The Cliff Walk in Early Spring

I decided to go for a walk on the Cliff Walk today. It was sunny but very, very windy. I had planned to start the hike with a walk on Easton's Beach, but the wind on the beach was so bad that I decided to head for the more sheltered Cliff Walk without the lap around the beach first. Oh, and one note: I had set up some shots to make some HDRI shots, but I discovered that you really, really need to use a tripod, even when using the camera's exposure bracket function. When I got home and tried to layer the three bracket shots in Photoshop, nothing lined up. Ouch! Oh well, now I know!

This should give you an idea of how hard the wind was blowing - spray on the waves at Easton's Beach:


Down by Salve Regina University there's this recently-built stone wall, which I've always loved for its resemblance to a Piet Mondrian painting:


And around the corner from the wall is this little finger of rock poking into the ocean:


Down past Ruggles Ave. and around Ochre Point on the way to Marine Ave. low tide reveals how the mansions disposed of their waste water in the days before Newport had a sewer system:


These stones are part of the shingle on the beach at Marine Ave.:


Just before the little tunnel under Sheep Point I noticed something unusual in the water, and when I looked closer I discovered that it was a Horned Grebe who had made the change over into Summer plumage. I didn't know they did that before they headed back north to the inland lakes and ponds, but I guess if the Loons can change down here I guess the Grebes can, too. So here's Mr. Horned Grebe with his Carnival mask on:


Down to Ledge Rd., I head off the Cliff Walk and do a loop back up to Marine Ave. As I went up Ledge Rd. I noticed this unique weathervane:


So... Back up Bellevue Ave. to Marine Ave., and I get back on the Cliff Walk and head for home. Here's another Mondrian stone wall on Ochre Point:


Just off the stretch of the Cliff Walk by Salve Regina (yup, we're there again, only going the other direction this time) I saw this male Red-Fronted Merganser:


Heading home, up past Forty Steps and on the home stretch, I was caught by the patterns and textures in this stump by the side of the Walk:


And that's today's walk on the Cliff Walk!