Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge _ VII

Basking the sun between meals of mice or fish, this heron is really showing his breeding plumage.

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge - VI

I never tire of seeing these hooded mergansers.

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge - V

Here's another view of our friends, the hooded merganser family.

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge - IV

 

Mr. and Mrs. hooded merganser sit in water surveying the situation.

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge - III

 

This heron sat forever looking at something he wanted to eat. I never did see him move. Would that I had that sort of patience.

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge - II

I know that I just showed you photos of a heron, but this one is so nicely framed but his/her reflection, I couldn't resist.

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

In January, we took a trip south to Ridgefield, WA to visit the WIldlife Refuge. In the summer, you can hike on the trails but in the winter, to protect the animals, you are only allowed to drive the loop road and view from your car. We like to visit this place in the winter when all the birds come to eat and prepare for their journeys back north.

Duck-y Creatures

Out on the various ponds around us as we crept along in our car, were many different sorts of ducks and their ilk. A fairly common one is the northern shoveler. A female is seen above.

Common and Uncommon Birds

Those of you who have followed this blog from the beginning, will know that I have posted plenty of photos of ibis in Africa and Australia. They are not so common here in the US. However, we do have one, the glossy ibis, and you can see him in the photos above and below.

An Eagle and Beavers

Ridgefield really is a place you need to visit. There is an amazing amount of wildlife here. This is one of the few places that I've seen a beaver.

Another Red Shouldered Hawk

Turns out that this wildlife refuge is a hot spot for red shouldered hawks. Here's another one perched in a tree looking about for his/her next meal.

A Brown Creeper...Creeping

It is not often that I am able to photograph small birds. They are usually much too quick for me to find, focus, and snap to get a decent image. I was lucky this day to find a brown creeper on the side of nearby tree out foraging for food.

Another Hungry Merganser

We found another hungry merganser shopping for lunch. This one caught a fish.

A Red Shouldered Hawk.

Since you seen nothing for mergansers for a few days, I thought I break up the monotony with some images of the red shouldered hawk. This fellow was perched in a tree just next to the road. I only had to lean out the window.

Hunger is not a Game if You are on the Menu

The high point of the day has to be when I managed to catch this hooded Merganser with a freshly caught frog in his mouth. Normally, I'll include 4-6 photos in a blog post so that your daily bite is modest and I don't bore you to death. I prefer to spread out the boredom and let it creep up on you over time.

However, today, you're getting a longer posting that forms a sort of slow motion rendering of this bird having lunch. Yes, I could have made a video, but since I really prefer the still image, this is what you get.

More Mergansers to Enjoy

It was a calm day so the only ripples in the water were of the merganser's making. This combined with the reflected colors give the birds a perfect background.

Hooded Mergansers

I've got a batch of photos of hooded mergansers to share with you and today is the first installment. While at the Ridgefield reserve, we were in a slough of many channels and pools of water. In one of the channels were these mergansers just chilling and enjoying life.

The Great Blue Heron - III

And so here he is in all his mating splendor. These really are fine looking birds.

The Great Blue Heron - II

Continuing where we left off yesterday, we see our friend out strutting her stuff, showing out her top knot, her new colors, and her new layer of slender feathers on his back.

The Great Blue Heron

One our way south from Snohomish to Cottage Grove, we spied signs for an interesting wildlife reserve. We decided to stop on our way back home. As usual, we managed to arrive near midday - not the best time for birds. But it was overcast and raining off and on, so we were hopeful.

One of the more common residents is the great blue heron. For the first time, we found a trove of herons during the beginning of mating season. As a result, all the guys are decked out in their finest breeding plumage.