Scenes from Yesterday's Hike

Spring is busting out all over Newport. I went down to Ballard Park and Gooseneck Cove, naturally, and then headed over to the Cliff Walk at Ruggles Ave. The surf sounded loud, so I had gome over to Ruggles to watch the inevitable surfers, but the surf was louder than it was rough, and there was just one guy out there looking despondent at the 1 foot high waves. LOL!!! The sound must have faked him out just like it did me.

Meanwhile, got some shots of Spring doing its thing, and here they are.

In Ballard Park there was quite a bit of birdsong, but now that there's actually foliage on the trees the birds are a lot harder to spot. This Cedar Waxwing never did come out into full view:




Nor did this Magnolia Warbler. I really wish he had as this is such a gorgeous little bird:


One thing that definitely makes me happy is that the Canadian Mayflower is now in full bloom. This tiny beauty is in the Lily family; in fact Canadian Mayflower patches grow right next to Lily of the Valley patches, and often intemingle. Both grow in shady areas on the forest floor:


Down in the old quarry there are some Apple trees along the eastern side of the meadow there. They provide dessert for my lunches in season, but right now all we have are the blossoms:


And on one of the trails up on the rim of the quarry I found these mushrooms:


Down the road and around the corner on Gooseneck Cove, Tern Rock is now fully occupied, if not downright crowded. The Tern colony is back in force, and yesterday they were noisy and given to sudden bursts of flight. I guess mating season does that! Anyhow, here are some Common Terns in the air:




And as I headed over to the Cliff Walk, this Gray Catbird was in a Yew tree beside Marine Ave. singing away. He actually let me get quite close without ending his burbling song and breaking into the characteristic feline whine they let out with when they're not pleased:


And that was my walk yesterday.