Watching Wildlife

Watching Wildlife

Want to see more animals on your trip to Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge? Here are some tips from the "experts."

About the Complex

Mid-Columbia River National Wildlife Refuge Complex

The Mid-Columbia River Refuges are eight refuges within the Columbia Basin.

Umatilla is managed as part of the Mid-Columbia River National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

About the NWRS

National Wildlife Refuge System

The National Wildlife Refuge System, within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, manages a national network of lands and waters set aside to conserve America’s fish, wildlife, and plants.

Of Special Interest

• Waterfowl Season Hunting Blind Preparation

  October 08, 2016

  Umatilla NWR will be holding an annual hunt blind preparation work day. We are looking for volunteers to help with cutting brush/reeds and weave them into the new and old blinds on the McCormack Hunting Area. We will be doing this on Saturday, October 8, 2016. If you’re interested in helping prep the blinds for this year’s hunt, please arrive at the Umatilla Hunter Check Station at 9:00 a.m. Bring boots and gloves. It’s a great way to do a little scouting at the same time.

• Winter Birdwatching

  

  Each season at Umatilla NWR brings its own sounds. But while many of the sounds of spring, summer and fall are man-made, winter is all about nature. Winter is when people disappear, but waterfowl arrive. First, there are a few ducks in October, then a few more each week. Then without fanfare, the geese are there—first the Canada geese, then the snow geese, arriving by the dozens, then the hundreds, then the thousands. Add a few dozen migrating tundra swans and the bald eagles talked about elsewhere on this site, and you've got one of the best birdwatching opportunities in the Northwest. Come on a non-hunt day (Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays), and there's a good chance you'll have the refuge to yourself.

  Seasons of Wildlife