Paradise Point, wildlife refuge, “S” Unit

July-August, 2019

Oh, I wish I could literally have taken you folks along with me today in my big white truck. A few of you would have clambered into the front seat all in a heap, and then a whole big bunch of you would have piled into the back seats, and then the entire colossal conglomeration of the rest of you would have scrambled up into the back bed of the pickup truck, probably singing out loud … just as long as you promised not to bounce out. We would have had fun!

So where’d I go today that was so wonderful? Today I took the big white truck on the driving route/tour through the River “S” Unit of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. This “S” Unit is the only other section (besides Carty where I went the other day) that’s open to the public. The vast majority of this 5,000 acre wildlife refuge is closed to the public, just as it should be.

In addition to the heavy dark line of the driving route today, I also parked the truck and walked the trail (the red dotted line in the map below) inside “S” Unit. I was here ALL day. 🙂

As usual, let’s start with a map.

The entrance to “S” Unit is in the upper right corner of the map above, off of Hillhurst Road in Ridgefield. I turned off of Hillhurst onto the nicely graveled access road that took me through lots of lovely trees.

Around the last bend in that road, I came upon this (below) … yikes, can I get through? What are they doing?

Turns out they were/are building a new bridge across that small slough/waterway that separates the “mainland” from the wildlife refuge.

As I drove over the rickety old bridge (the beginnings of the new bridge were above me) … as I drove over that old bridge and looked to my left, I realized THAT’s where I’d been kayaking just a couple of days before. How pretty.

As soon as I drove off the bridge and into “S” Unit, the beauty and peace of the wildlife refuge surrounded me. It was a weekday so there were very few other vehicles here. The only sounds I heard were my own truck tires scrunching on the gravel road … and a gentle breeze and the birds.

 

Water was everywhere! Bogs and sloughs and rivulets and ponds and lakes and every other word you can think of for “water”. I stopped the truck often, and shut off the engine, and just watched.

I was watching the wetland area above, with a slew of mud next to it, when “something” flashed in the mud. At first I thought someone had thrown a piece of metal or plastic in there and it was reflecting sunlight … I kept looking … it took me a good bit of time to finally see the Killdeer below. Sneaky fellow blends right into that mud! As soon as I could pick him out, then I began to see dozens of others. They were there all along. I just needed to turn my busy brain off and let the real world in.

 

 

As always, click on photos to enlarge them. My original photos are much larger than the ones I post here so if you want a copy of any of them in order to see more detail, just let me know in the comment section and I will email photos to anyone who wishes them.

After at least an hour of driving slowly, stopping, taking photos or just enjoying the beauty of the area, I came across a small parking lot. There had been signs along the way with strict rules about NOT getting out of your vehicle, absolutely NOT! But there were two places where we could stop and get out … porta-potties were at each of these locations.

The first stop had a sign that invited people to walk out this intriguing pathway …

The pathway led to this “blind” below …

No one was there when I arrived. A few minutes later, one couple came out but stayed for just 15 seconds or so, told each other there was nothing to see, and they left! I stayed here for 20 minutes or so and saw lots of things … lots of different bugs flying around, and lots of small birds in the sky, zooming and zooming around.

After a few minutes, the birds started zooming really close to the “blind”. There are lots of them at a little distance in the photo above. There are three of them really close in the photo below.

They zoomed around and around, really close to the “blind”. They were so fast that it was just about impossible to get a photo. But finally, I caught this one below.

A Barn Swallow for sure. When I moved back away from the opening of the “blind” and stood very still in the back inside corner of the “blind”, one of the swallows flew right inside the “blind” and then flew up to a nest up in the corner inside the blind, not four feet away from me. I was thrilled, and stood stock still. Ah, but I couldn’t resist … I very slowly moved my hand that was holding my camera hoping to raise the camera and snap a photo, but zoom, instantly, that swallow left the premises. Here’s a link to a very short video from several years ago of this same nest … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6vnjVYIpBM.

And then it was time to leave the “blind” behind and head back to my truck. On the way back out along the path, I noticed this Red Tail Dragonfly on the ground (below). The wings were gorgeous. I used some leaves to move the dragonfly off the hard path and place it in the grass on soft ground.

A few feet further along this same short path, I looked up. Holy cow, this little bird person was right above me! It’s a Dusky Flycatcher. She and I chatted a bit, and then she flew off. She didn’t fly far. She flew around and around … FAST! Zipping and zipping, back to the branch and then away again, over and over. She was faster than those swallows were.

So much for that one couple who said there was nothing to see here! Wow, they need to slow down and take a look around, don’t you think?

Back in the truck and heading further on along the driving route …

About an hour later I came to a larger parking lot, more porta-potties. This parking lot was for folks who were walking the 2-mile circle trail in “S” Unit … that red dotted line in the map above. It’s called the Kiwa Trail and it’s wheelchair accessible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was so much to see. Thousands of acres of open wetlands … and the woods too.

When I first got to the parking lot for this Kiwa Trail, I walked from the parking lot across a small bridge that crossed the waterway below. The water level is low at this time of year, not much going on here. Boy, I should know better than to say that!

After my walk around the Kiwa trail with plenty of time to enjoy all of that (including sitting and eating my lunch), I came back out towards the parking lot and, of course, walked back out over the same bridge. I looked again in that same direction along the waterway. This time …

A Great Blue Heron was on one of the logs that had been empty when I first walked by.

Doing a little dance!

And getting a bit grumpy after realizing he had been caught dancing.

I jumped back in the truck and headed on around the driving loop. I followed along that waterway for quite a ways, stopping any time I could get a view of the water since that’s likely where birds would be. That paid off …

This Green Heron (above) posed nicely for me.

This Belted Kingfisher (above) with fish in beak was a lot more difficult to photograph. I drove along with him for 10 minutes or so as he flew from tree to tree to the water and back, diving and splashing, and doing that over and over and over.

Over the next two hours or so, the roadway passed through more woodland and then through more wetlands. There were a few other vehicles making the circle route. Most all of us were just inching along and stopping often to enjoy everything.

Another wetland area above … with another … yep, you guessed it, or maybe you see it in the photo above … a juvenile Great Blue Heron.

 

This one was having a bit of trouble with the twigs and sticks and roots and rotting vegetation on the bottom. “Mom, help me! This is icky!”

But then a bit of fishing distracted the teenager … splash!

Yum, a little tidbit of lunch.

Just a few feet further along the road, I stopped the truck again, thinking that, yet again, “something” had moved out there. I watched for a long time and finally realized there was movement in one small area of the grass (above) that was different movement than was caused by the breeze in the entire rest of the area. So I waited … and waited … and squinted my eyes. Do you see them? In the photo above?

Ok, I’ll zoom in …

It was a momma duck and six teenagers.

Honest … there are seven ducks in the photo above.

 

Some of the kids eventually came out into the sunshine.

And then my tour was done. I arrived back at the beginning of the driving route. Oh my what a great day this has been. The sign below seemed to say so much, from the heart.

I’m so glad all of you piled into the truck and came along with me on this driving tour. And not one of you bounced out of the back of the truck! 🙂 Hmm, at least I think not … ok, everyone line up and let’s count off. Yep, you’re all here.

Here’s a link to a list of birds, mammals, and a few other critters at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge … https://ridgefieldfriends.org/bird-sightings-species-list/.

Thanks for coming along. 🙂 It’s time now to take the short drive back to “Towhee the Trailer” at Paradise Point campground for a little rest and then my evening repast.