Napatree Point, Westerly, R.I.

On Friday the weather was so nice we just had to take advantage of it and head down to the coast. This time we stayed in Mystic, Connecticut and explored several beaches around that area. On Saturday we headed over to Watch Hill in Westerly, Rhode Island to walk the incredibly rich, natural area of Napatree Point. Napatree point is a wildlife conservation area on a beautiful barrier beach that stretches out into Fishers Island Sound and Little Narragansett Bay. It is the perfect place to hike and beach comb. The ocean side of the beach was strewn with many slipper shells and hard shell clams. I even found a small piece of a sand dollar shell. But my real goal was to get down to the rocks because last time I was here I found Oyster Drills and New England Whelks and I was excited to find them again. Down near the rocks there were not only these tiny snails but piles of slipper shells. It's a really cool place to hunt for shells and enjoy the view. We also found the very tiny Greedy Dove Shells which are about a half inch in length. Here is a photo of the three so you can compare them. Notice the beautiful texture of the New England whelk; it is sometimes called a Basket whelk and I assume it is because of this basket weave type texture.

After the rocky area of the beach you can walk around the spit to get to the bay side. We saw many Brant Geese and a few gulls on the end.

There is a little inlet of water called Watch Hill Cove and on it were three swans. We walked around it and found Ribbed Mussels everywhere; more than I have ever seen in one place. Ribbed Mussels are typically found in salt marsh areas like this cove. They look like their ocean going cousins the blue mussels except they are ribbed.

If you continue around the bay side there are still lots of shells to be found. It is less windy on the bay and typically a bit warmer. You can cross back over to the ocean side by way of several marked paths. This whole area is a real treasure and one of my favorite beaches! Here is the view of Napatree Point from the beginning of the trail. It really is a spectacular area!

Here is a short video of the various treasures we found.
​NOTE: the string of egg casings belong to the Channeled Whelk and it's a flap of shell (not skin) on the Lobed Moon Snail (Shark's Eye). Enjoy!