Photographing birds at the Ridgefield NWR from a vehicle with a sun/moon roof does not violate the rule on staying in your vehicle. Wilson Cady
Columbia River Gorge, WA

---------- Original Message ----------
From: Hal Michael <ucd880 at comcast.net>
To: A & S Hill <60stops2home at kalama.com>
Cc: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Bad [human] behavior at Ridgefield NWR and some beautiful birds
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 15:25:45 +0000 (UTC)


Just for clarification. How is opening up the sun/moon roof, standing, and taking pictures different from rolling down the window and sticking the camera/binos out the window?

Hal Michael
Olympia WA
360-459-4005 (H)
360-791-7702 (C)
ucd880 at comcast.net
From: "A & S Hill" <60stops2home at kalama.com>
To: "Tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2014 11:46:38 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Bad [human] behavior at Ridgefield NWR and some beautiful birds

Sunday (today), we took advantage of our last &ldquo;free&rdquo; day (before the house painters come) to try out our new spotting scope. Paradise Point State Park off Exit 16 I-5 S was our first stop, only because we&rsquo;ve never been there. It was a short trip. I did get to see some Golden-Crowned Kinglets &ldquo;up close&rdquo; with the scope, though. Very nice.

Next, we stopped in the City of Ridgefield and parked near the Public Works on Division Street. I was too busy marveling at the birds through the scope to take photos. We saw all the usual ducks, geese, herons, cranes and coots. There was such a cacophony of Red-winged Blackbirds going on that I felt the need to record a bit of their overlapping (and overwhelming) songs. It was just heavenly.

As we walked along the path back toward the car, a lone European Starling high up on a wire decided to mark the occasion by adding a wet spot to the tripod I had slung over my shoulder. Luckily the splash only hit my fingers and not my face or the new scope. Ha!

The final stop was the auto tour of the River S Unit at Ridgefield NWR. The beautiful weather brought out many visitors, three of whom could not seem to understand the concept of Staying in Their Vehicles. Pictures of the offenders &ndash; with license plates &ndash; can be seen here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjRivuxo

My husband was lucky enough to see an American Bittern up close, among other gorgeous birds. A Great Egret had blood all over its beak from a recent kill. Here&rsquo;s a link to his flickr photostream: http://flic.kr/ps/zMtT9

I got a few &ldquo;lucky shots&rdquo; myself. Hooded Mergansers and the Bald Eagle pair were highlights for us. Some are posted on my flickr photostream: http://flic.kr/p/jwUJUH This link is for the Merganser photo.

It was a perfect way to end our weekend!


Amy Hill
Kalama, Washington
628 feet up in Cowlitz County
60stops 2 home at kalama dot com
Artlessfun at yahoo dot com


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