10/20/2026
Ducks, geese and swans are the reason the National Wildlife Refuge System exists.
Today, wetlands protected at national wildlife refuges host millions of ducks and geese each fall: pintails wheeling into flooded fields, mallards rafting on open water, snow geese arriving in waves that turn the sky white.
Bring or borrow some binoculars so you can see for yourself what a wetland filled with waterfowl looks like.
Credit: George Gentry/USFWS at Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.