Ridgefield NWR Kiwa Trail and its Bitterns.

This weekend we happened to be in the Vancouver-Portland metro area visiting family, and it was a hot one especially for the Pacific Northwest, you might say unseasonably warm. We left at 6am to beat the heat and headed to my favorite place of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is within a few minutes of the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area. Ridgefield provides a year round sanctuary for waterfowl, raptors, deer, coyotes, river otters and many more species. To learn more about Ridgefield and its location click here. We arrived at Ridgefield at around 6:30am and there were a few other vehicles on the auto tour portion of the refuge. On the first stretch of the auto tour we encountered Cinnamon Teals and a single King Fisher sitting in a tree watching the cars go by its location. Further down the road off in the distance where about thirty Great Egrets feeding in the tall grass. Their white plumage was glistening in the warm morning sun. As we continued down the road we were treated to a chorus of frogs, and Red-winged blackbirds perched on cattails. Around the halfway point on the auto trail we stopped at the Kiwa Trail. The trail is open from May 1st through September 30th. If you are in the area during this time period I would say it is a must do. The length of the trail is 1.5 miles round trip. The trail will lead you through wooded areas, crosses two small lakes and meadows. The trail is well maintained and is level throughout. In the wooded parts we strolled by several rabbits, which didn’t mind our presence as they foraged at the edge of the trail. They seemed to be caught up in this carefree time of year, which is full of warmth and abundance of food. Moving about in the trees above our heads we spotted Northern Flickers, and colorful Cedar Waxwings. In the bushes and tall grass there were Common yellow throats and Wrens. At this point in the season the lake are really low and mostly dry, however there were scattered ponds with tall grass. In these ponds were more frogs coming up to the surface to belt out their calls. In one of the ponds there were Herons and Egrets feeding on what look like small fish trapped in the shallow pools. Up past them on the bridge were more Egrets standing on the second bridge of the trail sunbathing.

We then heard the call of the Bittern, which we didn’t know at the time what it was but after a few moments we located the Bittern lurking in the tall grass in the same area as the Heron and Egret. We were able to locate it thanks to its unusual distinct mating call, a far carrying booming. The call sounds like “oong-ka-choonk” and reminded me of the Sage Grouse Lek, except the Bitterns like to stay under cover. This was our first time witnessing this and the Bittern also gave us another first. We were able to see a Bittern in flight but not just one but several flying in a group and it was as if they were dancing in the sky. It was exciting to view this aerial display and after a few minutes they landed in various locations. One of them landed near the bridge that was just ahead of us.

As we proceeded across the wooden bridge we were so focused on the Bittern and its vocalization we did not notice that there was a Wilson Snipe standing on the railing just talking away, not sure what it was trying to convey but it stayed a long time chatting. We had our heads on a swivel and went back and forth photographing the Snipe and the Bittern. A few moments later a Red winged black bird landed on the railing to see what was all the fuss about. As the sun got higher in the sky and the heat increased we decided to head back to the car. On the way back we saw a flock of White Pelicans fly overhead. This was one of my most productive and interesting mornings at Ridgefield NWR.