The Norman Bird Sanctuary, Part I

The Norman Bird Sanctuary is in Middletown, RI, the next town over/up from us in Newport. The Sanctuary lies behind Second Beach, and up on the Ridge Trails in the Sanctuary you get some really gorgeous views of the Atlantic Ocean and some other landmarks in the area. I didn't go on the Ridge Trails today, though, but stuck to the lower trails and the Pond. I got a later start today than I wanted, plus I really wasn't into climbing up vertical trails after yesterday's long hike. So we'll go next week and I promise to get out there early so there'll be plenty of time for me to rest and gasp between Mountain Goat imitations.

Today I stuck to the lower trails -  Quarry, Woodcock, Woodland, Shady Glade, Indian Rock, and the Sanctuary's centerpiece, Red Maple Pond.

From the Sanctuary Center we head out on the middle leg of the Quarry trail and head down the Woodcock and Woodland trails. When I look back at the pictures I took along these two, it's hard to tell which is which because they cross and recross each other. I'm not sure which one this is but I'm guessing it's the Woodland trail.

The next two shots I'm pretty sure are taken on the Woodcock trail. Iffy on the first but the other two are definitely the Woodcock trail. Especially note the plank walkway in the second shot - there are a lot of these in the Sanctuary, used to pass over the boggy spots, of which there are many!

This is Red Maple Pond, the centerpiece of the Norman Bird Sanctuary. As you can see it's surrounded by swamp/bog and it hosts a wide variety of flora and fauna. People pause here to just admire, and to see if they can find the bullfrogs that are so noisily sounding off this time of year. 

This is the view of the pond I had while eating my lunch. The bullfrogs were doing a call and response back and forth across the pond from what sounded like 4 or 5 different spots. There was one just off to my right, but I never could find him! 

Behind and among the reeds there are hidden little backwaters and cul-de-sacs on the pond. This one contained a surprise, a Mute Swan. This is a new addition since I was here last; I don't ever recall seeing Swans on the pond before (and there were two today, quite obviously a mating pair and the other one was nesting), and I've been coming here for over 30 years. so I had a treat today!

Over the bridge (sorry, no picture; it's a very un-photogenic and boring little bridge) and up the trail we come to my favorite of the Norman bird Sanctuary trail signposts. They're all set up like this, but this one has the most signs on it. We're taking the Shady Glade trail; the others are the ridge trails and I just wasn't into near-vertical climbs today.

This is the bridge over the stream that runs out of the pond. We're on the Shady Glade trail here. 

Back up to the Sanctuary Center we go after walking the trails. There are several bird feeders at the Center, but this one was drawing quite a crowd. A very cosmopolitan gathering, this - a Cardinal, a Mourning Dove, a Brown-Headed Cowbird, several Sparrows, and there are two Gray Squirrels hanging around out of the frame. The cuisine must have something special going for it!

Leaving the Sanctuary we head left instead of right, because I want to take these shots of the Sanctuary meadows. As you can see the variety in the flora is incredible. They attract all manner of birds and they've even set up a bunch of wooden birdhouses in one of the fields.

And that's our trip to the Norman Bird Sanctuary for this week. Next week we'll be back to tackle the ridge trails. Until then!