Yesterday I came home from work and wanted to have some no-money fun, and we found some almost-no-money fun instead – we tossed the dogs in the van, picked up a dinner to-go, and headed out to the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge. Because it’s a refuge the dogs had to stay in the car, so we did the driving loop. We saw many of the usual inhabitants…

 

Ducks! (yes, I know there’s a proper name for these guys other than ‘ducks’)

 

Lots of Red-wing blackbirds.

 

Bunnies!

A big white bird! It’s a Great Egret. First time I’ve seen one during our visits here.

 

Pelicans!

It was a beautiful afternoon.

 

Way off in the distance, I saw something watching us.

 

We continued along the waterway, hoping to see something exciting around every turn.

 

Part of the meadow was mowed, and at the far end of it I saw something, but I couldn’t tell what until I zoomed in…

 

A family of coyotes! Complete with pups! How exciting! That’s a first for our visits to the refuge. We hear coyotes all the time at home, and occasionally see them (and we suspect they ate our cat a few years ago), but I’m much happier to see them here, where they are free to be coyotes.

 

Well, the afternoon wasn’t going to last forever. They close the gates at 9pm, so we had to keep moving.

 

The sun slipped below the treeline, and cast a beautiful golden hue over the landscape.

 

We headed back across Lake River, and felt like we’d had a little adventure. Just the thing I needed after a long day at work.