Last Friday I visited the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, an amazing spot located eight miles (13 km) east of Olympia, Washington. The wildlife refuge is home to the Nisqually River Delta, which has the unique status as Washington’s largest relatively undisturbed estuary. The confluence of the freshwater Nisqually River and the saltwater south Puget Sound has created a variety of unique environments, each rich in nutrients and natural resources for the local wildlife. The delta provides habitats for more than 300 different species of fish and wildlife, according to Wikipedia.
One of the coolest features of the refuge is the mile-long (1.6 km) Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk that extends into the mudflats and marshes. I was able to observe all kinds of waterfowl from the boardwalk, although the water level was so low that most of them were too far away to photograph. I focused most of my photographic efforts on trying to get wide angle shots with my iPhone, including the panorama shot that I included as a final photo.
The brochure for the wildlife refuge included a quotation by Victor B. Scheffer, scholar and author, that really struck me. “Any meeting of a river and a sea is a place of change…It will be proof of our ability to survive…if we learn to respect wild places like the Nisqually Delta, to trust them for their naturalness, and to love them for their power to move us.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Powerful quote.
Indeed. I decided I needed to share the quotation as soon as I read it the first time.
What a beautiful place, Mike, and even better looking like you had it to yourself! Great captures with the boardwalk leading us into the scene.
Thanks, Ellen. There were some other people around, but not very many of them, so much of the time I felt like I was on my own.
Like the dramatic skies
Thanks, Diana. The cloud formations made the sky much more interesting than it would have been if it had been simply blue in color.
Very nice Mike! Especially liked the panorama!