Sixty-seven fourth grade students from Lake Park/Audubon Elementary school toured Hamden Slough and Tamarac refuges as part of NWR Week activities. 

Prior to the tour, students had been briefed on the unique position that the city of Audubon has at the confluence of three major North American biomes: prairie, broad-leaf forest and pineland.  Bird species from all three ecosystems merge and mix at this confluence located between Hamden Slough and Tamarac refuges. 

During the tour, students learned about the bird species and the differing food sources found on the prairie and in the forest.  Insect eating birds on the prairie wetlands were compared with fish eating birds in the forest lakes.  Beginning on a beautiful morning, the students visited prairie wetlands on Hamden Slough, then continued their tour in the mixed forest and lake country of Tamarac NWR.

The City of Audubon is named for John James Audubon, America's first Ornithologist.  The city received it's name due the high number of bird species and the abundant numbers found nearby, prior to agricultural development.