January 2017 Newsletter

Thank you Members and Donors! 

The Friends of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge want to thank all our new and renewing members this year, as well as our very generous donors and sponsors. Without you, we would not be able to offer the programs that we do. Both our education and habitat restoration efforts are bolstered by your support and our ability to use those funds to buy supplies, staff events, maintain the Plankhouse and other public areas, and train amazing volunteers to staff the contact station, lead tours and field trips, remove invasive species and plant trees, and so much more. Our refuge is unique in so many ways, and almost none of it would be possible without your continued support. We are forever thankful. 

In 2016 your donations have helped support:

• Over 300 volunteer visits and over 1,210 hours of bulrush work and regular invasive with volunteer projects, including plantings and planting maintenance.
  
  
• Over 114,000 visitors to the Refuge this year
  
  
• 12,373 people participating in interpretive programs such as Plankhouse events and visits, guided hikes, and public events such as BirdFest
  
  
• 3,300 students were served on and off site
  
  
• 625 total volunteers (including the Habitat program)
  
  
• 8,500 total volunteer hours across all of our programs!
  
  

Thank you for your support! 

From the River 'S' Contact Station 

As I write this, just before Christmas, I am a bit frustrated that we were unable to conduct the Sauvie Island/Ridgefield Christmas Bird Count on Dec 18^th. The weather on both sides of the river was so awful, it wasn’t safe to bring people into the areas for our bird count. We have, however, rescheduled for January 2^nd and are keeping our fingers crossed the day will be better for birds and birders. This Christmas time tradition of going out and counting all the birds you see in a designated circle goes back 117 years now. It was started as a counterpoint to the Christmas bird shoot where hunters would go out and shoot every bird they would see. Since at least 1967, Ridgefield NWR has been an important part of the Sauvie Island/Ridgefield circle. Fifteen miles in diameter, the circle encompasses all the refuge, extending north to the Lewis River and south to, not-quite, the bottom of Vancouver Lake, and east to just beyond I-5 around the Carty Road area. Sauvie Island is included in the western-most portion of the circle.

Birders volunteer to do the counts and are given a territory within the circle to count. On the refuge, we have teams on the River S and Carty units, and the generally off limits segments: the Roth, Bachelor Island and the hunt unit. Of course, the latter is only surveyed on a non-hunt day. Other teams are scanning the town of Ridgefield and its parks, the Vancouver Lowlands south of the refuge, the farm lands surrounding the area on the ridge above the refuge and the Salmon Creek/Burnt Bridge trail. Birds can be anywhere. The birders submit their lists along with the hours they counted, miles driven and miles walked. The more intrepid birders will be out before dawn and after dusk to listen for and count owls and submitting owling hours. The effort of hours and distance helps to normalize the end results from year to year. Data from these counts helps identify trends in the health of bird populations as habitats change.

Over the last three years, the Ridgefield teams have identified at least 128 different species of birds in our collective territory.  We have averaged over 33,000 individuals counted with, no surprise, the Cackling Goose being the most numerous, averaging over 11,000/year. Tundra Swans, always a refuge favorite, ranged from 816 to over 1600 in that same three-year period. Someone always spots a single Orange-crowned Warbler or Yellow-rumped Warbler; two birds that probably were wishing they were farther south with their friends. Last year, we had an unusual sighting of Tree Swallows, which stayed around for the winter. We see a nice variety of ducks of course, with Mallards being the most numerous and Cinnamon Teal getting on our list if we are lucky. Amazingly, we have averaged 43 Bald Eagles. The Red-tailed Hawk is our most numerous raptor, over 100 counted each year, but we pretty much see all the expected raptors every year including Red-Shouldered Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine, and Northern Harrier. It is a bonanza of hunting raptors out there in winter. If conditions are right and there are muddy edges and open water, we can find a few shorebirds on the refuge. Dunlin, Dowitcher and Western Sandpipers have been reported. Wilson’s Snipe and Killdeer are always around. Looking for Great Horned Owls? We do have them. We counted 12 last year. That includes some of the farm area up on the ridge above the refuge too. If the timing is right, you might find a Barn Owl also.

So, whether you are participating in the local Christmas Count, or just out for a winter ride to see what you can see, there are plenty of birds out there to enjoy. And if you see people wandering around with binoculars peering into bushes on Jan 2^nd this year, you will know they are Citizen Scientists counting for our Christmas Bird Count.

Reporting from the River 'S' Contact Station- Susan Setterberg, Volunteer

Photo Credit: Susan Setterberg

Community and Nature Center at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge 

Project Update:

(Click this poster to view larger or download)

Ridgefield Refuge Complex

News & Events

 

 

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge  

Urban Update - December 2016

(A family enjoying the Gibbons Creek Wildlife Art Trail at Steigerwald Lake NWR)

Hello from the Urban Support Team (Kim, Jenny, Pat, & Mesha),

 

Our team works alongside both Refuge complexes to help meet the Standards of Excellence and to connect with non-traditional audiences of the USFWS. With a lot of ground to cover (literally) our work often takes us off-site. To better stay connected to you and each other (as you will note later, all four of us no longer report to the same Refuge) we would like to take this opportunity to update and to provide opportunities for you to get involved or inquire more about a specific program or project we are focusing on.

 

Jenny: I have been working with a group called the Youth Mentoring Collaborative to put on an environmental job fair for youth in the Portland Metro area. In addition to Jenny’s work helping coordinate the event, the USFWS is providing funding and staff support for the event. Check out this video, a youth involved in the group produced, to learn more about the fair. https://youtu.be/Eh_LHY9EXAA

 

The Urban Team continues its backing of the Intertwine Alliance’s diversity and equity initiative by providing some funding for additional staff support to the Intertwine Alliance to fulfil this mission. The initiative is in the process of creating cohorts of organizations based on their interests and current work. Together these cohorts will choose a provider to help guide them in this work.

Pat: The Daycation Mobile App is now available in the Apple AppStore for those interested in a sneak peek. The USFWS and its Intertwine Alliance partners are busily engaging more partners to create Daycations and become Beta Testers. We are also collaborating on a youth engagement program that will give teams of teens the opportunity to learn about technology, public engagement, and connecting with nature while engaging in a friendly competition to create and get people to take Daycations. Contact Pat at patrick_stark@fws.gov for more information.

The Oregon Zoo Education Center is opening in March 2017, and the USFWS will have a big presence there - one example being a large touch-screen display being developed in cooperation with Metro. The screen will display an interactive map of the greater Portland-Vancouver region and highlight its many parks, greenspaces, and of course, National Wildlife Refuges. The Urban Refuge Support Team has been assisting by creating display content for the refuges, including photo galleries and short, eye-catching videos.

 

Mesha: To better support both Refuge complexes, I am now stationed at Ridgefield NWR. To ensure we have better representation at meetings, events, and opportunities to listen and support our Refuge staff and Friends up north, I will report to Ridgefield daily. I am best reachable at my work cell at 971-336-1042 or at mesha_wood@fws.gov. Feel free to call the main office as well, at 360-887-4106 or to stop by the office and say hi should you visit.

 

The Urban Refuge Support Team is helping with the effort to develop a Community and Nature Center at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. We are in a perspective-gathering phase of the project, ensuring that a diverse collection of voices are part of developing a concept for the Center. With the help of Ridgefield NWR and Friends staff, we are planning focus groups for January that will seek input specifically from organizations serving youth in the Clark County area.

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Thank you for visiting the refuge and supporting conservation. If you have any questions regarding activities and regulations on the refuge, call the office Monday through Friday 7:30am to 3:30 pm at 360-887-4106.

Habitat Restoration 

Updates & Events

December brought to the Refuge alternating days of snow, ice, rain, fog, and sunshine. It also brought out many new and returning volunteers to help with planting maintenance duties. I would like to thank the group of Seniors from Ridgefield High School who chose the Refuge as the place to complete their community service volunteer hours. I would also like to thank the folks from UNFI for coming out every Wednesday in December and helping to free the trees. Without the planting maintenance work by volunteers many of the 4-5 year old tree plantings would never reach maturity. Thanks also go out to the Cub Scouts who spent their Saturday planting trees to improve habitat and generally just being a fun group to work with.

In January we will finish up with our first round of tree maintenance before transitioning into preparation for a large restoration effort on the Carty Unit. Don’t let the weather hold you back. Wednesday volunteer events will continue, and now that we have a new Habitat person on board we will be adding some weekend events as well. So bundle up and come join us!

There will be a volunteer event on President's Day, Monday February 20th from 9am - 12:30 pm, email: SeanforRidgefield@gmail.com to sign up!

(click this poster to view larger and download)

Questions? Contact Keith_Rutz@fws.gov for more information

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Header Photo Credit: Marguerite Hills