that right. Not for humans, though; the water's way too cold for any dipping in the water unless you're wearing a wetsuit. But the dogs didn't seem to mind a frolic on the beach on this gorgeous, knock-yer-eyes-out Spring day that included much fun in the water. I was on the Cliff Walk for a while and came across a scene on Belmont Beach at the end of Marine Ave. While a Song Sparrow serenaded them from a sprouting Beach Rose bush (left) and a Common Loon looked on from out in the ocean (right)...























... these three dogs were in full frolic. Their masters were boring, way too busy talking to each other and paying only minimal attention to their pets. For instance, this poor pup is desperately trying to get his master's attention: "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Throw the ball! Please? Throwtheballthrowtheballthrowtheball! You know you want to!"

Meanwhile, the other two are running up and down the beach, wrestling in the water, and running up to shake the water all over their masters to get them to come frolic with them. Here's the water wrestling:

Then a little shake, shake, shake!

And then it's, "Let's go shake on them, too! Maybe then they'll come and play!"

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger