Have been in Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge near Colville, Washington, for the past five days. It is an unusual refuge, in that it allows free camping in some designated campgrounds on the refuge and even allows you to use dead or downed trees for firewood. You can even use a chainsaw! The campgrounds are in a dry forest area where there are a lot of tall, skinny trees. There is a firefighting unit on site that helps thin out the trees at this level, to allow the trees more room to grow.
Enjoyed having a campground pretty much to myself. There is a dirt/gravel road that circles around the refuge and takes you past the campgrounds and the visitor center. A few bicyclists took advantage of this low traffic road. There are some roads off this main route that are pretty rough. Some of the campgrounds allow horses, but owners have to remove all horse manure!
The birds were generally elusive. I was lucky to find a large flock of cedar waxwings flying through the air catching bugs next to a bog. The white bugs bounced up and down over plants that circled the bog and didn’t bother me. The waxwings didn’t seem to mind me either. They were flying all around intent on catching the bugs. Once and a while there would be a shrill whistle and they would all scatter, only to return a few minutes later.
Saw an eagle and an osprey hunting over a pond.
Campsite at the refuge.
Learned of your blog on Wandrin.us ; loved your bird photos, even though I’m not a birder.
You asked Wandrin about camping in Colorado. There are plenty of places to do dispersed area (free) camping on the BLM or national forests. (I wouldn’t know about official campgrounds in Colorado. They’re probably fairly crowded before Labor Day.)
Absolutely great photos. (Love the Cedar waxwing photos). Also enjoyed the Earthquake Lake & Yellowstone stuff having been there last October. The sheer natural drama, geologically speaking, in that region is literally phenomenal. I was so impressed by the story of the Kooskia area & the Earthquake Lake story when I read the signage at both sites. Remarkable. Look forward to visiting the Little Pend Oreille, probably this Spring. The natural history of the Columbia is truly awesome. I am inspired and invigorated whenever I am in the presence of that mighty river and the geography it majestically flows through.