It’s Groundhog’s Day. Sunshine and temperatures in the low 50s. Does that mean another six weeks of winter? I hope not.

We couldn’t let a nice winter day go to waste. Not when there was an opportunity to spot migratory waterfowl and do a few miles of hiking. It had all the makings for an interesting trip to the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge near the Columbia River.

After parking at the trailhead, we crossed a footbridge over a set of railroad tracks. Walking north, we passed a cedar plankhouse built in 2005 as a representative of the 14 plankhouses observed by Lewis & Clark in a nearby Indian village. This was the beginning of the Oaks to Wetlands Trail, a well-marked path passing several lakes. Eventually the Trail emerged on a butte overlooking much of the area. An egret was sitting in a tall tree in the distance. The sun shining off its brilliant white feathers made it stick out like a sore thumb.

Returning on the loop trail, we spotted a great horned owl soaking up the sunshine in a Douglas fir tree. It was surprising really. They typically hide in the shadows during the day.

It was a pleasant outing. We also spotted a nutria, ducks, small song birds and tundra swans.

All in all the hike was 3.1 miles in length with 100 feet of elevation gain.

Great Horned Owl

Pintail

My favorite model

Nutria

Cedar Plankhouse

Song Sparrow (?)

Reflections in a pond

Footbridge over the railroad tracks

Oak tree reflections in a lake along the trail

Scrub Jay, one of my favorites