The brochure for Ridgefield NWR had a quote from the Lewis & Clark Journal on their visit to the area that always made me smile:
I slept but very little last night for the noise kept up during the whole of the night by the swans, geese…brant (and) ducks on a small sand island…they were immensley numerous and their noise horrid.
Capt. William Clark
Lower Columbia River
November 5, 1805
As someone who both has trouble sleeping and made a similar cross-country journey when my wife and I drove to Oregon years ago, I feel qualified to comment and say the expedition should have brought a white noise machine, or at least downloaded one to their phone. Classic rookie mistake!
If they had stayed to enjoy summer in the Pacific Northwest they would have slept soundly as the big flocks of waterfowl migrate out, leaving a smaller group of residents like this Canada goose with four goslings nestled in its wings.
📷: Canon 20D | Canon 500mm f/4 | Canon 1.4X
🗓️: May 10, 2009
Boolie 