Saturday, February 2, 2013

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

This morning Christina and I joined our friend Caitlin for a visit to the wildlife refuge in Ridgefield. We had fun spotting and photographing some of the many different kinds of birds that come to the refuge. 

We spent most of our time in the car, driving slowly through the auto tour loop. There is one place to get out and walk to a blind, where you can look over the wetlands for birds.

Caitlin and Christina looking out of the blind.

It was a cool, foggy morning, but by the end the clouds were burning off and the sun was shining. 




A blue heron.

A falcon, not sure what kind.

One of our most exciting discoveries was not a bird at all, but these cute river otters. We heard them squeaking before we actually saw them playing in the water.  

Canada goose.

A sparrow.

There are lots of different kinds of ducks and other waterfowl at the refuge. These are ring-necked ducks, I believe.

An American Kestrel. It's a very small kind of falcon, though this one was so fluffy that I didn't think he looked very much like an intimidating bird of prey!

There were quite a few bald eagles, which were pretty neat to see. 

Swans.

We took a second drive around the auto tour loop, hoping to see more river otters (Caitlin tells us we were really fortunate to see some). We think we saw one more, this little guy here. But there were also some nutrias around, and we weren't always sure if we were seeing an otter or a nutria.

Christina smiles for the camera through the side mirror.

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