MSCNWR - 5-22-22 - 5-28-22

We spent the night in Crossroads Sunday night then made it back to Camp Crane on Monday.  We helped the Interns trap 28 DGFS and process the last 3 days catch, then released 115 DGFs.  We took advantage of the cloudy evening and released around 4 pm.

On our drive to the frog pond, we saw a lone crane meandering along the frog pond road.  Hopefully, the mate is on nest duty.

While waiting on the frogs to acclimate, Lauren passed the time taking pictures of critters and such. 

Monday Pics:

After getting the phenology data collected on the Dees Trail Tuesday, we started working on putting the inventory back in the system for the bookstore.  In the past 3 weeks, Lloyd said many times as I was talking to support, "May the force be with you."  When we were finally able to put things in, he said, "Use the force Kim."  The force finally happened and the bookstore is back in business. 

A Yellow-billed Cuckoo made a visit at Camp Crane this afternoon.

Tuesday Pics: 

Wednesday, we did a little bit of tidying up at the bookstore and a few other chores in the visitors center.  We helped the Interns get 9 DGFs out of the tanks.  It sure has slowed down.  We got the area between the parking lot and the trail mowed right before the rain started.

Appearing this afternoon at Camp Crane was a Yellow-throated Vireo.

Wednesday Pics:

We went with the Interns and Scott to release 37 DGFs on Thursday evening.  This was the first time that there was water in the pond for the release, and the first time that we had to walk the mile to get to the pond this season.

There were some happy resident frogs there when we arrived.  They were loud and proud to have a pond with water.  Their calling had the snakes looking for their meal. Two Cottonmouths and one Ribbon Snake were found on snake patrol.  Hefan caught one of the Cottonmouths and relocated him while the frogs were acclimating. 

It was a nice walk back after sunset.

Thursday Pics:

Friday we did a Wally World run.  Lauren took a walk along the Dees Trail while I covered the visitor center for Jeff.  We helped Madison trap and tag 11 DGFs. The afternoon included a sightseeing ride through the refuge.

 

Friday Pics:

We worked in the visitors center on Saturday.  We had the busiest day since reopening with 58 visitors.  Lauren helped Madison check the traps.  They only caught 2 DGFs today.  After we closed, we were Crossroads bound, time for some lawn care.

MSCNWR - 5-15-22 - 5-21-22

Our Orchid Safari on Sunday, had plenty of orchid finds, just not the Calopogon multiflorus kind.

  

While looking for orchids, we were distracted by a very determined Pileated Woodpecker. 

Shortly after entering the North Gautier Unit, we saw our favorites, Banana, Coconut, and their buds.  They looked a little bit disappointed that we didn't fill the feeder. 

 

We did not have any luck finding colts today.  The Dougie family was no where to be seen.

We saw Jabba and her mate fly from the road near the Gautier Pen then circle around.  They had the colts hid in the grass.

We saw about 20 cranes while we were in the North Gautier Unit, the only photogenic ones were our buddies and their friends.

Sunday Pics: 

Monday, we met with Lloyd to try and resolve bookstore issues.  We had a little bit of progress.  We tagged 31 DGFs while the Interns were in the field.  We helped the Interns collect 60 frogs from the tanks, tag 88, then released 177 at sunset.  We still have a dry pond, which is good for driving the 1 mile in, but not so good for the frogs.  

Tuesday, after getting our Dees Trail walk in, we tagged 39 frogs while the Interns went through camera cards from last week.  This afternoon, we helped the Interns and Jeremy, who is filling in for the next 3 weeks as the project leader,  collect 53 more frogs from the tanks.  We spent the afternoon tagging 76 frogs.

   

Tuesday Pics:

Wednesday, we collected and tagged 42 DGFs.  We made another version of the Dough Boy Deer Buster and fixed up 5 feeders.  The only pictures we took today were with our phone cameras.  This frog season is wearing us out.

Wednesday Pics:

I spent most of the day Thursday trying to get the Clover register system working in the bookstore.  No such luck.  

Lauren helped bio with the frogs, catching and tagging 30 DGFs.  Finally, it appears to be slowing down just a bit.

We went with Bio and Jeremy to release 179 frogs at sunset.  We have released over 60% of the frogs.

Thursday Pics:

Friday and Saturday we took a much needed break and went to the Rez for a weekend visit with Jerri and Rick.  We stopped by LeFleur's Bluff State Park, enjoyed a picnic lunch, did some hiking and picture taking.

Weekend Pics:

MSCNWR - 5-8-22 - 5-14-22

In route to Ocean Springs for an Orchid Safari, we stopped to check on the Dougie Family.  The colts were doing well foraging in the pasture with their parents. 

 

We tromped around in a couple of 3 week old savanna burns looking for Calapogon multiflorus.  We were delighted to find 15 of them in the second savanna, a new location for the refuge.  It was a great find for our 365th day here. 

 

We went in the Ocean Springs blind and saw the unbanded pair with their colt.  They were at the other side of the pen.  Maybe next time they will be closer for better pictures.

While we were out and about we found a lot of other cool things, including our first Yellow Meadowbeauties and Savanna Meadowbeauties of this year.

We have had a fabulous celebration of our Refuge Anniversary.

Sunday Pics:

We made 2 loops around the Dees Trail reorganizing the plant markers on Monday.

  

We helped the Interns process 26 Dusky Gopher Frogs and released 30 at sunset.  We were able to drive all the way to the pond.  It is a rarity that it is dry enough to do this.  This is good for us, but not for the tadpoles that were in the dried up pond.  We only found one snake, a Pine Woods Littersnake.  He was a cute little rascal.  We had a nice sunset to watch while waiting for the frogs to acclimate.  After the release, we took an usie of the Croak Crew.

Monday Pics:

The Croak Crew was joined by the Craniac at the DGF tanks today.  We put the round traps in increasing the traps from one to three. 

 

Today we captured 14 DGFs.  Half of them were loafing and hand caught.  Some of them were checking out their new condos that we were putting in the tank.  Catching the frogs that were not in the traps became a sport.  It looks like it's going to be a busy week.

Tuesday Pics:

Lauren loaded up the Bio team and left the boat lauch around 6 am.  They had a nice, cool morning for the marsh bird survey. 

 

That changed by the time they returned when we went to check crane nests.  The temperature was much warmer and the sun was beaming.  We checked out 3 different crane nest.  The first nest had one egg.  It was floated to check for viability and returned back to the nest.

The second nest had two eggs.  One egg was beginning to pip.  The other egg was nonviable.  Good news and bad news.

The third nest was in a slough with only one of the two eggs present.  Scott purred to the egg as it floated, and the chick kicked.  One of our top highlights of volunteering here.

We all guessed the number of frogs that we were getting out of the tanks today.  I was right on the money, (or bragging rights).  We removed 35 DGFs today.

Wednesday Pics:

We saw an interesting camper traveling on I10 Thursday morning. 

 

We helped the Interns run the DGF traps.  We collected 31 frogs, processed 77 and released them tonight.  

Thursday Pics:

Friday the 13th was our lucky day.  We went on an Orchid Safari and found Calopogon multiflorus at the G8 East Unit.  A new location for these beauties.  Of course we walked in the savanna for over an hour before we found them.  They were located next to a firebreak, which would have been a much easier walk.  Oh well, we got in some good exercise.

As we were walking back to the truck, we spotted 3 Common Nighthawks chasing each other.  One of them landed on the ground where we found a nest with 2 eggs.  One of them kept chasing the other nighthawk, while the third kept a keen eye on us.

We met Scott to do another check on the Milhouse nest.  Milhouse and Crane 2005 flew as we walked up.  We carefully stepped and looked for the little one and found it.  The chick was doing what he was supposed to do. It was being still and squatted down in the savanna.  Lauren and I both got to hold this small, soft, bundle of joy.  When it got fussy, we would balance his feet on our hands and it would look around seeming content. This is definitely the highlight of volunteering at the refuge.

It didn't take long for Mom and Dad to return to their buddle of joy.  Nature is so awesome!

The excitement continued when we checked the DGF tanks.   Hefan, Lauren, and I removed 60 frogs. My oh my!

Friday Pics:

It was a slow day of visitation at the visitors center.  We had 28 people trickle in.  We got the garden watered and got the containers ready for the DGFs.  After we closed, we helped Hefan collect 54 DGFs from the tanks.   The DGF season is on!

Saturday Pics: