Sunday at Ridgefield NWR

     The weather in Vancouver has turned cold with intermittent rain.  It's been that way for three days in a row.  With the highs topping out at below 60 degrees F., this is not the sort of weather conducive to butterfly hunting.  But boys and girls still need to get outside, so with the chance of morning rain at a mere 20 %, Sandra and I decided to take a chance and go to the wildlife refuge.  Being warm blooded and requiring daily sustenance, birds were much more likely to be active, especially as it is spring and they have chicks to feed.  Right?

The Cinnamon Teal appears to be breeding at Ridgefield

     We got to the refuge a little after 8 AM, the weather was cool and there was water in the puddles, but it wasn't raining.  We filled out our pass, and checked the white board for recent sightings.  Two days before, someone had seen an avocet.  We noted the approximate location, given as area 6, and headed out.  

   Immediately, in the first pond, we saw a pair of cinnamon teal.  I haven't seen a bunch of these handsome little ducks in my life, so even though we had now seen them here two out of three times, the thrill and pleasure was still there.  We watched these beauties for a minute or so, and headed down the causeway.  

   A bit further on there was a lady in a car who tried to tell me something as I inched by.  I didn't quite get it, so I stopped and went back.  "There is a mother redwing blackbird feeding her young." she said.  Blackbirds are possibly better mothers than their human counterparts, so this was not exactly surprising...we pushed on.

A pair of Barn Swallows greet Sandra in the Blind  skg photo

   We passed spot six, where there was a trio of Lesser Yellowlegs and avocets were plying their trade in the shallows.  It was just a bit further to the parking area for the blind, which was our prime objective for the day. 

    On the asphalt trail to the blind, I noted that the stinging nettles, which grow profusely in many parts of the refuge, looked undisturbed.  Having seen one Painted Lady on the edge of that trail, I was hopeful that the nettles would be in tatters and we would have a plethora of Vanessa caterpillars with which to amuse ourselves.  The nettles look fine and we made no effort to look under the leaves for caterpillars.  

Marty saw as many snipe as we did.

    On the auditory side, as we walked along I heard the unmistakable sound, known as winnowing, produced by male snipes as part of their courtship display. The snipe, which is fat little wading bird, flies way up in the air and then dives.  Specialized tail feathers catch the wind and produce a woo, woo, woo which I suppose might suffice for the noise made by ghosts in a haunted house.  Sadly, the noise was coming from the area we had traversed on entering the refuge, about a mile back to the north.  

   Suffice it to say, we didn't see any snipes.

  Are you old enough (as ancient is your faithful correspondent?) to remember Spin and Marty.  You had to be watching the Mickey Mouse Club back in the late 50s to see Marty sent out at night holding a burlap sack and making peculiar noises to attract a snipe.  Perhaps I should have retained more important information like the various lung volumes, the Krebs Cycle or the finer points of Calculus, but that stuff got seriously unshelved, while Marty and his burlap sack remain.  Sad to say, despite all the winnowing, which went on for at least twenty minutes, Sandra and I saw no more snipes than the Walt Disney camper. 

Long-billed Marsh Wren hunting among the grass below the blind 

   Finally, we made it to the blind.  I was desperate to see the Virginia Rail with her chicks and we gave it lots of time, but none appeared.  Our time in the blind was shared with a few barn swallows that were nesting there.  I took a short video of a single swallow just a few feet away, singing his heart out.  Sandra got a great shot of a pair in one of the blind's windows. 

   But we did not see any rails despite putting in plenty of time at the marshy spot where we had spotted them a few weeks ago.  However, towards the end of this vigil I got a very good look at a Lon-billed Marsh Wren.  This is not a particularly rare bird, but in the past I have seen this tiny fellow at a significant distance.  It is dependable in cattail marshes and can be induced to show himself briefly before dodging back into cover,

   This morning I saw movement in the grass (where the family of rails ought to have been) and focused on the spot.  There the marsh wren made a couple brief appearances.  Although they didn't last long, these were superb looks, close with excellent lighting, allowing me to appreciate the barring on the shoulder and back and the delicate face pattern and eye line.  

The Green Spot next to Rest Lake

   So here it was Sunday and God provided.  

   We made our way back, not seeing much.  At the ranger's hut we stropped to note our Long-billed Marsh Wren sighting.  The docent, a stout lady a bit younger than myself, told me that she had seen the Virginia Rails that morning.  It had been at a spot where there were cars stopped, but we didn't know why or see anything.  Bad Birdwathchers!  She pulled out a map which she claimed to be inadequate, but is way better than nothing, and was induced to make a little green spot where the family of rails is to be seen.  Its between to mall groves of cottonwoods. See you there, 

jeff