Bird Watching New Year’s Day

What a day. A bit windy but it wasn’t raining. Chris and I decided to take a field trip to the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge thinking that because it was Sunday all the good folks would be at church and we would have the refuge to ourselves. We were surprised to find at least 30 cars making the loop around the refuge. Lots of ducks and geese were visible and residing on the backside ponds we could see tundra swans.

Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Ridgefield NWR Clark County WA

Chris managed to spot a reflection shot of a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) wading in shallow water. The opportunity was on his side of the car so I passed the camera to him and he collected this shot. I was hoping to find some hawks or maybe an eagle to photograph.

Northern Harrier
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) Ridgefield NWR Clark County WA

As luck would have it we found a Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) perched on a post. Before we could take a picture it launched a search pattern. Fortunately it returned to its perch and posed for a picture or two before it launched once again.

Norhtern Harrier
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) Ridgefield NWR Clark County WA

I managed a few shots as it passed by us. The trip to Ridgefield was a great way to start a new year.

byLarry

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