Sunday, March 19, 2017, 5:25 pm — Daylight saving time began last Sunday … An extra hour for a before-dusk trip to the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge … “established in 1965 to provide wintering habitat for the dusky subspecies of the Canada goose.” … Left … Photo by Jim Cruce.
Below … Canadian Geese … right corner, Northern Shoveler … In my “neck of the woods,” western Washington and western Oregon, I grew up hearing and saying Canadian goose/geese … Just discovered the official name is Canada goose (audubon.org) …
Nutria … scratching with its large back foot …
Canadian geese … all for one, and one for all …
5:30 pm — Columbian White-Tailed Deer …
5:41 pm — American Coots (Mud Hens) …
5:44 pm — Cinnamon Teal (ducks) …
6:02 pm — Leisurely Sunday stroll … Canadian geese … taken through car windshield …
Stop yer tailgatin’, eh! …
6:14 pm — Nutria … looks like a beaver, tail like a rat … native of southern South America … “In the 1930s, they were sold throughout North America to fur farmers and as a means of controlling unwanted aquatic vegetation.” …
“More than 600 nutria farms existed in Oregon and Washington from the 1930s to the 1950s. Flooding and storms damaged holding structures, allowing nutria to escape. Farmers also released their stock when nutria farming became uneconomical. By the 1940s, nutria had been captured by trappers on both sides of the Cascade Mountains in Washington.” — Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
6:17 pm — Red-winged Blackbird …
“To defend his territory and attract a mate, male perches on high stalk with feathers fluffed out and tail partly spread, lifts leading edge of wing so that red shoulder patches are prominent, and sings.” — Audubon Guide to North American Birds
Perkins and Teeny Tuxedo 