My son, daughter, and I drove down to "the original" Vancouver this past weekend to visit family. On the way down we stopped at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Halfway around the driving loop of the south section of the refuge is a parking area with a blind located down a short path.
I heard what sounded like the cries of a raptor coming from the top of a tree on the other side of a waterway across the road from the parking lot. I could never locate the source of the cries, but I did see two kestrels hovering above the tree. I got shots of one of them before they flew off.


Barn swallows built a nest inside the blind. I did not want to use flash, so I took shots with the 5DIII using insanely high (five-figured) ISO settings.
The three babies were close to fledging and one of them nearly fell out of the nest in front of us.

The parent(s?) were out hunting and periodically flew in with food. Our presence did not bother the birds and one parent nearly flew into my son as it was leaving.


I heard what sounded like the cries of a raptor coming from the top of a tree on the other side of a waterway across the road from the parking lot. I could never locate the source of the cries, but I did see two kestrels hovering above the tree. I got shots of one of them before they flew off.


Barn swallows built a nest inside the blind. I did not want to use flash, so I took shots with the 5DIII using insanely high (five-figured) ISO settings.
The three babies were close to fledging and one of them nearly fell out of the nest in front of us.

The parent(s?) were out hunting and periodically flew in with food. Our presence did not bother the birds and one parent nearly flew into my son as it was leaving.


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