A great blue heron preens its neck feathers by running them through the tip of its bill.
Tag: River S Unit
Song of the Blackbird
A male red-winged blackbird sings at the edge of the marsh on a winter morning. This section of South Quigley Lake is lined with cattails where the blackbirds sing (and in the spring, raise their young).
Self-portrait
Late in 2012, I used the pupil of a cooperative red-tailed hawk to take a self-portrait in my new car. To avoid spooking it, I setup the camera before I drove up, adding a 36mm extension tube to my telephoto and extender to make sure I could focus even up close.
The Small Diver
Bufflehead are one of our smallest ducks and fairly shy so it’s always a treat when they swim in close. This male swam across the smooth surface of Rest Lake with his tail splayed flat, as a diving duck he can use his tail to push down against the surface of the water when he dives either in search of food or to flee from one of the resident bald eagles.
Juvenile Attention
A juvenile great blue heron hunts in the meadow beside Bull Lake late on a sunny Christmas afternoon, one of the last shots I took after spending all day at the refuge. Initially it was farther off but as I sat quietly in the car (with the car shut off) it came quite close as it listened for voles moving beneath the grass.
Rest Lake
On a sunny Christmas afternoon, an adult great blue heron hunts for voles along the edge of Rest Lake while tundra swans swim near the far shoreline.
Closely Monitored
This doe is part of the first wave of Columbian white-tailed deer that were brought to Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in 2013 with the goal of establishing a permanent herd at the refuge. A second wave is planned for 2014 and a third in 2015 if needed. That’s her fawn behind her, the first generation of Columbian whitetails born at the refuge. I wasn’t going to put this image up as the dark blobs from the out-of-focus teasel are a bit distracting, but I like how clearly it shows her radio collar and ear tags and how closely monitored her movements are.
Downpour
Raindrops pelt the surface of Canvasback Lake as a greater yellowlegs hunts in the shallows.
Fish Hook
A double-crested cormorant surfaces after looking for fish in Horse Lake, showing the sharp hook at the end of its bill. I’ve seen them in this close at Horse Lake before but more typically I see them on the opposite side of the refuge in Bower Slough. I was hoping this one would swim even closer so I could better photograph it’s brilliant blue eyes, but there was too much traffic for it to feel comfortable and this was as close as it came to the road.
The Shallows
A hooded merganser swims into the shallows of Long Lake to hunt for fish. It swam up with its crest extended but pulled it down tighter and tighter as it prepared to dive under the water. There’s a culvert at the end of the lake where logs accumulate and mergansers like to fish in the area. There’s a sign on a bright metal chain above the culvert, warning people to stay back, that obstructed the view when it surfaced with a small fish in its bill. Mergansers are shy so I didn’t dare risk spooking it by starting the car to move into better position.
Boolie 