Terry Davis and I did a shorebird/landbird survey at RRNWR Yates Tract today (Saturday). The best birds there were a juvenile Purple Gallinule hanging near a juvenile Common Moorhen in the weeds on the west end of the pond just over the levee from the barn near the entrance to the refuge. We also had 127 Black-necked Stilts, two Buff-breasted Sandpipers, 16 Upland Sandpipers, one Semi-palmated Plover, along with other expected shorebirds including Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpipers and Stilt Sandpipers. We did fairly well with owls including a Great Horned Owl calling at the first stop, two Barn Owls which flushed from the barn near the entrance to the refuge on Red River Parish road 401while we were stopped nearly a hundred yards west of there. We rarely ever stop to purposely flush the Barn Owls because they are so easily spooked as was evident today. After that we heard two Eastern Screech-Owls calling well after sunrise in the thicket along the road just past the barn. So, shorebirds are passing through even in July. We only need places for them to stop and rest such as the Yates Tract of the RRNWR. The complete list of species is below. Jeff Trahan 2 Blue-winged Teal 5 Pied-billed Grebe 5 Great Egret 7 Snowy Egret 5 Little Blue Heron 55 Cattle Egret 2 Green Heron 32 White Ibis 2 Turkey Vulture 1 Cooper's Hawk 1 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Purple Gallinule 2 Common Gallinule 1 Semipalmated Plover 18 Killdeer 127 Black-necked Stilt 3 Spotted Sandpiper 4 Solitary Sandpiper 15 Lesser Yellowlegs 16 Upland Sandpiper 32 Least Sandpiper 34 Pectoral Sandpiper 5 Stilt Sandpiper 2 Buff-breasted Sandpiper 2 Eurasian Collared-Dove 12 Mourning Dove 4 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2 Barn Owl 2 Eastern Screech-Owl 1 Great Horned Owl 5 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 Red-headed Woodpecker 4 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Downy Woodpecker 2 Eastern Wood-Pewee 7 Great Crested Flycatcher 1 Eastern Kingbird 6 White-eyed Vireo 1 Warbling Vireo 1 Red-eyed Vireo 7 Blue Jay 6 American Crow 2 Purple Martin 6 Tree Swallow 40 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 7 Cliff Swallow 30 Barn Swallow 6 Carolina Chickadee 3 Tufted Titmouse 18 Carolina Wren 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 Eastern Bluebird 15 Northern Mockingbird 3 European Starling 7 Common Yellowthroat 5 Yellow-breasted Chat 3 Eastern Towhee 1 Summer Tanager 37 Northern Cardinal 8 Blue Grosbeak 15 Indigo Bunting 7 Painted Bunting 33 Dickcissel 9 Red-winged Blackbird 8 Common Grackle 4 Orchard Oriole 1 House Sparrow