By Rebecca Means
October 15, 2023 –Biologists love to make lists; we can’t help it. Usually they are species lists, but I am also known for my obsession for making lists of state license plates on a road trip. My plan for RiverTrek was to take off my biology hat, or at least wear it around my neck, and just absorb the information, sights, and sounds I encountered. I was not going to make any kind of species list! That lasted for the first tenth of a mile of our 107+ mile journey…but we saw white pelicans! Who can blame me?!?
The best part of making the RiverTrek 2023 bird list was our group effort. I was the archivist, but the bird list was definitely collective, from one of us describing the sound of a nighthawk swooping down near their tent one early morning to the barred owls we all heard night after night down the river. The only argument (errr…lively discussion) we had on the trip was related to which were more numerous bald eagles or belted kingfishers (the correct answer was obviously belted kingfishers). The following is an alphabetical list of the 30.5 birds we saw or heard along the Apalachicola River, Oct 4th to Oct 8th. Keep in mind, we were paddling,…alot…so we weren’t frolicking around with our binoculars birding all day.
The List:
American coot
Anhinga
Bald eagle
Belted kingfisher
Black vulture
Blue jay
Boat-tailed grackle
Brown pelican
Carolina wren
Common grackle
 Common nighthawk
Double-crested cormorant
Eastern phoebe
Gray catbird
Great blue heron
Great egret
Laughing gull
Limpkin
Little blue heron
Osprey
Pileated woodpecker
Red-bellied woodpecker
Red-shouldered hawk
Roseate spoonbill (!!!)
Snowy egret
Turkey vulture
White-crowned night heron *
White-eyed vireo
White ibis
White pelican
Wood duck
* not confirmed white or yellow (hence the 30.5) but I wanted to include it so I will be invited back next year
Rebecca Means is the director of the Coastal Plains institute, a non-profit dedicated to protecting the biodiversity of the southeastern Coastal Plain, with a focus on ephemeral wetlands and longleaf pine ecosystems. Through CPI, Rebecca leads a variety of science-based and outreach-focused conservation projects including community dipnetting days, an adopt-a-pond program, and an internship program that engages students from FAMU and FSU with hands on conservation work. Rebecca is also an avid backpacker, having documented the most remote spot in 40 states with her family, and a rock climber. Learn more about CPI and Rebecca here.