Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge, Hoquiam, Washington

2013.09.08

After dinner, our last stop was the Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge: 1,500 acres of intertidal mudflats and salt marshes next to Bowerman Airport outside Hoquiam.  Grays Harbor is one of a handful of major estuaries on the Pacific Flyway.  The refuge site was chosen because, within the estuary, they are the last mudflats to flood at high tide and the first to be exposed, giving the shorebirds more feeding time.  Most of the birds pass through in the spring, so we didn’t get our hopes up, though we took our binoculars.  There is a nice 1,800-foot boardwalk through thickets of willow and alder and then a loop out near the flats.

Boardwalk at Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge, Hoquiam, Washington

There were a few chickadees and wrens in the thickets, but we didn’t see any shorebirds.  Nonetheless we were glad we went, as it was a nice peaceful walk (absolutely the only people there).

Panoramic view at Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge, Hoquiam, Washington

And we encountered some more deer.

Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge, Hoquiam, Washington
Columbian black-tailed deer (<em>Odocoileus hemionus columbianus</em>) at Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge, Hoquiam, Washington
Columbian black-tailed deer (<em>Odocoileus hemionus columbianus</em>) at Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge, Hoquiam, Washington
Columbian black-tailed deer (<em>Odocoileus hemionus columbianus</em>) at Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge, Hoquiam, Washington

After the deer, I tried to take a photo of a slug and a fuzzy caterpillar hanging out on the boardwalk.  But as the shutter clicked, the battery died.  Considering I’d taken about 150 photos after the camera started warning me, I couldn’t really complain.  It was getting dark, and time to head back to Ocean Shores for the night.