Ridgefield

The second day in Oregon my daughter planned an early morning bird watching tour in Ridgefield, WA. The group ended up with too many people and was going too slow for our liking, so we bailed and decided to explore on our own. Not long after sneaking off like thieves in the night, we stumbled onto a couple of photographers with gargantuan lenses pointed toward a tree. To our sheer and utter amazement it was a pair of great-horned owls; a momma and her baby. Unfortunately, it was a bit cloudy so my pics didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. We were so glad we ditched the group because we circled the park twice and never saw the owls again. If we hadn't gone when we did we never would have had the opportunity to observe these beautiful birds.

All in all we saw 28 different bird species! How I wish I could have photographed them all and done them justice. Just gives me incentive to return again soon. So while these are not my best shots, many of these are lifers, and for that, I am beyond delighted.

Marshy area of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Marsh wren with a grub worm

Pair of great egrets

Great-horned owl and owlet

Tree swallow

Pied-billed grebe

Cinnamon teal, female and male

Possibly a savannah sparrow

American goldfinch
I thought about cropping this down, but I liked the way he was leaning horizontally

Savannah sparrow

Song sparrow

Cedar waxwing

Black-headed grosbeak