Everybody’s Having Babies
Spring brings change to Ridgefield, from the arrival of migrating birds to the mating of both new arrivals and old residents. For animals that nest on the refuge, it also brings the arrival of new life and the frenetic energy required to feed those hungry mouths.
On this particular day it seemed like everybody was having babies, including Canada geese, wood ducks, song sparrows, killdeer, red-winged blackbirds, muskrats, cottontails, and even long-tailed weasels. One of my favorite youngsters belonged to a pair of Virginia rails that had their brood with them near Ridgefield’s Kiwa Trail. I had never seen rail chicks before and was surprised to see that they were little black fuzzballs. Their little wings are just stubs at this point so they can’t yet fly, instead they followed mom and dad around on their two long legs.
Tags: birds, Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia rail, Washington