In early May, spouse and I walked the three trails at Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge in Middletown RI: the Flint Point trail, the Ocean View Loop, and the very short trail to Price Neck Overlook.

I was helped a lot planning all our walks by the Trails & Walks in Rhode Island blog, which describes lots of coastal Rhode Island walks, taken in all seasons from 2013 through the present, and gives GPS lat/long locations to make it easy to find the starting points.

The cautions on the online map (PDF) of Sachuest Point NWR make the place sound sort of scary — “Slippery rocks and heavy surf are often present and can be dangerous. Never turn your back to the ocean! Poison Ivy and ticks are abundant. Steep banks are treacherous. Approach trail edges with care” — but it was actually a very pleasant, easy walk through a habitat perfect for songbirds and rabbits.  Neither of us got into poison ivy, found any ticks on us, slipped down a cliff, or got taken by a rogue wave.

There’s a large visitors’ center here, open until 4 p.m. when we visited, though we didn’t go inside. Bathrooms!

What I will remember most are the warblers (lots of them darting around, but I managed to get only one warbler butt on film), the many rather tame rabbits at almost every turn, the thicket and bramble, and the ocean.

Here’s the parking lot and initial trail signs:

*

We walked toward the ocean first, on the same principle that causes some people to eat dessert first:

I love the ledge along oceanscapes.

But don’t turn your back on the ocean! 

The sky really cooperated for lovely photos.

Spearfishers, we’re talking to you!

I’m not a lighthouse fan but if you are, you can see one from here, Sakonnet Lighthouse off Little Compton:

Cormorants, gulls, and ducks? on ledges out at sea:

*

So, rabbits. These photos are of at least three different individuals.

*

Here’s the one warbler I managed to capture, photographically that is: a yellow warbler that would not cooperate:

This mockingbird was apparently eating whatever it’s got, but I can’t discern what it is. Then it took off with the prized item.

*

The crabapples were starting to bloom.

There was some kind of gall on some branch (not the crabapples), but I don’t know what it is; looks a bit like The Addams’ Family’s Cousin It. I suspect tiny wasp larvae inside.

*

I really love these kinds of paths, sort of gravelly, sandy, with bramble and meadow all around, and ocean close by. This is my habitat.

Rating: 12/10 … I’d walk it again!