Monday, May 25, 2009

refuge

Saturday Steve and I took a late afternoon drive to Ridgefield, Washington to go to the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge there. There is an auto route and you can take your time on the 4 mile loop and stop whenever there is room to observe more. There is also a little wooden blind that you can stop at. (You do have to stay on the road, though. You can't take off hiking through the woods.)



We saw lots of sweet singing and brightly colored birds. I saw a Crane and he spotted a Nutria.



This bird had the prettiest song and we got to see it sing. There were these beautiful tiny yellow birds, too and lots of swallows which I love to watch.

There were a lot of these trees there that creaked and groaned in the wind in a pretty creepy way. They would be perfect for a scary movie.





It was interesting to see lots of cattails in the wild and this other plant that I don't know the name of, but before Saturday I only ever saw them in dried flower arrangements.



It was a completely satisfying trip. I loved just standing out there and listening to all the sounds of the birds and trees and nothing else. It was just what I needed after a stressful week and what I have been craving for a while.

And just as we were leaving we stopped as a bald eagle flew low and slow right over us. I didn't bother to try and get a picture because I was afraid I would miss it. It was so neat.

I can't recommend it enough. There is an auto trip, where you can get out and walk a bit or not and then also a walking trip, also a wheelchair accessible road, so something for everyone.



I am already looking forward to the next time I will go. Maybe next time I can see some otters, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, hawks and more of the wildlife that lives there. That would be cool, but really the landscape and the sounds were enough for me. It was just glorious.

1 comment:

Heidi said...

great photos. now I want to go there too.

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