Thanksgiving 2014: Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge

Heading Home

November 29, 2014

Soundtrack:

• Pearl Jam -- Lightning Bolt
• Sonic Youth -- Goo

This should be a relatively short post since the drive home from Salem to Alameda relatively uneventful.  I bombed down I-5 stopping only long enough to get gas.  Once I was on my way that is.  Before hitting the road, I had breakfast with the family at Annette's then I made a stop at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge for a few pictures.

Red-breasted Sapsucker -- Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge, OR

I saw a red-breasted sapsucker at the refuge.  That was cool, first time I've seen one of those.

Canada Goose -- Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge, OR

I saw a bunch of canada geese.  Neat.  I kind of like this picture of them flying overhead, the clouds look kind of cool.

Mallard -- Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge, OR

Mallards.  I shot this as a spot of sunlight broke through the clouds.  Not the most exciting of pictures, I'll admit, but I kind of like the colors.  There was a bald eagle in a tree to the right of this scene but the light was terrible and the eagle was facing away from me and I had to hike a quarter of a mile or so to get to this spot, so I'm posting this picture whether anyone likes it or not.

Spotted Towhee -- Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge, OR

Yeah, that big stick right in front of the spotted towhee pretty much ruins the picture.  I was shooting through a hole in the branches, unfortunately that was the best I could do.  Otherwise, I think I'd have been fairly happy with this photo.

Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge, OR

That's pretty much it for my Thanksgiving trip.  I'm ready to hit the road again, hopefully I'll have a nice little trip to Death Valley or Joshua Tree coming up in early Spring.