1-6-19 - 1-12-19 - (Week 45)

Sunday
A beautiful sunny, Sunday.  We got our exercise in walking around Camp Crane today, then cleaned up Amber.

Wind therapy was long overdue, as it had been about 9 months since we rode Amber.  We took a couple hour ride to Pascagoula.  We saw 100's of White Pelicans and the usual shore birds.  It was getting cool by the time we got back to Camp Crane.

It was Ferny Kat outdoor time when we got back.  She chased off birds, then treed a squirrel.

We sat by the propane fire pit for a bit, then called it a night.

Monday
We spent the day birding today.  We walked the CL Dees Trail twice, rode around Pascagoula, and sat on the back porch of the Visitor's Center.

We did see 2 Sandhill Cranes in the HQ savanna.  One of the Cranes was one of the Free Birds.  We could not ID the other.  We sure hope all is well in the Crane World.

Tuesday
We traveled west on I 10 to Waveland, then hit Highway 90 east bound beaching.  They have really made some improvements on the Beach in Waveland/ Bay St. Louis area.  They have a nice walkway/bike path and several new piers.  We saw the common shorebirds.

We met Anita for a night at Island View.  We contributed our little bit to the casino and watched a great beach sunset.

Wednesday
Anita went with us shore bird watching today from the comforts of the jeep.  It was a very low tide and very few birds to see.  They must have been hiding from the wind.

We ate lunch at Tony's Brick Oven Pizza.  Judy Hathcock had told us the food was good, and it was.

We dropped Anita off at Island View and checked out a few crane spots on the way back.  The couple we saw were huddled down in the grass hiding from the wind.

As usual, we got a good talking to from Ferny Kat when we got home.

Thursday
Another day off due to the government shutdown.  We spent the day cleaning the camper windows and walls, and washing clothes.

We haven't seen the Free Birds in a few days.  We sure do miss them.

Friday
Another Government Shutdown day.  We spent the morning walking around at Camp Crane.  We saw 2 Sandhill Cranes in the HQ savanna, one was one of our Free Birds.  We hope the other has found a new home and is safe and sound.

We met the Hall's, Loew's, Pat, and Angie for lunch at Dynasty Buffet.  On our way, we went on the Crane route and found 19 Sandhill Cranes in Bright's Pasture, and 2 more at Sandhill Landing.  We had another great lunch with good friends.

We were rewarded when we did a late afternoon check on the HQ Savanna watching a fly off of the 2 cranes toward South Gautier/Firetower.

Saturday
An 8 point Buck was hanging around Camp Crane this morning when Lauren got up.  He didn't seem to have a care in the word.

Another gigless gig for us volunteers today.  We rode to Graveline Beach, Mars Pier, and Ocean Springs birding.  The tide was high and the birds were few.  It was a good way to spend a cloudy, occasional misty, day.

We walked the CL Dees Trail, found one of the Free Birds and an unbanded in the HQ savanna, and grilled a burger this afternoon.

Whole week of pics:

12-29-18 - 1-5-19 (Week 44)

Sunday
We watched the deer and the birds outside the camper this morning.  We took a leisurely walk along CL Dees Trail and were pleased to find  the Pineland Daisies and a Stoke's Aster in bloom.

We also found Stinkhorns on the trail. Lauren tells me they really smell bad, I will take his word on it.

We made a couple of passes along the Crane hot spots today.   We saw about 10 on our first round, then saw 25 in Bright's Pasture on the 2nd round.  We think some of these were Greater Sandhill Cranes. We really enjoyed watching them dance.  We saw a total of 35 Sandhill Cranes.  Another record breaking Crane Sighting day.

We enjoyed watching the shore birds and Dolphins at Ocean Springs, especially the Eagle chasing an Osprey.

We went to Hiller Park and found several songbirds and shorebirds, then made a stop at Courthouse Pier.

Monday
The last day of 2018 was muggy and rainy.  We went birding at Pascagoula and saw numerous Ospreys and American Kestrels, along with several other birds.  The birding at Point Park was scant. It probably had a lot to do with a Peregrine Falcon's presence.

Our last meal of this year was Popeye's Fried Chicken, and it was good.

Tuesday - Happy New Year!
The Free birds and their 2 new friends hung out in the Headquarter Savanna today.  They were very active, poking at each other, flying, foraging, and calling.

We made our Crane hot spot pass again today and found 15 of them in Bright's Pasture along with a  couple others at Sandhill Landing.

The Free Birds and their friends were in the back yard of the Visitor's Center when we returned.  Looks like they have made this their home.

Wednesday - Happy 9 Month Volunteer Gig To Us
The government shutdown continues.  We went to the Lagoons for a Christmas Bird Count with the Gulf Coast Audubon Group.  We spent the day riding around with Sharon looking for birds.

Even though it was a foggy, cloudy day, we found plenty of birds.  One of the first species we counted were Sandhill Cranes.  There must have been at least 50 Sandhill Cranes gathered together.  We continued seeing more and more all day and were constantly hearing them call, a sound we never get tired of.  On our way home, we made a pass by Bright's Pasture and saw 17 more.  We must have seen over a hundred Sandhill Cranes.  Definitely a record breaker.

The after count, pizza party, revealed a total of 134 species found on the Gulf Coast, plus some more that had not been reported.

Thursday 
Another no work day due to the government shutdown.  We are off until next Thursday, that is if the shutdown is discontinued.

We woke up to the highest water we have ever seen in the bayou at Camp Crane.

An early morning Crane calling, had me out and about watching for them in the savanna.

We walked the CL Dees Trail and saw more flood water, but only a few birds.  There were more birds at Camp Crane than at the trail.  We found another pretty bloom, a Common Blue Violet on the trail.

Late afternoon, the Free Birds and their friends were at it again - calling, walking, flying, and foraging in the headquarters savanna. 

Friday
We woke up to sunshine glistening off the high water of Bayou Castille.  We were in much need of sunshine therapy today after all the cloudy, rainy, days we have had.

The government shutdown didn't keep us from a Volunteer Luncheon at Woody's.  It was great for all of us to be together again.  The food was good, but the company was better.

We took a ride around Ocean Springs and then to Bright's Pasture for our Crane fix.  We were excited to see 21 Sandhill Cranes in the pasture.  They were not very excited though.  They were pretty close to the road, eating, preening,and standing on one foot.  A couple of them laid down, they looked like I felt after the heavy meal I ate.

We didn't see the Free Birds today, but we did see a Red Tail Hawk circling and squawking right at dark at Camp Crane.

Saturday
We spent this beautiful, warm day at Camp Crane getting our walk in while getting our clothes washed.

We saw some pretty cool birds today including a Merlin and a juvenile Bald Eagle.

We only saw 3 of the 4 Sandhill Cranes at the HQ savanna.  They were too far off to identify.  Hopefully, 2 of these are the Free Birds.

The week of pictures:

Christmas Bird Count photos:

12-23-18 - 12-29-18 (Week 43)

Sunday
We weren't in any hurry to get home this morning.  Anita cooked a great breakfast and we sat around and bird watched.   She has a very pretty American Goldfinch that frequents her bird feeders.

Ferny Kat was impatiently waiting at the door when we got home.  She gave us quite a talking to for leaving her alone last night.

We spent the rest of the day doing a little back yard bird watching, catching up on laundry, washing the jeep, and recuperating from yesterday's festivities.

Monday
We traveled back to Camp Crane for this Christmas Eve.  We went shore bird watching along Highway 90, went out to eat at The Reef, and sat by a nice campfire until after dark.

Tuesday
We had a Merry Christmas morning spent walking Graveline Beach.  We had our first ever, Tuna Fish Sandwich, for Christmas lunch, sitting on a bench at Biloxi Beach.

We hiked the Fountainebleu Trail.  We took the long way home looking for Sandhill Cranes and found 17 Sandhill Cranes.  13 of them were in Bright's Pasture and most of these were probably Greater Sandhill Cranes.

We fried fish for dinner and sat around the propane fire pit until dark watching the Camp Crane Christmas tree lights and an Osprey landing on his perch in the bayou.

Wednesday
The Visitor's Center is closed due to the Government shutdown.  Our 2 Crane Tours, of 16 people cannot be done.  Luckily, we can stay at Camp Crane.

We walked almost 10 miles exploring today.  We went Mucking in our new Muck boots to break them in.  We talked with about 30 visitors on the trail and around headquarters. There must have been about 60 visitors that we saw around the headquarters on this beautiful day.

We saw 4 Sandhill Cranes around the temporary pen late this afternoon, we didn't have binoculars or cameras, so we could not ID them.

Thursday
The shut down continues.  We hung around Camp Crane on this cloudy, misty day.

Friday
We are not scheduled to work until the 1st to do a plant walk, if the government opens back up.  It was a rainy day at Camp Crane.

Saturday
Another rainy, cloudy, government shutdown day at Camp Crane.  We saw the Free Birds along with 2 of their friends in the HQ savanna.  We are so happy they are  alive and well.

The week of pics:

12-16-18 - 12-22-18 - (Week 42)

Sunday
Anita came along for the shore bird watching today.

We got a room, at Island View, with a view of the decorated light house at Jones Park.  Nick and Hope met us and we walked to Jones Park for a better view of the Christmas lights.  The Christmas lights were enhanced by the beautiful sunset.

Anita won a little, we lost a little, and off to the room we went.



Monday
We enjoyed our morning, drinking coffee with Anita with a great view of the sun rising from the East.  Then we had a great Christmas lunch at the bunkhouse with HQ staff, our co-volunteers, and the interns.

Recently released cranes, aka Free Birds, roosted in a fire lane last night.  They are living on the edge.

Instead of taking a nap after lunch, we hiked Graveline Beach.  It was a beautiful cool day for a walk on the beach.  We saw a Loggerhead Shrike first thing.  We watched an Eagle and Osprey in flight together, several different Egrets, a few shorebirds,  and a Western King-bird.

When we returned, Ferny Kat was ready for some bird watching herself, so out we went.

Tuesday
This beautiful, cool, day influenced us to go birding at Dauphin Island.  We were entertained at Audubon Birding Trail by several birds, including several Blue Jays harassing an American Kestrel.  We made our usual picnic stop and watched a few shore birds.

As we made our way across the Escatawpa River, on our way home, we saw an adult Bald Eagle and a Juvenile on the power lines.   On our adventure to get a better view of these birds, we found a Egret roost area under the bridge.

While I was taking a picture of a couple of Egrets in a tree together, a Pelican flew by.  We now have a new birding area.  Thanks, Bald Eagles.

The Free Birds are still touring around.  They flew across I10 and checked out the salt marsh at the Pascagoula River yesterday.

Wednesday
We worked the Visitor's Center today.  The Hall's did a morning Crane Tour, and we did an afternoon Crane Tour.

It was a very productive day of sightings.  We saw 8 Mississippi Sandhill Cranes, deer, Egrets, a Kingfisher, and a Bald Eagle.
                         
                           

The first couple of Sandhill Cranes we saw on Brown's Trail, started calling and flew right over the van.  A great way to start the tour.

The Bald Eagle we saw at the turn around at Beasley, must have wanted in on the action.  He flew over the van, circled a few times in the crop field, then flew away. A great grand finale of sightings.

Last night, Free Birds, roosted in the savanna by I10.  Today they stayed most of the day at the HQ savanna and ate from the feeder.

Thursday
We worked the Visitor's Center again today with an afternoon Crane Tour.  It was another productive crane sighting day.

We saw 9 Mississippi Sandhill Cranes, a Fox Squirrel, several Egrets, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, an American Kestrel, 2 Eagles on 2 different nest, and an Armadillo.

The Fox Squirrel ran down the road toward the van and really put on a show.  It seemed a lighter color than the one that we see at the VC.

The Armadillo also put on a great show.  He ran along the road in the savanna.

I guess the Fox Squirrel and the Armadillo wanted in on the Crane attention.
I'm not sure what critter was the most entertaining today.

Free Birds visited the pond and roosted in a low area near the pen.  They need to smarten up and roost in the pond before they get predator ated.

Friday
We worked the VC today.  Lauren helped Charley prepare for their camper to be towed out of Camp Crane.  They plan on bringing another one in a few weeks.

Free Birds roosted on fire line to the north, (G04).  Still living on the edge.

Saturday
We had 6 people on our Crane Tour this morning, a couple from Indiana and a family from Minnesota, (Mom, Dad, a 6 yr. old and and 11 yr old).

We saw a Pied-billed Grebe, a Great Blue Heron, a Pileated Woodpecker, Bald Eagles in both nests, a Bald Eagle flying, an Armadillo, and a Red-tailed Hawk.  The tour, as the 11 yr. old said was,
 " amazing."

Dougie, #1510, and an unbanded Crane really put on a show.  They were just a few feet off the road walking in Bright's Pasture.   They walked and foraged in the field.   Then, Dougie and #1510 started dancing.  It was a very entertaining venue.

The Armadillo was also a hit.  He ran around in the savanna and posed for us.  The tourist had never seen an armadillo before and were as excited to see it as they were the dancing cranes.  The 11 yr. old has named the armadillo, Monkey Bread.  She heard the stories of Sticky Bunz and wanted to call him Monkey Bread in honor of Bunz.

The Bald Eagle got in on the action as well.  Two of them were in their separate nest, and one flew over with Spanish moss in his claws heading to the nest.  I guess he was adding more insulation to the nest after the cold temperature that we had last night.

We had planned on a couple hour tour being we had plans for the Williams Christmas Party at Erica's.  That 2 hour tour lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes.  We still made it to the party, just a little late.

We had a great time at the party, and continued with the great time at Anita's.  Her and Lucy were quite the hostess.

Free Birds finally roosted in the G07 pond at HQ!!

The week of pictures: