My Favorite Ridgefield Experiences

A while ago I visited Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge with my mom and a friend. It’s one of our favorite places to go to. The drive to Ridgefield is about 30 minutes from Portland. The refuge has a drivable loop and walking trails from two different entrances. Some of the animals I’ve seen there are ducks, geese, herons, sandhill cranes, eagles, hawks, kestrels, owls, deer, coyotes, and more.

Some of my favorite sightings were the kestrels and short-eared owls.

Kestrels are interesting birds because we don’t really see them much and they can be pretty hard to spot. Kestrels are the smallest falcons in North America.

As we started the drivable loop, there was a kestrel on the ground just sitting there, then he started to preen and bathe himself in a puddle of water. After a while it flew onto a sign and just sat there before eventually flying off.

Usually when we see kestrels they are high up on wires, so it was a rare opportunity to observe this kestrel and its behavior. Sometimes you might see a kestrel hover over a field like a drone as it hunts.

Fun fact: Small kestrels weighs the same as pile of 34 pennies.

Short-eared owls were such a surprise to see. There were two owls, and they were a mating pair. I got some good photos of the first owl that was sitting on a sign. The other owl was on the ground just sitting and looking around. At first, I thought that it had a nest because these owls nest on the ground, or maybe it was injured. But most likely it was hunting. 

Fun fact: According to All About Birds, a short-eared owl’s flight pattern is buoyant and has a mothlike pattern.

One thing I like about Ridgefield is that you always get to see something when you go. There’s always a bird here, a deer there, and other cool animals. So I always bring my binoculars and camera. I plan to go back to Ridgefield for new and exciting wildlife sightings.