Out Walking

(Note: I am not sharing a post; I'm publishing an article, specifically a photo essay. Gather, will you PLEASE go back to using adult terminology?)

It's a nice sunny Saturday in Newport, and I went out walking earlier. The usual - Ballard Park and Gooseneck Cove. Come see what I saw!

Walking in the woods in Ballard Park along the trails, there were lots of Little Wood Satyr butterflies. They get pretty prolific this time of year:


Down in the old quarry they've cut down the meadow so people will have a place to sit for the concerts and other events that happen here in late Summer. But there are still some vestiges of the old meadow around the edges. This Purple Coneflower grows by Molly's Tree (Molly Flynn was a local and a friend of Ballard Park; she crewed on sailboats and unfortunately was lost at sea in a Spring storm off Cape Hatteras in 2005. The Friends of Ballard Park planted a tree in her memory):


And getting a little closer we notice some visiting wildlife:

Out of the park and down Hazard Rd., it's time to visit Gooseneck Cove, where this Snowy Egret was fishing:



This is definitely Dragonfly season, and the salt marsh is full of them flying around and perching on the reeds. Here's a Calico Pennant:


and two Canada Darners mating:


Down Hazard Rd. to Ocean Drive and the Green Bridge end of the Cove. These four Cormorants were on Tern Rock preening and cooling off in the breeze:

while in the shallows by the Green Bridge this Great Egret fished and, noticing the camera, posed for a portrait:


Back to Hazard Rd. on the way home, and who should we see but a White-tailed Deer wading in the water and browsing on the salt grass:


Perched on the reeds in the salt marsh the Marsh Wrens were singing up a storm:

And one farewell look at Gooseneck Cove before we head back into town to do some grocery shopping:

And that's all for today!