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:
No comments:
Post a Comment