Only about 20 miles east of us the sea changes from the gentler waters of Long Island Sound to the open Atlantic Ocean with its bigger waves.
One last walk on the dunes and beach at Napatree Point…
between the Atlantic Ocean and Little Narragansett Bay
It was a very hazy day, the smoke particles in the air came all the way from the wildfires in Alberta, Canada. Sometimes the camera captured some blue in the sky and others times the sky came out very gray.
We heard this male yellow warbler sweetly singing before we finally spotted him flitting around the thickets on the dune, in the same area we saw a female back in September. It’s amazing to think that this little songbird spent the winter in Central America and has arrived here to breed.
As we were walking along a robin came wandering down the dune path towards us. He would take a few steps, pause, look around, and then take a few more. We stood still and he kept coming closer, and closer and closer. After he checked us out, he turned around and started retracing his steps in the same manner. Curious little fellow.
(thanks to Eliza for the identification)
When we got back to the parking lot these two herring gulls were having a spirited encounter. The one on the right kept making a long call and the one on the left kept jumping down into the water and bringing up globs of seaweed. The first one ignored the seaweed and kept repeating his long call.
What a beautiful goodbye. Maybe some day you will be back for a visit.
Thank you, Julie. I hope we will find a way to come back and visit some day, somehow…
I love your closing, Barbara. I enjoy the twosome!
The male yellow warbler sweetly singing is a wonderful find. I want to know the link to the website so that I could hear it’s sweet song.
You captured a gorgeous moment of the wave! The roses by the sea will be missed. Bittersweet.
Thank you so much, TD! It was such an emotional visit, the beach and dunes seemed more beautiful than ever that day, a wonderful gift. Here is one place you can hear the warbler’s sweet song: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow_Warbler/sounds
Beach roses charm me every time. I never see them, yet feel drawn to them. Also rather like the duo of herring gulls. They seem sassy to me.
I love how cheeky gulls can be, with people and with each other. 🙂 My beach roses will be sadly missed, I do understand why you feel drawn to them.
Such a beautiful area of dunes, sea and sky. I love the fragrance of beach roses. I once made potpourri from their petals and the fragrance lasted for years. Great sightings, too, the birds are all busy preparing for the breeding season. Interesting to observe the courtship of the gulls. Your mystery flower is beach pea (Lathyrus maritimus).
I have a beach rose potpourri, too, that I keep in a paper bag in my dresser drawer! Only I didn’t make it myself, I bought it in a little shop in Provincetown many years ago. It still smells lovely. If those two gulls were courting they were sure taking their time getting acquainted. I kept wondering how David Attenborough might be narrating the scene. Thanks so much for the beach pea identification!
What a beautiful farewell. I loved the little warbler – I have written almost a page about them in Hilaryon stories. I think it is a miracle that those tiny birds can cross the Atlantic!
Now – looking forward to new photos from the new place where you two put down new roots. May you be happy there♥
Thank you, Leelah! 💙 Migration is indeed a miraculous thing to wonder about, and here we are, ready to migrate ourselves to a new place with a very different climate. I will do my best to post those new photos as soon as we get settled. Thank you so much for your well wishes and blessings.
That’s a gorgeous yellow warbler, and I do love the beach roses, too! It’s plain to see you’re going to miss this spot, Barbara. However, after you get nice and settled in your new place, perhaps it will be fun to return and see if anything’s changed?
I do wonder if we’ll ever find our way back here. Traveling is so much trouble with our medical conditions it might not be feasible, but we’ll see. But I think we will be very happy in our new home near the grandchildren and I bet there will be warblers and other kinds of roses to enjoy. 🙂 (Not sure about gulls, though.)
How very difficult it must be to leave behind this beloved beach spot, Barbara. This walk, your words and photos, were wonderful. You brought alive the beach scene, your robin friend and the gulls, the beautiful beach roses so beautifully. As a birder, I recognized the “sound” of your yellow warbler instantly with the mnemonic quote you gave. Truly delightful scene.
Thank you for your very kind words, Jet! I was completely enchanted with that cheerful yellow warbler and his sweet song, although he was quite a challenge to photograph as he was flitting around so much. I hope he finds his mate and that they have a successful breeding season. Beach rose thickets must be a good choice for nesting, with plenty of bugs around for food.
You have a gift for sharing what you see. Thank you for taking us along with you on all these walks.
Thank you so much, Rosie. It’s always a pleasure to know you’re coming along with me on our walks. I think having a camera in hand helps me to see things I might otherwise not notice.
A wonderful last walk of this beautiful beach, Barbara. I love each photo. How lovely to meet up with a few birds this last time, as they bid farewell to you both too! Especially that stunning Yellow Warbler! 🙂
Thank you, Donna! Seeing that warbler was such a treat, a wonderful goodbye gift for us both. Maybe he was letting us know that we will see warblers in North Carolina soon. 🙂 Not so sure about gulls so far inland.
What gorgeous photos on your last beach walk Barbara. I like those beautiful beach roses and can almost smell the scent of them. Scents for you to remember as you say … even the salty air. I like the shoreline and the curved peninsula. Your warbler is very sweet indeed as would be his song. My favorite picture of all is the last one of the gull – what a look bidding you a fond farewell. :
Thank you, Linda! Everything there was even more beautiful that day than I had expected it to be. I will miss my gulls!!!
You picked a perfect day to go Barbara – everything was made for you for your “last look”. I know you like gulls and I guess it is best that you have not seen “The Captain” in a few years now as you would especially be missing him.
I have been thinking about the Captain a lot lately and remembering how much he taught me in our years of connection. You’re right, I also think it best that I haven’t seen him in a couple years and had said good-bye to him already. Sometimes I go back and look at all the pictures he let me take of him. 🙂
You would be sad to leave the Captain since he was always so accommodating to you, so it’s best this way. I know one day I’ll go to the Park and there will be no Parker. I will feel the same way you did/do. My Cardinal family is gone – they were there yesterday; gone this morning. I expected them to be here another week, but the Mom was sitting on the babies (likely t keep them warm when we had the cold spell) and not sitting on eggs to incubate them. I couldn’t tell as the nest was above eye level. I was surprised and didn’t see any hanging around. They can’t be far – the info I read is they leave the nest but are not ready to fledge yet.
Let’s hope the day when there will be no more Parker is far off into the future. I hope the cardinal fledging lessons went according to plan, even if you didn’t get to see it. I had a female cardinal come to a branch right under the kitchen window here. She stayed a while and was great company while I was making my breakfast. 🙂
I feel the same way Barbara – a world without Parker is not the same. My Cardinals fooled me a little. I was planning on doing the post for this Monday as the weather was going to be a mix of rain (yay) and wildfire haze. But the rain is now holding off until Sunday night. I still see (and usually hear) Mama Cardinal, but no young ‘uns in the yard. Your Cardinal replaces the Jay who was looking in the window at you during that big snowstorm a few years ago. 🙂
The other morning we heard a mockingbird mimicking lots of different bird calls, one right after another. He was perched on top of a lamp post, in plain sight, in the grocery store parking lot. I stood outside the car for the longest time just listening to his amazing repertoire…
Lucky you Barbara! I saw one Northern Mockingbird in the Park a few years ago, but it was very cold in mid-Winter and the older gentleman I sometimes walked with had a bird book and had learned what it was. I have heard about how they good they are at mimicking the the other birdsong, but this one was silent. Hope you see this mockingbird on a regular basis – maybe on your forest walk you will be taking!
It would be nice to see a mockingbird in the woods but I am glad this one decided to sing in the middle of a city parking lot that day. It brightened my spirits! I had to wonder what he was so happy about and it was a good reminder for me to look on the bright side. 🙂
He was sent specifically to cheer you Barbara. I went out in the yard and saw 5-6 Chickadees at the little feeder – I was overjoyed. Next couple of days there were none. This morning it rained and I didn’t go outside. The tree guy I called came to review the project and give me an estimate. He called me from the driveway he had arrived. As we passed the bush where the seed feeder is, there they were, sitting on the dish perches, on the bush – easily 5 of them. I was happy – hope I can encourage them to stay. They are so cute and their sweet noises they make.