Posts Tagged ‘A. Roy Hilbinger’

Becalmed

September 3rd, 2010 admin
Newport Harbor scenes on a hot, humid, hazy, and flat calm morning. But Hurricane Earl is coming, and this will be a totally different scene on Friday.

Upper harbor looking south from the Van Zandt St. Pier

Upper Harbor looking north from behind Hunter House on Washington St.

Another view of the Upper Harbor looking north from behind Hunter House on Washington St.

The Newport Yacht Club on Long Wharf from Perrotti Park

© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger
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Summertime…

September 1st, 2010 admin
…is winding down. And this shot of a guy fishing from his houseboat in the upper end of Newport Harbor sort of sums it all up. As does the song that follows the photo.

Photo © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

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A Busy Sunday Afternoon on Sunny Newport Harbor

September 1st, 2010 admin
I ended up at King park on the south end of the harbor after a long hike. It was nice to sit on a shady bench and watch the busy Summer crowd on the water – lots of boats, and lots of people (and dogs) playing in the water – including the rather large cruise ship Caribbean Princess docked just outside. I decided to just post the photos; you don’t really need captions for this. Enjoy!








© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

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Saturday at Sachuest Point

August 29th, 2010 admin
I got up and out the door early this morning to go hit Easton’s Pond and Green End (aka North) Pond; there had been reports of interesting sightings, including some Wood Ducks, and I wanted to go see, too. Unfortunately there was nothing unusual this morning when I was there, just some big old Canada Geese lounging around. Oh well… At that point I decided to head over to the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge because now is when the Tree Swallows gather in the thousands there, “staging”, i.e. feeding up for the migration south for the Winter.

Of course, one of the iconic sights on the way to Sachuest Point is Hanging Rock, so I just had to get a shot. It’s part of the Norman Bird Sanctuary and overlooks Sachuest Point, Sachuest Beach, and Easton’s Point, offering beautiful views from the top. I call it “iconic” because it’s come to stand for Middletown, RI, and they’ve even used it on the town seal.

Past Hanging Rock and out on Sachuest Point I was greeted by the staging clouds of Tree Swallows. They choose this place in particular because there are plenty of Bayberries and insects (I was getting eaten alive by the ’skeeters – mosquitoes for those who insist on proper English!); they fall on the Bayberry bushes to gorge on the berries and then they rise into the air and fling themselves about with open beaks scooping up the bugs. When they get fat and happy enough, they head south.

Along the trails in the Refuge I came across other photogenic sights. For instance, this baby Eastern Cottontail cropping grass beside the southern loop trail. It let me get fairly close and seemed more curious than fearful.

There were lots of butterflies out today – Monarchs, Cabbage Whites, American Painted Ladies, and Clouded Sulphurs mostly. I waited patiently while this Cabbage White fluttered around choosing a Spotted Knapweed bloom to settle on.

Since I started with an icon, I might as well end with one. This female Red-tailed Hawk has been hanging around the visitors’ center since October and has become the unofficial mascot of the Refuge. Whenever I’ve been over there she’s either been perched on the roof playing Queen of All She Surveys or over on some piles of dirt dug up while they make a new leachfield down the hill from the center. Today she was up on the peak of the roof looking down on all us peons!


© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

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Hoory! The Sun’s Back!

August 29th, 2010 admin
Yup, it rained from Sunday through Wednesday, and there was even one shower yesterday (Thursday) morning, but by the afternoon the sun finally returned. I celebrated by walking down to Gooseneck Cove to see who was hanging out, and ended up out at Brenton Point as well, before making my way back to Ballard Park.

There wasn’t anything interesting off Hazard Rd. on the Cove, but down on the Ocean Drive end at the Green Bridge it was feeding frenzy time – about 2 dozen Double-Crested Cormorants, a dozen Great Egrets, a dozen Snowy Egrets, 2 Great Blue Herons, and about 10 Common Terns. It was near high tide and the Cormorants were corralling the fish while the rest of the birds waded (the Egrets and Herons) or dove (the Terns) into the fray. Unfortunately most of this happened well outside camera range for me, although it was fun to watch in the binoculars. But I did manage to get a shot of an immature Bonaparte’s Gull across the road on the ocean side.

On the way to Brenton Point I stopped at King’s Beach, a state-designated fishing area on a rocky point into the ocean (not to be confused with King Park on the south end of Newport Harbor). This pair of Herring Gulls were taking their ease in the sunlight.

On Brenton Point the small shore birds were all over the place. I estimate that there were at least 3 dozen Ruddy Turnstones (top photo), including several immature birds (middle photo), and another 3 dozen or so Semipalmated Plovers (bottom photo).



Eventually I wandered back to Ballard Park, where I found not a bird, but this Whitetail Deer fawn crashing around in the underbrush in the (seasonally) dry end of the vernal pond on the Quarry floor.

That was yesterday. Today was even sunnier, and much drier and cooler, and I went ambling down on the Cliff Walk. Unfortunately there were too many people there for me to enjoy the walk, but I did manage to get a shot of this male American Goldfinch having a feast on the Bull Thistle he was perched on. Goldfinches just loooooove Thistle!

Yes indeed, it’s so nice when the sun comes back after a long rainy stretch!

Photos & text © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

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Theme Thursday – Equal

August 27th, 2010 admin
Rhode Island was settled by spiritual refugees fleeing from the oppression of the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who insisted on persecuting and punishing anyone who didn’t adhere to their belief system. The colony’s Royal Charter of 1663, written by Newport’s own Dr. John Clarke, guaranteed equal treatment for all expression of religion in the colony. Rhode Island became the beacon of religious freedom and freedom of conscience in the American colonies. As Newport was the colony and later state capital (until around 1920), much of the religious diversity gravitated here. So here are some photos of our historical spiritual diversity.

Touro Synagogue, 1763; the oldest synagogue in the US.

The Great Friends Meeting House, 1699; the oldest house of worship in Rhode Island and the home of the New England Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends (aka Quakers).

Union Congregational Church, 1835; the first free African American church in Rhode Island (now a residence).

First Church of Christ, Scientist, 1929

And now for the music. I got into a Reggae mood this week, because when I fed “equal” into YouTube’s search engine this tune was at the top of the list – Peter Tosh’s “Equal Rights”, performed by Afro Fiesta of Cape Town, South Africa, and recorded and filmed by the Playing for Change people.

And while we’re in a Reggae groove and dealing with the Playing for Change phenomenon, how about a little Bob Marley? Here’s his “One Love” performed by the Playing for Change Band live on tour, in this case in Madrid. Enjoy!

Photos & text © 2009 & 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

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Sight & Sound – Still Raining

August 25th, 2010 admin
Day Three of rain in Newport. I got out and about, but not for long.

Photo © 2009 by A. Roy Hilbinger

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Sight & Sound – Sunday Washout

August 23rd, 2010 admin
Our biweekly bird walk didn’t last very long. I got this shot of the very odd clouds overhead on the way to meet the others at the Norman Bird Sanctuary. It started spitting during our first stop and really started coming down at our second stop. By the time we got to Gooseneck Cove at Hazard Rd. we didn’t even get out of the cars. Oh well…

Photo © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

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A Cure for Wingnuts, Conspiracy Theorists, and Other Chronic Grouches

August 21st, 2010 admin
Nature is the perfect cure for a sour, contentious, negative outlook on life.

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~John Muir

Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.
~Rachel Carson

I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.
~Henry David Thoreau

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more.
~George Gordon, Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage

Photos and slideshow © 2009 & 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

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Theme Thursday – Brush

August 21st, 2010 admin
“Brush”, eh? Well, let’s see…


And now, the videos. I know it’s not a brush, but the first tune I thought of was Elmore James’s “Dust My Broom”. Well, c’mon, you use a broom to “brush” things off, don’t you? Anyhow, I’m pretty sure that both the Allman Brothers Band and Stevie Ray Vaughan did versions of this, but I couldn’t find anything on YouTube. But I found something just as awesome – Irish bluesman Gary Moore doing as high energy a version of this tune as I’ve ever heard. Boogie time!

Of course, you use brushes to paint things, and back in 1966 the Rolling Stones used a brush to “Paint It Black”. I found some good live concert footage from 2006, with Keef trying to pretend he was Brian Jones and looking like he rose from his coffin especially for this gig.

And how can I do a post on the brush theme without at least mentioning Bob Ross, with his misty mountains, staggered evergreen trees, and “happy little clouds”? I couldn’t find a full episode of “Joy of Painting” on YouTube, but I found this quirky, endearing tribute to the Mop-Headed One by one Ron Barba entitled “Why I Don’t Paint People”. Enjoy!

Photos & text © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger

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