Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Aquidneck Island - February 19, 2017

Mug Shot
This Sunday morning started off at Graziano;s 501 Cafe in Island Park on the northern tip of Aquidneck Island. We love this little cafe that sits right on the water's edge, good food and friendly service. We also discovered they have wings night..we will be back. A short trip down the island from here brought us to the famed Cliff Walk in Newport. This walk runs
Along Cliff Walk
behind all the mansions that were the summer houses of the wealthy at the turn of the century. Newport must have been quite a place back then. We found that the path was crowded and lacked any kind of toilet facility which became an issue as we walked. We abandoned the walk after a mile and a half and found comfort at the Audubon Nature Center on First Beach.  From here we made the three minute drive out to Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge in Middletown. Here the walking was much less crowded and the scenery
Walking the trail
more to our liking. We have hiked this two and a half mile trail in the past and this hike was just as nice as those that came before. The walk around this refuge is always filled with spectacular views and loads of wildlife. I am not great at recognizing and naming different species of birds but I know when there are birds that I have not seen before..or rarely seen. Lots of ducks I did not know. It is the serenity that I like here, even though
Looking toward Little Compton
this warm Sunday brought our the crowds, with full parking lots and such, we never felt that we were in a crowd. The sun was offer up a great sparkle on the water and provided warmth on our walk. I had brought along my drone hoping to get some good footage but the wind was up and I still don't feel as though I have the skills to fly in high wind. I did bring my camera though and took a couple of hundred photos, so not all photos in this entry are iPhone photos. As we walked around the trail we stopped from time to
Along the shore
time just to take in the views..this is such a stunning place, we are lucky to have this right in our back yard. We talked of coming back more frequently as we now have more time to do this sort of thing. It will be fun to watch the seasons change here and the different migrant birds as they come and go. This location sees a couple of Snowy Owls each year, we didn't see any but were told that they
Doesn't get any better than this. . .
are here. I did get some good shots of deer. There were several feeding in a field just off the trail. I had my long lens on the camera and got a few shots and decided to see if I could get closer. They ignored me almost completely as I approached and would just take a few steps away as I took a few steps in their
Pappa returning from shooting deer
direction. These deer are certainly used to people walking by. After a while, and a hundred photos later I just tired of taking pics and let them graze in peace. We wrapped up the day back in the car with a total of a bit over 4 miles of walking for the day. A nice Sunday indeed. Below are a few more photos.

Along the shore



West Island, Little Compton - 3 miles away

Beach stones
Not in the wild, but in a display case, stuffed, fooled ya...

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