Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge

This has been a great week. I call a week good when I find a place that I have never been before, but this week I found two new places and both within 10 miles of where I live. The first was the Jenkins Estate that I wrote about here, and then yesterday I discovered the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge. Established in 1992, it is a nesting place, a stopover for migrating birds, a source of food and shelter for birds, animals and many other creatures that make a complete ecosystem. It is set in the floodplain of the Tualatin River and even though I discovered it in its quiet season, there was still plenty to see and experience here. During the breeding season, much of the refuge is off limits to us humans but there is one trail that is open year round including a blind for bird spotting.

(This photograph is available for sale)

I spent several hours wandering around the refuge and as the sun began to set, and the temperatures dropped different birds and creatures came out, but that also signaled the time that I had to leave and so I bid adieu to the creatures that call this home, promising to come back again soon.

Like most of the other amazing places around here, there is no entrance fee and it is open year round, although with limited trails between October and May.

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