It was a beautiful and fun weekend at the Rez visiting our friends and watching people playing on the lake. We made it back to Camp Refuge by noon and had a much needed relaxing afternoon.
It's hard to believe we have been volunteers for Mississippi Sandhill Crane Wildlife Refuge for over 12 weeks. Time flies when you are having fun!
On a sad note, Clem, the Visitor's Center snake, passed away last week. R.I.P. Clem.
Tuesday
We shipped off our Canon camera today for repairs. We will be without it for a few weeks, which means we won't be able to take pictures with the big lens for awhile.
We have had a lot of birds eating from the small bird feeder momma gave us years ago, so we added a tower bird feeder. The birds circled in the trees, squawked, and looked at the tower feeder. They are not brave enough to eat from it yet. Unfortunately, the squirrels are not having a problem with it.
We were so excited to finally see our first colt today. It was walking along the edge of the woods with his parents on Highway 57. He or she is approximately a week old. It's ironic to see the cranes on the side of a very busy highway when they have over 20,000 acres of refuge to roam. And as luck would have it, our camera with the reach out there and get a good picture lens, was sent in for repairs this morning. At least, we had our old side kick, Nikon point and shoot.
We walked the CL Dees Trail this afternoon and saw a fox squirrel in a nest and her mate nearby perched on a limb. We will keep a watch out for their babies. We are always finding something new to entertain us on this trail.
Wednesday
Only a few birds have been brave enough to eat from the new tower bird feeder. The squirrels, on the other hand, are climbing the pole and eating from both of the bird feeders. I sure hope they don't topple it all over.
We had 3 Pileated Woodpeckers come by for a visit this morning. There must be some good vittles in these trees.
Our stroll on the CL Dees Trail was more exciting than usual this morning. During our stroll, Lauren grabbed my arm to prevent me from stepping on a King snake. I started jumping around and squealing when he grabbed me, although I did not see the snake until it slittered away in the deep grass. Needless to say, Lauren was very amused by my theatrics.
This afternoon, Lauren manufactured a squirrel deterrent by rigging up a platter around the pole of the bird feeder. We will see how this turns out.
Thursday
Lauren's squirrel deterrent kept the squirrels from climbing the pole on the bird feeder but not from jumping from the limbs of the trees to the top of the feeder. Lauren's new strategy was to move the feeders away from the trees. This worked for a little while.
By afternoon, the squirrels figured out how to climb on the deterrent to get to their feast. Lauren is gonna have to step up the game if he is going to outsmart these critters.
Friday
Lauren made a special trip to Walmart to buy a slinky which he hung around the pole of the bird feeder. We sat outside for hours watching, there were no squirrels in sight.
More and more birds are getting use to the tower feeder and are starting to eat from it. At least today, while the squirrels are away.
Saturday
We wrapped up this slow week at the Visitor's Center. We were going home today to mow the yard, but decided it would be more fun to go on the Crane Whisperer Tour in the morning.
The pictures are here:
Sorry to hear about Clem dying. He was only snake I liked. Was it something he ate or maybe lack of something to eat with Loews on vacTio
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