Norman Bird Sanctuary — Attraction in Middletown

Wonderful park! After a full day in Newport, as if walking there wasn’t enough, we went to this bird sanctuary to experience the nature of the area. It was easy to find, had a cute gift shop/souvineer, and clean restrooms. If you live in the area, this would be a fantastic place to return again and again- many educational opportunities for kids. And adults- they offered me a pair of binoculars to borrow!

Their website has a good quality map you can check out in advance and plan your walk. We only had an hour here, we did the Nelson Pond trail that went up on a ridge and provided fantastic overlook views. I was surprised, despite the marker being a ‘black diamond’ to indicate its difficulty, that this trail indeed had you use your hands to climb up a few feet of rocks! I felt safe and capable. There are a lot of different trails at the park so you can choose what works for you, but if you think all they offer are gentle walks, you better come here to see for yourself!

We had a great time. We heard the birds but we don’t know how to find them. In the pond we spotted blue herons and turtles.

I recommend this park to all visitors and locals of the area to experience the natural area of...

I’m going to lead off with our slight problem here since this info may help someone else - the trail distances, as far as I can tell, are EACH way, not round trip. I don’t think the map makes it clear for an out and back trail like Hanging Rock and unfortunately, whether via misunderstanding or knowledge gap, I received incorrect info today when I asked at the visitor desk several minutes after 4pm with two young kids in tow if the Hanging Rock trail was one mile round trip or each way, and was told one mile was the round trip distance and that we had plenty of time to make it there and back by 5pm (we did not). The rest of her info regarding trail route and warning some difficulty to the hike was accurate, at least - there really is quite some rock scrambling with drop offs to either side so I’d only do it if you feel pretty sure footed. The trails we took are maintained well but I thought could be marked better especially there are some unlabeled splits. Would have liked to visit with more time to explore in a relaxed fashion and bet it would be prettier in a few weeks with some more green. Worth checking out but triple check the trail distances if that...

We enjoyed the Norman Bird Sanctuary as much as I knew we would when I found them online. When I saw the Raptor Roundup I was so excited because they're definitely my favorite kind of bird. Hunter the hawk was absolutely amazing and I enjoyed every minute of seeing her. The presentation about raptors was informative and since I'm new to birding all of the information was new to me and really interesting. After the presentation we headed out to walk a loop and see if we could see any raptors. Unfortunately it was rainy and cold and even the birds were taking shelter, but we still enjoyed the walk and got to see unshy deer, beautiful ducks and Red Winged Blackbirds. Everyone that worked there was so friendly and knowledgeable. Overall it was a great experience and I'm so glad we got a membership! We'll be back when things start to bloom, it will definitely be gorgeous...