Yesterday I took the boys and a couple friends of ours to Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge in Ridgefield, WA. It is about an hour drive from our home near Portland, OR. It was an overcast day, but not too cold and not rainy, so it was quite a pleasant trip.
When we first pulled in to the refuge they had a little information booth where we picked up some brochures showing the different types of animals and birds we might see, as well as a CD audio guide that we could borrow to listen to in the car on the driving tour part. As we drove around the loop there were numbered posts where we could stop and the audio guide talked about what to look for and described the different birds and played their songs so we would know what to listen for. At the very first post we saw some river otters eating and swimming in the large pond, and a heron took off from the pond side and flew across the driving trail right in front of us! There were loud geese flying over us the entire time and many red winged black birds in the cattails on the side of the road.
About halfway through the driving route there was a place to stop and a walking trail. It's a 1.5 mile loop which was no problem for the kids. The older ones ran ahead while Asher walked with me and my friend, and we stopped often to spot birds, and even saw a large frog poking it's head out of the pond under the boardwalk.
Can you see the frog?
The whole place was pretty darn cool and I would like to visit there again. The only thing that would have made it better was if we had a pair of binoculars to better spot the birds off in the distance, and a better camera. Oh and a good birding book would have been helpful as well. I have never heard so many different kinds of birds at one time! It was such an awesome experience to be out in the middle of such a beautiful, natural place, and to hear all the wonderful sounds coming from all these birds! So many different birds that I have never heard or seen anywhere before!
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