Just a stellar morning

Last week we enjoyed a dinner with our friends Jenn and Gerry. Among the laughs and story telling we (I?) got a semi-serious question or challenge… “how come we never see you at Ridgefield?” Now, Jenn and Gerry are birders in a very different league than I am. They’re serious…they keep lists and count species each Sunday when they visit Ridgefield. Jenn says “we wring every bird out of every bush”. They take their time. listen well and have keen eyes. If I could suffer the embarrassment I’d love to just ride around with them some Sunday. I’m not in denial about my birding prowess, just not very good at it. But the question and response put the idea in my head… get to Ridgefield. See, I avoid weekends when it tends to have more people there. I like it when I’m there with a friend in my car and few others around. Last night I mounted up the lenses and checked batteries and settings. I took off this morning before sunrise and hit Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge about 06:45. Perfect. Checked in and headed out on the loop. Little did I know what lay ahead.

Can it be much better, really, than to watch the sun rise over a pond at Ridgefield with cranes in the air, ducks on the pond and a cup of hot coffee. I sat and watched the sun come up and listened to the birds all around me. Their day was well under way for most. Honestly, the only way I could have improved on the experience would have been to have Di along… or Eric… or … you get the point. Sharing something so nice with someone else just seems to enrich the experience.

I headed on around the loop after watching groups of egrets fly by to the north. I found a few far from the road but in a really nice setting. Egrets, herons, ducks, geese and light that only got better as the morning matured. Pardon the repetition of images here. I got carried away and was pleased that a few sharp images actually found their way onto my memory card. Don’t ask about the others, please.

I finally left my position and headed out to the cattails along the road about post 2 or 3. I’d heard a lot of red-winged blackbirds as I went by the first time but saw only a few in the far distance. This time there was one male who obliged me with some portraits.

I moved on to the area with the blind hoping that I’d see a few more wood ducks and be able to get some photos before they hid or flew off. Below is the one shot I got on loop #1. Not a great bird photo but not atypical for these beautiful birds.

I got a bit more lucky on loop #2 and edged into position and got set. I waited patiently and the birds returned.

As I sat there I noticed a robin in a nearby tree and then saw a bird that I’ve never seen before. Actually, there were about 5 Cedar Waxwings in the blackberry bush just in front of me. I’m really surprised that the loud sound of my sucking wind didn’t scare this one off. I got one sharp shot out of 5. I’ll take it!

Of course, to balance off the beauty of this bird I also got several shots of what I think is a molting juvenile European Starling. Oh boy.

And then I looked up again and found this guy looking at me between digging in the bank and scratching itself.

Well within the ash forest part of the loop I saw some pied bill grebes preening. I’ve never had much luck getting photos of these birds since they are so spooky and quick to dive. I set up ahead of them where I had a decent view of the slough they were in and just waited for them to come to me. The light wasn’t the best but I’m still amazed at the detail in the feathers of these birds when I get a good look on a monitor. They sure never seem to take their eyes off me as I click away.

And my last decent images from the visit to Ridgefield are of this sparrow that landed in some grass nearby and almost begged to have its picture taken. I was happy to oblige.

My morning at Ridgefield lasted about 5 hours and I came away with some photos that I really enjoy. I also got some needed practice with the camera, talked to a dear friend from California as I watched sandhill cranes take off, and didn’t drive into the water as I watched for birds. That’s a really successful day for me. I’ll be back again soon as the migrants pick up… just don’t look for me on a weekend.