We got a late start for our Crane Whisperer Tour this morning. We left at 9 am on this hot, humid morning. The recently burned savanna on Brown's Trail was breathtaking with the beautiful colors of all the different species of plants.
We only saw 5 cranes today and a few other birds which is a lot less than our usual sightings. We contribute the less sightings to sleeping in, hot weather, and the distraction of the colorful savanna.
We spent the afternoon clearing brush at Camp Refuge for a better view of the bayou.
We have a smart critter that has been frequenting our storage compartment in the camper. Lauren's attempt to catch it in the mouse traps have been unsuccessful. Whatever it is, eats the peanut butter and never gets caught. Lauren stepped up the game today adding a rat trap, and 4 glue traps. Hopefully, this we get him out of our compartment.
Refuge Pictures:
Monday
Lauren's effort for the critter catching were unsuccessful last night. This critter is very talented, he must have Houdini genes.
We put up a hummingbird feeder a couple of months ago. We moved it to different locations hoping to lure the birds in. We saw a few fly around in the trees, but never feeding at the feeder, until this morning. Clearing the brush must have been the ticket.
Tuesday
We got to meet the endangered Dusky Gopher Frogs this morning. We have watched them grow from tadpoles to frogs in the last couple of months. They are on the top 100 endangered species in the world.
Some of them were being processed for release in the refuge in the conference room. They are about the size of a tree frog, and very active if they get a chance to get away from the handler. Lauren actually was brave enough to weigh and measure one and not lose him.
Anita came over to spend the night with us. We enjoyed our stroll on the CL Dees trail before lunch.
After lunch, Anita, Lauren, and I helped Angie and the interns check the 150 frog traps. It was a rather busy afternoon, checking the traps, releasing the tadpoles, removing the frogs, placing the frogs in individual containers, and labeling each container.
I have never touched a frog until today. One of the frogs jumped out of the container Lauren was placing him in and was swimming around in the tank. I swooped him up in my hand and got him in the container. I will always have a claim of fame that my first frog catching was one of the rarest amphibians in the United States. I am becoming a brave nature chaser.
We sat around Camp Refuge this afternoon, watched the birds feed at the feeders, and had a great visit with Anita.
Wednesday
Lauren and I worked the VC today. Anita hung out with us until after lunch. Lauren went to the Ocean Springs unit of the refuge to take pictures of the purple bladderworts while I manned the center. We are really glad our investment in our camera is providing some really pretty pictures.
When we got off, we met Anita at Island View to spend the night with her. We all had lost our quota for the night and made one last stop to try and recoup. Lauren hit enough to cover our losses and Anita hit enough to cover most of hers.
We stopped and ate at the diner then went to the room and watched the rain fall.
Thursday
We had a beautiful sunrise when we got up at 6 am at Island View. It's not very often that I get up early enough to see the sunrise. We sat around and enjoyed our coffee before putting it in high gear to get to work on time. We made it with plenty of time to spare. We thoroughly enjoy spending time with Anita.
Melissa covered for Lauren, Pat, and I to go to lunch at The Shed for Matt's farewell lunch. Matt has been an intern at the refuge since October and will be heading to Colorado to work with Raptors and Big Horn Sheep. The guy is leaving at a good time considering summer and the hurricane season is upon us. We wish him all the best.
Lauren still has been unsuccessful catching the critter in the camper compartment. He added more traps to his collection in hopes of outsmarting this critter.
Friday
Lauren and I worked the VC. It was a rather slow day, but we enjoyed the few people that stopped to visit us.
Saturday
We took the day off to go and spend a couple of nights with Rick and Jerri for the Memorial Day Weekend.
The week of pictures:
Memorial Weekend at Timberlake:
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