We did a special request tour of the refuge today with an avid birder and her son. It was a cloudy, misty, dreary day for birding, which was not a very productive sighting day, except for the Bald Eagles. We had a family feud on the Beasley nest and a great family portrait on the Ben Williams nest. The pictures do not do it justice.
After spending hours in the limited access Mississippi Sandhill Crane Wildlife Refuge behind the locked gates, we finally found some Mississippi Sandhill Cranes at the Coca Cola plant. Then a few more mixed in with the Greater Sandhill Cranes at Bright's Pasture.
Monday
We had a program for 4 students and their instructor from Seminary High School, As an added bonus, we had the 3 captive raised cranes to release in the temporary pen.
We showed the students the movie, Angie and the interns talked with them, and then we took them on a Refuge Tour. It was a misty, rainy day. After we returned, the group got to watch us with the release of the cranes.
We did all the banding and data recording inside HQ, because of rain, then walked them out to the temporary pen.
We got Cucumber back. She is the one that had to go to Audubon for a leg injury. The other two are Banana and Crab Apple. Crab Apple is the only male.
Cucumber was the first out of the box. She only needed a leg tracker and weight recorded. She was pretty agile from being handled so much.
Banana was chosen as the next Crane to band, because she was less aggressive than Crab Apple. She was pretty feisty and not as cooperative as Coconut.
Crab Apple was saved for last and was not as bad as I expected but did require injections prior to release to help him de stress. It is so cool to look out the back door of HQ and observe Cranes in the pen.
We are having issues with the bird feed being poured out on the ground and something stealing the suet bars. We found out what the varmints were tonight. 2 Raccoons are the culprits. Between the birds, the squirrels, and the coons, the bird feed does not last long.
Tuesday
We worked the VC on this dreary, rainy day. We had a few visitors. The slow day enabled us to get a lot of paperwork caught up, (such as crane reports, plant markers made for trail, Oak Grove Trail brochure rough draft, etc.).
Wednesday
Our 8 am tour had 6 people with 6 Crane sightings. They also enjoyed looking at the Bald Eagles and nestlings.
We were supposed to go out to lunch with Angie and Brian, that didn't happen. Angie had a unexpected job project and we had an impromptu Crane tour, so we decided to go eat afterwards. The crane tour was a success with 20 sandhill crane sightings and of course the majestic Bald Eagles.
We finally made it to Country Gentleman and had enjoyable linner at 5 pm.
Thursday
We helped Scott and the interns catch Crab Apple and Coconut to replace their trackers. It appears there is a design flaw on the new trackers. Crab Apple began limping yesterday.
It went really smooth, we caught both of them, changed out the trackers, and released them in 14 minutes. Crab Apple is walking much better.
We made it to Crossroads about 3 pm today. We have no doubt that Ferny Kat was ready for her road trip. She really enjoyed staying outside all evening and wallowing in the pretty green grass in the driveway.
Lauren cranked up the tractor and bush hogged the field for a little bit. It is way to wet to do any more.
Friday
We had a rather moist day today. All for getting any more bush hogging done at Crossroads. We made a lunch stop for a Zesto hot dog on our way to pick up Anita then went to Big Branch Marsh Wildlife Refuge.
The rain stopped long enough for a nice walk on the Boy Scouts board walk. There were not nearly the waterfowl in this area as we saw the last time we were here. It looks like that pesky invasive plant is taking over here.
We had a great visit with Carole and Roger then went back to Anita's to spend the night. We had fried shrimp for supper, smores for desert, and a nice campfire when we got back. Another great day!
Saturday
We lounged around at Anita's drinking our coffee and bird watching before heading back to Crossroads. Ferny Kat wasn't really that upset with us for leaving her alone overnight. Although, she did let me pick her up and pet her for a minute or two.
We washed the truck to get off the mildew then met Anita in the McDonald's parking lot headed to visit Janice and Bill. Bella, their spoiled dog, was the center of attention. After a nice visit, we headed back. Anita realized she didn't have her phone right after we left Janice and Bill's.
A search of her vehicle was unproductive. After she investigated further, she realized that her phone was at a house a few blocks away. She notified the police, they went to the house, and they were unsuccessful at the recovery of her brand new I Phone 10. Dang it!!
Weeks worth of pictures:
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