Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge — Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026

We took a lovely stroll on an extremely sunny day. As noted in an earlier report, the driving loop at the southern part of the refuge was damaged in recent storms. That area is car only this time of year. We had a low car so did not drive the loop. There were a ton of folks who did drive the loop! It was a great day for it. But we went to the start and there are a ton of waterfowl — wigeon, shovelers, mallards, bufflehead, canvasback (I think?) and more I can’t remember. Also herons, eagles and a ton of nutria.
For our actual walk we went to the headquarters, which are under construction and look lovely. The trail was in good shape, just a smidge of mud. There’s a gate on the southern part of the trail that makes it very easy to tell what area is closed in winter.
We saw a bunch of kind of distant swans, plus eagles, a red-tail and sparrows I could not ID. Also more ducks and nutria. Some fun fungi in the walk, too.
I don’t live near here, but next time I’m back I’d like to visit again!