<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Count Ridgefield refuge in national bird survey

Woman spied about 1,500 Sunday

By Dave Kern
Published: February 21, 2011, 12:00am
3 Photos
Kate Schlickeiser, left, and Gary Schlickeiser from Portland watch for birds Sunday at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.
Kate Schlickeiser, left, and Gary Schlickeiser from Portland watch for birds Sunday at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Top, from left, a red-winged blackbird and a great blue heron. Photo Gallery

Carol Ledford said she was excited to be part of the Great Backyard Bird Count over the weekend. And she picked a great backyard: the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.

“I got about 1,500 birds,” said Ledford of Gresham, Ore. “I counted 490 tundra swans and I put down 350 cackling geese.”

She said a week or so earlier she only saw four tundra swans at Rest Lake in the refuge.

So on Saturday, “It’s like wow,” she said. Other highlights included seeing three bald eagles.

“I saw a bald eagle trying to capture an American kestrel (a falcon). I hope it wasn’t successful. Kestrels are really beautiful birds,” she said.

Ledford recorded her count on an official website but thinks she might have been the only area person to do so.

The bird count was billed as a national event.

On Sunday, other bird lovers were in the refuge. Kate and Gary Schlickeiser of Portland trained their lenses on the surroundings, and in another spot, Krista Daniel of Washougal popped up from her sunroof ready to photograph.

Haven’t visited the refuge? Check out http://www.fws.gov/ridgefieldrefuges/ridgefield/. The refuge has 5,218 acres where you can see great blue herons, red-winged blackbirds and more.

Loading...