Mergansers at Woodard Bay

As we (Ebony, Ginger, and I) were coming back from our morning time on the Chehalis Western Trail, I saw my friends on the Woodard Bay Bridge. You cannot miss Barry because he always has a camera with a huge lens protruding from his head.......at least that is what it looks like from a distance.

Today his wife, Linda, was with him and I was very curious what they were viewing. I stopped (in the middle of the road which sometimes you can do if no one is around) and asked. Linda described how the Mama Mergansers would carry her babies on her back to move them. I thought about stopping to watch, but having skated 10 miles with the doggies my hunger won over watching ducks.

What a treat when Barry sent me an e-mail with photos! Now I wished I had stayed to watch. Barry is not only a great photographer but also a wildlife specialist who shares his knowledge about what you are looking at when you are with him. Even in his e-mails!

"Here are some of the birds we were watching today down by the bridge. The Mergansers nest upstream, then move downstream with their broods within a day of hatching. Once they head out, they don't return, but spend their early days growing up out in Chapman Bay or outer Woodard Bay beyond the trestle."


Barry Troutman
(reproduced with permission from the artist)

Cute, wouldn't you agree?

Woodard Bay

Today my friend and I visited Woodard Bay Natural Resource Conservation Area; 678 acres of coniferous forest on saltwater bay. A sanctuary for a variety of birds, harbor seals, river otters, bald eagles, a colony of bats, and an important great blue heron rookery. The 678 acres encompass maturing second-growth forest, the waters of Woodard and Chapman bays and a rich history that spans from American Indian use to settlement in the 1850s and Puget Sound's logging era.

It is a good place to come and learn about the former uses and about the area's abundant wildlife -- 175 species of birds have been recorded here. Mink are active during the day, and careful watchers can see these members of the weasel family along the water's edge.



Natural Resources wants to protect the scenic, archaeological, historical, cultural and ecological values in what amounts to an urban wildlife refuge only 15 minutes from downtown Olympia. But the primary concern is ecological values.