Your a Birder and haven’t been to Ridgefield NWR?

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, is a not so well-known refuge,  that I recently discovered while in the Vancouver WA area oh holiday, it’s actually located on the lower Columbia River flood plain and comprised of 5,150 acres of habitat for birds in the region. The majority of the birding locations I have visited have been recommended by fellow bird watchers and photographers, however I found this location with a simple web search. Even though I have never heard anyone talk about this place as a viable birding location I decided to give it a try.

Ridgefield is divided into the Carty Unit and the River ‘S’ Unit. I decided to do the latter which is a 4.2 mile auto tour route with a seasonal trail called Kiwa. It took me about 30 minutes from Vancouver WA to reach Ridgefield. Before entering the refuge you cross a single lane bridge that crosses Lake River which for some people might be your first stop to check out the view. The Refuge is open every day during daylight hours and is staffed by volunteers. You will want to stop by the visitor contact station at the entrance and pick up a brochure, map or wildlife check list. An observation blind overlooking Rest Lake is located close to the half-way point on the auto tour route just before arriving at the Kiwa Trail parking lot. This shelter is covered by a stand of Oregon ash trees and has cut-out windows where spotting scopes and cameras can be set up for close up views of wildlife.

Birds, birds, and more birds, is what I saw from the time in entered he Refuge until I crossed the bridge on the way out. Upon turning onto the first part of the auto trail I had to stop my vehicle and make a decision to either take photographs of the Great Egrets that where moving around in the grasslands on the right side of the road, or the Yellow headed Blackbird and the Red wing Blackbirds that were having a sing off. After about twenty minutes I forced myself to move on to see what other wildlife Ridgefield had in store for me. Some other bird that was photograph on that day was: Waxwings, Great Blue Herons, Grebes, Kestrels, Ruddy Duck, Cinnamon Teal, Turkey Vultures, and the Common Yellow Throat. So if you have a passion for birds and have been to the other more well-known locations you will definitely find Ridgefield a must visit and will need to move it to the top spot on your next bird outing.