Observant visitors are likely to encounter numerous species of passerine birds including those that nest on the Refuge and those migrating through. Turkey vultures usually arrive in March and are seen soaring around the bluffs, sunning with outstretched wings or feeding along sandbars on dead fish. Great blue herons and great egrets nest in a number of rookeries on the District. Some of these rookeries contain over a thousand nests. Most logs display a variety of sunning turtles that usually dive for safety before they can be identified.
Turtles also take advantage of the warm sandbars to lay their eggs.
Spring peepers, bullfrogs and chorus, green, tree and pickerel frogs keep the evenings alive with their songs. Northern water snakes, although possessing a bad temper, are non-poisonous and are often observed swimming in the backwaters. The myriad of small aquatic and terrestrial insects and organisms that inhabit the Refuge are an essential link in the food chain and they may be good indicators of the health of the River. Curious visitors can easily spend several interesting days attempting to identify the diversity that occurs on the Refuge. Canoeists and boaters have the advantage in covering more of the Refuge for wildlife observation, but foot travelers also have a number of opportunities.