9-16-18 - 9-22-18 (Week 29)

Sunday
We got up early this morning and headed to the Ocean Springs Unit to see if the last known fledgling had fledged.  We sat in the blind overlooking the pen for about 30 minutes and got our answer.  The fledgling and his parents flew to an area outside the pen and foraged for a while.  One of the parents was still hungry and flew in the pen to eat corn. What a view while drinking your morning coffee.

We rode around a little while longer, no exciting critters were found.  We went to the pond to eat our breakfast.  I thought, we never see anything at this pond, there is no need to turn on my camera.  It didn't take me long to get it turned on when we saw a Bald Eagle bathing in the edge of the water.  We were able to get a few pictures when he flew up in a tree.  We only saw 3 more Cranes before departing the unit.

We took a ride by Rock Hill and saw the resident couple then to Firetower Road where we saw one more Crane.  Seeing an Eagle and Mississippi Sandhill Cranes made for an awesome day!

Monday
We toured Ocean Springs today.  Our first stop was the 12 Oak Nature Trail.  There were plenty of butterflies and spiders, and a couple of turtles along the Oak Grove of trees to the bayou.

We stopped by Gulf Island National Seashore.  There was not much to the critter activity so we headed back to Camp Refuge.  We had Crane Sightings at the Coca Cola plant on our way back.  The couple were standing in water in the ditch alongside the busy highway.  They sure are brave.

I walked to the boat launch at Camp Refuge for a critter look see, and saw our resident deer, two does.

Carol, Charley, and Sally come over for a visit this afternoon.  Ferny Kat was her usual exploring self.  She found us a Fiddler Crab in our yard.  She must not have liked us picking up the crab to check it out.  She was no longer interested in being outside.

Tuesday
It was a beautiful, hot day at Dauphin Island.  Our first stop was the Audubon Nature Trail.  There were plenty of sea gulls and pelicans flying around the gulf.  It must be crab sighting week for us, we saw a Ghost Crab on the beach.

On our walk back to the parking lot, we saw an Osprey, a Great Blue Heron, and a Brown Headed Nuthatch.  The bird activity should be picking up in the next few weeks when the birds start migrating.

We checked out the East Beach and saw Great Blue Herons, plenty of Pelicans, Snowy Egrets, and Sea Gulls.

We made a stop at Shell Mound Park then a tour to the West Beach. There was not much going on in these areas.

Our usual picnic spot at Bay Front Park was as beautiful as ever.  We were mesmerized by the hundred of Pelicans diving in the water.  The best Pelican Dive I know of. 

Wednesday
Our day off was not quite that.  Lauren was needed to cut grass at the Shooting Range.  I got our clothes washed.

It was a nice walk on the CL Dees Trail this afternoon with more plants blooming, butterflies fluttering, and a Red-bellied Woodpecker and Common Yellow-throat sighting.

Thursday
Another slow day at the VC.  Lauren went to Oak Grove Trail and mowed.  He found some pretty Red Spider Lilies in bloom along the roadside.  There are always pretty flowers along Bayou Heron Rd.

Friday
We reported to work at 7:15 am this morning.  We had a work day planned to take down the temporary crane pen at the Fountainebleu Unit.  It will be relocated to the VC for the Crane release in November.

The take down team consisted of us, Angie, the two interns - Sara and Kelli, and two other volunteers - Hugh and Arial.  It was too muddy for an ATV or 4 wheel truck, so we packed in our work gear and got started.  I have to say, I am very impressed by the women in this group.  They worked circles around us old farts.

We had to cut off tie wraps, pull up metal poles and stakes, pull off the net from the top of the chain link fence and the top of the PVC poles, then roll this monster net up and pack it and our work gear out.  It took about 31/2 hours of hard labor in the blazing hot sun.  FYI, there is no shade trees in a wet pine savanna.

Part of the pen was across the pond.  Angie and Kelli swam in water above their head to take down the net.  After doing all we could do on land, all of us got in the pond to help and to cool off.  We had on jeans and rubber boots.  It is quite an experience to walk with your boots full of water.  We now have a claim to fame of wading in a Crane Roost Pond.  The things that we do for these birds!

Carrying the monster net, to the truck, with all 7 of us holding it in different sections was quite a task. Angie and Kelli took up the rear carrying the heaviest of the weight.   Everyone was exhausted by the time we carried it about a 1/4 mile or so, back to the truck.  We were very pleased with Angie's decision to go back another day to pick up the poles.

Team Take Down did a fabulous job, although it almost took us old farts down!

We went home, took a long shower, washed our nasty clothes, then went out to eat at The Reef.  It was a very pretty view and great food.

We sat around Camp Refuge watching the birds until dark.  When the Bats start flying and eating mosquitoes, it is time to call it a night.

Saturday
We were supposed to have a group come in at 8:30 to walk the trail, so we went in earlier than usual to open the VC.  The group was a no show.

We had a few people visit and walk the trail today.  We didn't mind it being a slow day, we needed some rest time.

The pics are here:

9-9-18 - 9-15-18 (Week 28 )

Sunday
A few weeks ago, we told Pat and Jeff that we usually go on the Crane Whisperer Tour on Sunday morning and they have an open invitation to join us.  We didn't hear anything from them and headed out about 7 am this morning.  We took a few steps down the road, headed to headquarters to get the van, and heard Jeff calling.  He had his backpack and ice chest packed and was ready to roll.

We entered Brown's Trail, and looked down the fire lane toward the feeder and saw a couple of Mississippi Sandhill Cranes.  The tone was set.  After a loop from Brown's Trail to Firetower Road, we had 21 crane sightings.  We broke our previous record of 20 Mississippi Sandhill Crane sightings in one tour and found some beautiful plants and birds. What a day!

Pat stocked us up on veggies from the Farmer's Market yesterday.  It was time for a good ole Sunday dinner.  We had grilled chicken, potatoes and white sauce over rice, (momma's secret recipe with modified calories, and not nearly as good),  sauteed squash and onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  A late afternoon Sunday feast.

We took a stroll on the CL Dees Trail late afternoon, then bird watched at Camp Refuge.  We had a fabulous day of plant and bird admiration and a great meal.  We even had a Gray Catbird come for a visit.  We are beginning to see a few more species of birds around than in the last few weeks.

Monday
We started our day off with a walk on the CL Dees Trail and relocation of plant signs.  We made at least 2 rounds of the trail getting them set up like we wanted.

The Swallowtail Butterflies were loving the freshly bloomed Le Conte's Thistle.  There was at least 5 fluttering around in one small section enjoying the nectar.  There were numerous species of beautiful butterflies on different plants along the trail.

We took a ride to Pascagoula, saw a few birds and a few plants that were of interest to us, including one of our favorite birds, Snowy Egrets.

We had a Cottonmouth visit on the road entering Camp Refuge this afternoon.  He was not fond of the attention he was getting, when Lauren was taking his picture.

We did our usual sit around camp and watch the birds this afternoon.  Ferny Kat had to get in on the fun.  She laid at the base of the pole of the Hummingbird feeder aggravating the hungry birds.

Tuesday
We worked with Charley and Carol today at the VC.  Lauren and I took a ride to Oak Grove Trail at Grand Bay to take pictures and start working on a self guided tour pamphlet.

The trail has a lot of tree canopy that allows very little sunlight in.  It has lots of Golden Silk Orb-weaver spiders in their strong, silk webs.  We carried a stick to block them from us.  The mosquitoes were horrendous. Luckily, it is only a 1/2 mile loop.

After work, we took a walk to the fire center and saw the new blind being delivered that will be used at the VC for a viewing stand.  The plan is to release captive reared cranes in a pen in the savanna for our visitor's to view.  There is a lot of work to be done to get ready for this, including setting up the covered pen for their release in November.

Wednesday
Lauren did a little bit of mowing.  It was too wet to do most of it.  I worked the VC.  Visitation seems to be picking up just a little bit.

A late afternoon bird watching with slow participation from the birds.  We did get a neat guest right at dark.  A Great Horned Owl flew nearby in the tree.  It was too dark to get a clear picture.

Thursday
We worked with the Hall's today.  Lauren got the rest of the mowing done.   Sally and I went on the plant tour on the CL Dees Trail.  She has been the one in the past that kept up the plant signs on the trail.  It was a hot morning.  All for that cool front they said was coming by the weekend.

The fire crew has been working on Fountainebleu Trail doing mechanical clearing and placing rocks on the path.  We took a ride after work, to check it out.  As we were waiting for them to finish for the day, we took a short crane tour and saw 4 Mississippi Sandhill Cranes.  A good way to spend our wait time.

The fire crew has done a great job of clearing, even going around the pretty American Beauty-berry plants.  It is so much more open than before except for the forest trail loop.  it is still a very woodsy trail.  If they do not go any further with the clearing, it will have 2 very unique loops, one that is open and one that is really woodsy.

Friday
We watched Hummingbird fights today.  This morning, a couple of them were on the ground fighting.  After the fight, the winner sat on the top of the feeder pole.  He was so bad, he looked me straight in the eye when I was taking pictures of him through the window.  The fights continued throughout the day.  There were at least 4, probably more, partaking in the battle of the feeder.

We did a little bit of shopping to stock up today.  We took a nice stroll around the CL Dees Trail.  A late afternoon thunderstorm dampened our bird watching afternoon.

Saturday
We were off on this Saturday.  We went to to the Pascagoula River Audubon Center.  They were having their estuaries day.  There were plenty of exhibits and plenty of kids.  It was not a good day for bird watching, but it was fun checking out the grounds.

We took a ride along the beach at Pascagoula, then went to Bozo's for lunch.  We decided to go home and eat when we saw the crowd of people there.  We heard it is good seafood.  We will check back on a less busy day.

We decided to go late afternoon on the Refuge and critter watch.  We entered Brown's Trail around 5 pm.  We saw a couple of very small Black Swallowtail caterpillars on the water cowbane plants as we entered.  We will keep a watch on them in the hopes of seeing the different stages from caterpillar to butterfly.

We had been in the refuge about 15 minutes and saw 5 Ms. Sandhill Cranes.  After 25 minutes, we had 9 sightings.  That was it for the crane sightings.

We saw a neat Bullfrog in the water, a juvenile Little Blue Heron, a Red-Tailed Hawk, and a Belted Kingfisher.

We stopped and watched about 30 minutes before dark and did not see any critter movement.

On the way home, we saw a doe and her fawn in front of the Bunkhouse.  We sat outside and watched the fireflies dancing in the trees then called it a night.

Weeks worth of pictures are here:

9-2-18 - 9-8-18 (Week 27)

September 2nd is the 6 month anniversary of our Volunteer gig.  Time flies when your having fun!

We stayed in Crossroads until Thursday.  Billy passed away on Monday and his funeral was Thursday.
                                                      Some crossroads critters

Tuesday (on this beautiful day), we prepared for Tropical Storm Gordon that luckily missed us.  He did enter at the Mississippi/Alabama line and gave Camp Refuge a lot of rain and 50 mile an hour wind.  We had no damage at camp.

We went to Bogue Chitto Wildlife Refuge and Crosby Arboretum on Wednesday.  We made sure we had our memory card in the camera.  We saw a few critters and a few interesting plants.  It was nothing like a few weeks ago when we took pictures of all kinds of stuff with no memory card in the camera.  It was nice to get outside and get our walk in.

After the funeral Thursday, we made it back to Camp Refuge. We filled up the bird feeders with seed and nectar.  The cardinals were watching and waiting and started eating as soon as we got the feeders up.

The hummingbird's were very impatient waiting for the nectar to cool before refilling their feeder.  They kept flying to the pole rushing me to get their nectar up.

Friday and Saturday, we worked with our new neighbors/volunteers in the VC, Sally and Tom.  They are 9 year veterans at this refuge.  Tom took Lauren and I on his crane tour on Friday.  We saw 6 Ms. Sandhill Cranes.

Lauren got a little bit of mowing done on Saturday.  The ground is too wet to mow in most places. Visitation is still slow at the VC but has picked up a little bit.

The week of pics: