The Perfect Frame

End of the Homer Campbell Memorial Trail at the Finley Wildlife Refuge (Photo: Julia Ozab)

An Unexpected Refuge

On the drive between Junction City and Corvallis, about five miles north of Monroe, there’s a sign we’ve passed numerous times without a second glance. It sits at the junction of Highway 99W and Finley raod and leads to the William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge. Sunday, on our drive back from Wacky Indoor Bounce in Corvallis, we took the turnoff.

A gravel road leads back to the entrance to the refuge. It’s a slow, dusty drive, but well worth it. Once inside the refuge, the roads are paved and the wildlife is plentiful.

Birds and other animals vary with the seasons. Visiting for the first time in late May we missed the Dusky Canada geese. These are slightly smaller than the Canada geese we see locally year-round, and have begun their flight back to Alaska for the summer. But we saw the usual mallards and geese as well as a large flock of raptors.

My Daughter Took These Photos

A flock of Canada geese

Can you believe that’s she’s not even seven yet?

And only expressed an interest in photography earlier this year? Anna has gotten good really fast, as you can see from the photos she took yesterday on our trip to Wildlife Safari.