Category: Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge

It’s easy to get excited at the sight of a flock of rarely-seen Sand Hill Cranes flying overhead, but if you’re going to enjoy birding on a regular basis you need to continue to find beauty and joy in seeing the everyday residents of the wetlands and woodlands.

You need to spend fifteen minutes watching a Great Blue Heron stalking his prey,

knowing full well you already have 250+ shots residing on your hard drive at home and that, more than likely, you’ll end up deleting these images shortly after you get home.

You still have to be thrilled upon hearing the male Red-wing Blackbird’s brilliant conk-la-ree,

charmed by the female Red-Wing Blackbird’s quieter charms,

or fascinated by her efforts to gather nesting materials.

It doesn’t hurt if you still can manage to love the iridescent-green head of the all-too-common Mallard.

When you’re able to do that, any sunny Spring day becomes a Zip de Doo Dah kinda day (and life doesn’t get much better than that).

I had my semiannual dentist appointment in Vancouver last Tuesday, and, as usual, I left early so I could spend the morning at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge before going to lunch with my fellow retired schoolteachers. I was beginning to question whether it had really been worth getting up at 5:30 just to visit the wildlife refuge when I noticed that the flocks of birds taking off from the southern end of the refuge didn’t quite look like the large number of Canada Geese I’d seen repeatedly taking flight.

As I got closer I realized that the large birds I’d observed taking off were Sand Hill Cranes, more Sand Hill Cranes than I had ever seen at one place before. Although many had already left, others were still feeding or preening themselves, apparently waiting their turn to take off.

And take off they did, in flight after flight, most of them flying directly south,

banking to the right,

and heading directly over my head as they turned northward.

I’ll have to admit that though I’ve seen several Sand Hill Cranes in the past few years I’ve been birding I’ve never been too impressed with them. They’ve never struck me as particularly elegant birds. So, I was more than a little surprised when I was suddenly awestruck when a large flock of them, far too large of a flock to capture in a single shot flew directly over me. I must have sat there for fifteen minutes letting flight after flight pass over. I was so impressed that I returned after my dental appointment, hoping to capture them in better light, but, of course, they, like most special moments in life, were no longer to be found. Such moments seem only to occur unexpectedly.

Fortunately, Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge has more to offer than just shorebirds. Although most of the places you can walk are off-limits for another month or two, in the short walk to the duck blind I managed to catch sight of a Brown Creeper

foraging for insects.

It didn’t take long to sight this pair of Greater Scaup,

which I rarely see.

Unfortunately, I can’t really share the most interesting moment of the morning. I had been standing in the duck blind for nearly half an hour enjoying a quiet, peaceful morning when suddenly every animal in the refuge started making noises, like this female Mallard.

From the racket I thought there had to be a predator nearby, but despite another fifteen minutes waiting I didn’t see a thing.

I finally gave up, got back in the car, and started driving again. I couldn’t figure why the car in front of me was going so slowly, until I spotted the predator walking calmly down the center of the road right in front of it.

When the driver pulled over I got a better shot of the coyote, and he didn’t even turn around when I clicked the lens.

The driver told me the coyote seemed totally unconcerned and, in fact, had paused long enough to snack on a mouse beside the road.

It’s probably not a good thing that the coyote is so indifferent to people, particularly since the refuge is slowly but surely being surrounded by houses, but it is a great feeling experiencing nature this immediately.

Sadly, the best day I’ve had in quite a while was last Wednesday’s trek to my dentist in Vancouver. Even though the skies were heavily overcast, I stopped at Ridgefield National Wildlife before my lunch and dental appointment. Although I didn’t see anything notable and the pictures aren’t “great,” I got to see birds that I haven’t seen regularly since they revised Nisqually.

The highlight of the morning would have to be this shot of a Wilson’s Snipe.

I was taking pictures of the male Gadwall when this Snipe landed right next to it. This is the first time I’ve ever recognized a Snipe when I first saw it, though I discovered awhile back that I had captured shots of a small flock of Snipes the previous year when I visited Ridgefield. I was surprised at how small Snipes are; I realized I’ve spent much of the last five years looking for a larger bird than it actually is.

I also saw a couple of Yellowlegs, a bird I used to see regularly at Nisqually,

but see rarely at Theler Wetlands.

I also saw a single Great Egret,

a bird seldom seen as far north as Seattle-Tacoma but one I regularly see when I visit California.

It was a nice break after a two and half hour drive on the Freeway, one that got me in the proper mood for lunch with Klaras and Terry.