Category: Birds

Wet and Getting Wetter

A male cinnamon teal swims during a heavy downpour at Long Lake in Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Ridgefield, Washington on December 23, 2015. Original: _L1A7872.CR2

The new year is kicking off with a Trixie-approved Oregon rain here in the desert. I fell in love with the rain when we lived in the Pacific Northwest and would specifically go out to photograph in it. On this day it rained on and off but for a little while it was absolutely chucking it down. These photos of a cinnamon teal and northern shoveler were taken 18 seconds apart as they fed in Long Lake.

📷: Canon 7D II | Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4x III
🗓️: December 23, 2015

A male northern shoveler feeds during a heavy downpour at Long Lake in Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Ridgefield, Washington on December 23, 2015. Original: _L1A7885.CR2

Keeping An Eye Out (And Up)

A pied-billed grebe in nonbreeding plumage casts an eye to the skies as it rests in Bower Slough in Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Ridgefield, Washington on December 29, 2011. Original: _MG_0474.CR2

A pied-billed grebe casts an eye upwards, with the biggest threat in the skies being the bald eagles whose numbers rose in winter along with the returning waterfowl. The biggest threat to its peace were the rafts of coots who moved about the slough.

📷: Canon 7D | Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4x III
🗓️: December 29, 2011

A pied-billed grebe in nonbreeding plumage rests in Bower Slough in Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Ridgefield, Washington on December 29, 2011. Original: _MG_0521.CR2

Revisiting

A black-and-white version of a close-up of a juvenile great blue heron against a frosty backdrop, taken at Horse Lake at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Ridgefield, Washington on January 1, 2011. Original: _MG_1684.CR2

I’ve been editing a lot of old pictures recently which has let me revisit my former haunts as well. I updated the color version of this young great blue heron which has been online for a long while, but also liked a black-and-white treatment which highlights the markings on its long beak.

📷: Canon 7D | Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM
🗓️: January 1, 2011

Idyll

A male cinnamon teal sleeps in Long Lake, covered in drops of rain, at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Ridgefield, Washington on June 6, 2010. Original: _MG_9088.CR2

A tranquil scene as a cinnamon teal sleeps on a rainy day at Ridgefield. I remember spending long hours on the auto tour, often sitting in a spot like Long Lake and watching to see what came by, but was surprised when looking back at my journals to see some rainy days I’d stay the entire day. You’d think, given I’m the one living it, I’d be better at remembering the details of my life.

📷: Canon 7D | Canon 500mm f/4 + 1.4x
🗓️: June 6, 2010

This Happy Little Fellow

This Happy Little Fellow.

Another charm of the auto tour was what I called “Hawks on a Stick”, the juvenile redtails who’d perch on the signs around the big meadow and let you watch them up close. I’d wait until there was no traffic coming, put the teleconverter & extensions tubes on my biggest telephoto, then drive up and mostly watch their backs as they looked into the meadow for voles.

If they turned their heads, with such a good look at the beak I was reminded of the Simpsons episode where Lisa visits the dentist and he holds up a gruesome device and says “this happy little fellow is the gouger”.

Eye of the Bittern

A close-up view of the face of an American bittern, taken on the auto tour at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Ridgefield, Washington on January 4, 2013. Original: _7D_1645.CR2

I was re-editing some photos to go along with a saguaro post and realized this bittern image wasn’t even online. The auto tour at Ridgefield was a magical place, you could shut your car off and sit in the rain and the cold and the wildlife would come right up to you.

📷: Canon 7D | Canon 500mm f/4 + 1.4X
🗓️: January 4, 2013

So Many Questions

An adult Harris’ hawk perches on a boulder on the Bootlegger Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

As Bear and I approached the end of our hike, perched high on boulders beside the trail were several volunteers greeting visitors to the park. They patiently answered questions they must get asked over and over and over, like “What trails are good for beginners?”, “Are there really rattlesnakes here?”, and “Why didn’t the eagles fly Sam & Frodo to Mordor?”

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm+1.4X
🗓️: November 9, 2025