Sixth season to visit the Wildlife Refuge. This year was overshadowed by the Deep Horizon oil spill in the Gulf. I didn't know what to expect and was surprised that the oil hadn't effected the Refuge, Mobile Bay or the Fort Morgan coast. There was significant effort to keep it that way with beaches being raked every morning, skimmers working off the coast, miles of boon, and a massive staging area at the mouth of the Bay.

Temps were hot and water levels up. Inland ponds were higher than I've seen. Brown Pelicans were very active and in good numbers. Night herons, Tri-color herons, and egrets were in strong numbers as well. Great Blue's seemed to be fewer in number but traveling in packs.

The big surprise was seeing how well the Osprey population was doing. At one point, I counted six Osprey perched in trees overlooking inland ponds.

NOTE: I was able to make a return trip to the Refuge in late August. Overcast, rainy weather was the theme but I did find a few birds enjoying the wet weather. Images from this trip are towards the end of this Gallery.