Here are a few shots from my visit to the Ridgefield NWR on July 13, 2012.
This first shot was taken near the beginning of the auto tour route between posts #2 & 3. The sun hadn’t yet fully emerged over the ridge so it might as well have been night time. Flash is the only way I could get this shot. It looks like a younger Northern Flicker and that may be the reason it actually let me come anywhere near it. (6:09 a.m.)
[Be sure to click on the thumbnails for larger, more detailed views].
Between posts #5 & 6 I see a rather skinny looking Coyote chewing on the carcass of a previously killed animal. It appeared that this Coyote was pretty hard up for a meal. It must not have tasted that good since the Coyote didn’t actually eat very much of the kill. (7:58)
Below is a video of the Coyote scrounging for this meal.
Not a very good shot of an Osprey flying overhead. But when I’m hard up for pictures, I’ll post almost anything! (10:25)
In the water near post #11, I spot this young Pied-billed Grebe. (11:46)
Here’s my first and only shot (this year) of a Black-headed Grosbeak, which can usually be found near the entrance to the Kiwa Trail. This one ventured out across the road not far from the entrance and landed on a plastic stake that holds a marker of some kind for biologists. This is the female of the species. (12:18 p.m.)
One of the two Great Horned Owlets that I have been following at Ridgefield. This could well be the one that died. I included this picture among others in my own tribute to the owl that we know did not make it. If you missed the tribute, please see here. Terrible light here but I had to take what I could get! (12:40)
And lastly for today, I spotted an American Kestrel on a natural perch–far away–but better than nothing!
That does it for my July 13 shoot. Since I’m not doing so well catching my blog posts up to the actual shoots (I’m now almost 3 months behind), I may do one marathon post of my best shots of July, August, and September, and get caught up. We’ll see how that goes! In the mean time, thanks for your readership and we’ll see you next time on The Blog.