Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Fort Nature Refuge,North Smithfield, RI

Fort Nature Refuge

North Smithfield, Rhode Island

Fort Trail Map (42.55 kB)

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Howdee all,

This past weekend Jeff and I visited our daughter in Rhode Island. We share a love of the outdoors and hiking,so we chose this Audubon Refuge for our hike of the day.

 The Fort Family donated the land to the Audubon Society after they had created a nature refuge for themselves, Ruhren said. Trails wind through a forest of hardwoods, mixed with evergreens. In some places, there are stands of healthy hemlocks and patches of planted pines, white and red. via the Projoaudubon n smithfield RI_001A stream connects three ponds, creatively named First, Second and Third. They are the headwaters of the Woonasquatucket River which flows down to Providence and into Narragansett Bay.via The Projoaudubon n smithfield RI_002We did a loop starting with the Blue trail..yellow, red and back to the blue.

Most of the leaves had fallen…

audubon n smithfield RI_003A bench in the wateraudubon n smithfield RI_004Guess we wont be sitting here..audubon n smithfield RI_006Quartz still life..audubon n smithfield RI_011Pinkness…audubon n smithfield RI_015Anyone know what type of bee/hornet lives here?audubon n smithfield RI_020

We walked on crispy crunchy audubon n smithfield RI_026Through the forest to vernal pools..audubon n smithfield RI_030The water here is flowing over the road..good thing the trail didn’t go that way..audubon n smithfield RI_027Beautiful reflectionsaudubon n smithfield RI_031Duckweed, leaves and Pine needles in water…audubon n smithfield RI_032I flipped this image…the reflection of the trees taking back their watery leaves and needles..audubon n smithfield RI_033We found signs of Beaver in the forest..downed trees, and worn areas where they crossed the path.audubon n smithfield RI_034Still some nice color..audubon n smithfield RI_037Looking for Birds…audubon n smithfield RI_038audubon n smithfield RI_039

Samarrah and Jeff discussing the routeaudubon n smithfield RI_040A Green Island..with mini pine treeaudubon n smithfield RI_041Luscious Loveliness audubon n smithfield RI_045Amazing natural rock Cairnsaudubon n smithfield RI_047Pine needles cushion the ground..audubon n smithfield RI_049The sun comes out and shows us blue skies reflecting in the water..audubon n smithfield RI_053audubon n smithfield RI_052

audubon n smithfield RI_055Everywhere I look…Beautyaudubon n smithfield RI_057

Beauty is Before Me

by Navaho (Anonymous)
(19th Century) Timeline

Original Language
Navaho/Dine

Primal/Tribal/Shamanic : American Indian

19th Century

Beauty is before me,
And beauty is behind me.
Above and below me hovers the beautiful.
I am surrounded by it.
I am immersed in it.
In my youth I am aware of it,
And in old age I shall walk quietly
The beautiful trail.

audubon n smithfield RI_058

In beauty may I walk.
All day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons may I walk.

Beautifully will I possess again.
Beautifully birds . . .
Beautifully joyful birds

On the trail marked with pollen may I walk.
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk.
With dew about my feet may I walk.

With beauty may I walk.
With beauty before me, may I walk.
With beauty behind me, may I walk.
With beauty above me, may I walk.
With beauty below me, may I walk.
With beauty all around me, may I walk.

In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.

It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.

A Navajo Indian Prayer of the Second Day of the Night Chant (anonymous)

audubon n smithfield RI_059

When I saw these mushrooms I thought Morels, of course I knew they weren't morels..as Morels are a spring mushroom and these looked a bit different.

audubon n smithfield RI_060On closer inspection I saw that this mushroom came out of an egg shape..below the ground.audubon n smithfield RI_062Stinkhorn mushroom

by Michael Kuo

Stinkhorns are amazing mushrooms, notorious for popping up suddenly and unexpectedly in urban settings. They are very diverse in appearance, but all of them share at least two features:

  • Some part of the fruiting body, at some stage in development, is covered with a foul-smelling slime.
  • The fruiting body arises from an "egg," traces of which may disappear by maturity.

    Beyond these shared features, however, just about anything goes, and stinkhorns range from looking rather like Morels to appearing like, um, a portion of canine anatomy, or odd marine creatures with tentacles, or crab claws, Wiffle balls, Chinese lanterns, and so on. Via Mushroom Expert.com

     audubon n smithfield RI_065We had a wonderful walk..Its so nice sharing our love of nature..…

  • What we weren't happy about was the ticks we found..both Samarrah and I found ticks..and I was bitten three times by the same tick I actually felt it biting me ..but didn’t find it till after the third bite…lets hope I don’t get Lyme Disease again….ugh..

  • Happy Autumn

  • Watch out for Ticks…

  • 12 comments:

    1. lovely pics dawn. love the colors and especially the reflection shots.
      ticks on you <24 hours are generally safe, not 100% but usual.
      happy autumn :)
      dan

      ReplyDelete
    2. Beautiful series Dawn
      Full of colors
      Just great

      ReplyDelete
    3. WOW!! Outstandingly beautiful place! Love the red leaf carpeted trails!!

      ReplyDelete
    4. Oh my, the fall colors are amazing. I am so jealous. We do not really get much color change here at all. Everything goes from green to brown. I so enjoyed your photos!

      ReplyDelete
    5. Dawn, your photos are breathtaking! So many lovely scenes and colors. Thank you for taking us along on your beautiful family adventure. Always a joy to view your blog!

      ReplyDelete
    6. I love the bright colors of New England. You took great photos.

      ReplyDelete
    7. Alan
      Thanks dear Alanie for you comment..:)

      forestal
      Thanks Dan.and thanks for that info on the ticks..I knew something was biting my side and several times checked..after the third time i found the tick..have three separate bites..so far no issues.

      MikeyBoy50
      Thanks ..Autumn is so beautiful..and it was stunning this year.

      cindyzlogic
      Thanks Dear Tweetie Cindy..I loved the red carpet too! crunch crunch..

      Weekend Cowgirl
      oh darn..so sorry you dont get the fall colors..Glad I could share them with you!

      Julie G.
      Aww Julie..You are a sweet heart! Thanks so much for your lovely comment! Hope we can walk a beautiful trail together someday.

      YsMum
      Thanks dear Tweetie! Hope to see you next fall!!

      Appalachian Lady
      Thanks so much..glad you enjoyed the colors..bet you are having a few of your own now!

      ReplyDelete
    8. What a great hike? I warned you about those ticks in Rhode Island. Please watch for symptoms. Invest in tick free clothes.

      ReplyDelete
    9. Kathy H..
      Thank you!

      John..
      yeah, shouldnt have gone off trail into the tall grass. So far no symptoms..thank goodness..Someone said that if you catch it before 24 hours you most likely will not have issues..
      I hope I dont.
      Take care and Happy Birding!

      ReplyDelete

    ok what do you really think?????