Roger Windemuth has been an educator for 37 years, 23 of those years as an Administrator.  Since his retirement two years ago, he has spent much of his time pursuing two long-standing hobbies that he never seemed to quite have enough time for before: Birding and Photography. Coinciding with that pursuit, he has been volunteering at the visitor's station at the Ridgefield NWR River "S' Unit where he says that he meets many unique, interesting, and stimulating people.  He enjoys "expounding" on the merits of bird watching and the opportunities available for photography at the Refuge.  Since he started volunteering at the Refuge, he has tried to photograph every one of the common and some of the not-so-common birds seen at the refuge.  The pictures he has taken have been compiled in a photographic album, which he has donated to the Refuge and can be seen at the refuge office.

Roger has been a photographer and a birder for much of his adult life.  He began “shooting” with a Minolta SRT 101 over 30 years ago.  It was about six years ago that he began to change to digital.  He now shoots exclusively digital.  He uses a Canon EOS 20D camera and his primary lens for photographing birds is the Canon 400 f/5.6.  He also, at times, uses a 1.4 Canon extender with his lens.  Many of his bird photographs can be seen on his web site www.LumiscapePhotography.com  Many of these bird pictures were taken at the Ridgefield NWR, several having won local and national recognition.  Photographic prints can always be purchased on his web site or by talking to him directly. 

Roger also enjoys community involvement.  He is currently serving on two boards—the Center Point Community Outreach Board in Meadow Glade, just outside Battle Ground, and the Friends of the Ridgefield NWR Board.  He and his wife Millie just celebrated their 40^th anniversary.  They have two sons, one an M.D. and the other a Development Manager at Yahoo.  They both live with their families in Southern California where Roger and his wife spend much of their time enjoying their children and grandchildren.