Volunteers make it possible to offer public naturalist-led walks about a variety of topics. The following opportunities are listed by walk leader and topic.
For questions and to sign up for the following opportunities send an email to email RidgefieldVolunteer@fws.gov with the following information:
- Name, date, and site of the walk.
- Names of all participants.
- Phone number.
If a walk is listed as "FULL", you can still email to request to be put onto the waitlist for that walk.
For groups looking for guided tours see the Education Page
Questions that are not answered here or just can't get something to work? Call our office at 360-887-4106.
Birding with Robert Vanderkamp
Before moving here from Michigan, Robert led bird walks as the President of his Audubon Chapter for 17 years. He has been watching birds for most of his adult life and lives by the motto “care and share”. He loves talking to people about birds and is excited to host bird walks at the Carty Unit every second Saturday of the month. We will post these a few months at a time to accommodate any needed changes in the schedule.
Upcoming walks start at 8 am at the Carty Unit of the Refuge and are limited to 10 people. These generally last two to three hours but you are welcome to stay as long or short as works for you. Walks are free but the $3 refuge daily fee does apply. For more information about the fee and rules of the refuge click here.
- Saturday, November 9th, 8 am (FULL)
- Saturday, December 14th, 8:30 am
- Saturday, January 11th, 8:30 am
Birding with Ron Escano
Ron has years of experience guiding local birding groups. Whether you are new to birding, are looking to sharpen your skills, or just hope to find a group to bird with, Ron is a great person to spend a morning with. His pace is relaxed, but thorough, making sure everyone has seen or heard each species. Ron will help new birders focus on key identification points to build their bird knowledge while sorting through the nuances of sparrow calls for more advanced birders.
- Saturday, November 2nd, 8 am
- Saturday, December 7th, 8 am
- Saturday, January 4th, 8 am
eBird
If you are curious about what to expect on one of these walks, visit the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge page on eBird! You can even find bird checklists from our walk leaders. If you look at the date and time of a previous bird walk you can see how long the walk was and what species they saw! This online resource is used to collect citizen science data about bird sightings in different areas all over the world.
NOTE: eBird is an external resource run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology through Cornell University. If you click the above link, it will take you off the refuge website onto their website.