Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge 12-24-2018

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Bill Anderson

Super Moderator
Staff member
The Christmas get together of our extended family in the Portland-Vancouver area was scheduled for 12-23-18 due to the availability of a room large enough to hold all of us. The following day, Christmas Eve, my family and I drove out the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge River S unit for a final tour of the year. I knew we would be shooting primarily from the pickup, so I left my 500L telephoto lens at home and attached my 1.4x II teleconverter to the 1Dx + 100-400L II telephoto zoom for a reach of 560mm.

A scrub jay was raiding the seed feeder hanging near the volunteer shack.

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My son is getting very good at taking photos, so he rode shotgun and took photos from his side of the pickup while I took photos from the driver's side. He took these photos of a great egret that was hunting in a ditch adjacent to the road.

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A red-tailed hawk was perched in a tree on my side of the road.

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Bill Anderson

Super Moderator
Staff member
The only nutria I saw during this trip was one near some coots.

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A flock of cackling geese.

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Bill Anderson

Super Moderator
Staff member
We stopped at the blind, located about 1/3 of the way around the driving loop. On the walkway out to the blind:

Brown creeper.

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Golden-crowned kinglet playing its usual game of hide-and-go-seek among the foliage.

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From the blind: No snow geese on this visit, but lots of swans.

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We got back into the pickup and passed under a red-tailed hawk as we drove down the road. I took this photo through the open sun roof. When I bought the pickup, I took great pains to get a retractable sun roof for shots like this.

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Bill Anderson

Super Moderator
Staff member
The first of two highlights of the trip: three (or maybe four) otters were in the waterway beside the road. It is the first time I have seen otters at Ridgefield. My son took these photos from his seat.

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Bill Anderson

Super Moderator
Staff member
Two northern pintails were in the water on passenger side of the pickup. I shot this photo of one of them while I was looking through the passenger side window as I was afraid my son would not know what I wanted.

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Bill Anderson

Super Moderator
Staff member
The second highlight of the trip was a pair of kestrels. I was on the lookout for them as I figured out their territory from previous visits. My son and I passed the camera back and forth, taking photos from different sides of the pickup.

First kestrel.

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Second kestrel. Hunting.

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Look closely and you can see the wing of an insect in the kestrel's beak.

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Bill Anderson

Super Moderator
Staff member
Kestrel banking for a turn while cruising over its hunting field.

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Now that I know the kestrels' territory, I'll return with the big lens and tripod after May 1st when you are allowed to get out of your vehicle. There are some turnouts where I can park and set up without blocking traffic.
 
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Bill Anderson

Super Moderator
Staff member
Red-tailed hawk in the field.

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No trip to Ridgefield would be complete without shots of a northern harrier.

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Terry O

Well-Known Member
Wow, Bill what a terrific set of photos! I must say, Daren is getting very very good!

Terry
 

Bill Anderson

Super Moderator
Staff member
I bought a one year pass for visits during family trips to Vancouver. The driving loop of the River S unit makes quick tours very easy while driving I-5.
 
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