Ridgefield NWR, 3/2/13

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Bill Anderson

Super Moderator
Staff member
I was in PDX last weekend for my mother's birthday. Saturday afternoon my father and I took a quick tour of Ridgefield NWR north of Vancouver.

A merlin was perched in a tree beside the road north of the blind.
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Lots of nutria were sunning themselves in the marshy area east of the blind.

Regular nutria
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Albino or leucistic nutria
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The wooded area by the blind is the only place where you can legally leave your vehicle during the migratory bird season. My father did not want to leave the pickup and walk to the blind, which kept me from dragging out my 2.8/400L + 2x teleconverter and setting it up on a tripod in the blind. I could have used the extra reach of 800mm as I witnessed a fight between a northern harrier and red-tailed hawk on the other side of the lake east of the blind.

Northern harrier on patrol.
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The harrier spotted a red-tailed hawk on the ground with what appeared to be a duck the hawk had captured. The harrier tried to scare the hawk off from its prey.
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The hawk took off with its prey in tow followed by the harrier in hot pursuit.
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Male red-shafted northern flicker.
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Male hooded merganser.
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From the pickup.

Swans in the distance. A lady watching them through binos said they were tundra swans. Their brownish heads and necks were caused by the mud in which they were feeding.
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Swans in flight.
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Northern pintail.
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The blind as visible from the east side of the lake.
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Eagle sitting on a nest. The nest is on the opposite bank of the slough from the wildlife refuge.
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great photos as always... geeze seeing that albino Nurtia is exciting! Those Male hooded merganser are quite odd looking but so colorful
 


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