I led an Apalachee Audubon group on a chilly eight hour trip through the refuge. It was a good day of birding. My personal list was 95 species and I heard of at least three more species seen or heard by others on the trip.

 We logged fifteen waterfowl species and fourteen shorebirds. Some highlights included:

 East River Pool

Green-winged Teal

Northern Shoveler

Ring-necked Duck

Lesser Scaup

Bufflehead

Hooded Merganser

American Bittern (two fly-bys)

 Headquarters Pond

Roseate Spoonbill

White-faced Ibis

Green-winged Teal

Blue-winged Teal

Northern shoveler

Gadwall

American wigeon

Redhead

Bufflehead

Black-necked Stilt

 Mounds Pool III

Green-winged Teal

Mallard

Northern Pintail

Blue-winged Teal

American Wigeon

Redhead

Bufflehead

Hooded Merganser

American Avocet

 Offshore

Common Loon (many)

Horned Grebe (many)

Common Goldeneye

Red-breasted Merganser

American Oystercatcher

 Most of the shorebirds are on Stony Bayou I, best at higher tides. Lighthouse Pond was quiet with few species and no shorebirds.

                                                                                 Don Morrow