We got back to Camp Refuge around lunch time. We walked the CL Dees Trail and put out plant markers for the newly budding and blooming plants. Thank goodness spring is near.
We heard the elusive sound of adult Sandhill Cranes in the HQ savanna. 4 Sandhill Cranes had gathered outside the pen near Banana, Coconut, and Crab Apple One of the 4 outside the pen was Plantain. She is from the first batch of Cranes released from this pen. It is great she brings her friends over for a visit.
We noticed that Crab Apple no longer has a leg band transmitter, wonder what happened to it.
We took a ride to check on the Eagles. Right before we got to the BW nest, 4 sandhill cranes did a fly over.
The twins on Ben Williams nest and the nestling on Beasley were alert and watching us. No parents were in sight. We also saw a sub adult Eagle and a Coopers Hawk.
The recently burn is beginning to green up. Hopefully, we will see colorful blooms before too long.
Monday
We got caught up on crane reports for yesterday and the 2 tours from last Wednesday. We made a quick stop at Island View to play our free play then went to help Charlie change tires on their camper. We will move it to Camp Refuge tomorrow.
Tuesday
We left Camp Refuge, went to Saucier, got the Loew's camper, and was back and had it set up in 2 hours. The rest of the day was a rainy day. Got our Walmart run in, propane tanks filled, and haircuts.
Wednesday
We took a ride with the Loew's and Sally to check on the Eagle nestlings. We only saw one of the nestlings at Ben Williams and one of the parents, until the other parent showed up with lunch followed by a sub adult. The sub adult didn't stay around very long.
BB, aka Beasley beast, was hunkered down in the nest. One of the parents was nearby in the top of a dead tree.
A walk on the CL Dees Trail and Crane Lane was welcomed considering it was suppose to be a wash out today.
We sat under the awning and watched 100's of Robins, plenty of Red Wing Black Birds, Cardinals, and Doves. It looked and sounded like a movie clip of The Birds at Camp Refuge.
Thursday
We had a full tour of 8 tourist on our 1 pm Crane Tour. We had 29 Sandhill Crane sightings. The first 3 cranes we saw were just a few yards off the road, and posed for our pictures. It is very unusual for them to stay around that long.
You know it's been a good tour when one of the tourist believes he saw so many Cranes today that they need to be taken off the endangered species list.
The Eaglets were not cooperative today. Goober and Georgia were huddled in the nest, teasing us with movement of their wings, but no heads popping up. We could barely see BB's head, (Beasley Beast) on the other nest. One of the parents was nearby, and allowed us to adore her majestic beautify for a bit.
Friday
We had another full tour of 8 tourist on our 1 pm Crane Tour. One of the couples had been here 6 times. They had never been able to catch a tour, had tried driving around to see the cranes, but had never seen a Mississippi Sandhill Crane. No pressure, they were able to view the 3 in the temporary pen at HQ through a spotting scoped before our departure.
We had 11 Sandhill Crane sightings on this cloudy, misty day. They were all way far away in the savanna. Lauren has been given a new nickname of Hawk-Eye. The husband of the couple that had never seen cranes until today, called him this for his ability to spot cranes.
In addition to the cranes, we also saw Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, a Red-Tailed Hawk, and a Belted Kingfisher.
Saturday
It was a great turn out for the Double Feature at the refuge today. We had a Birds and Botany trail walk with Mark LaSalle at Fountainebleu Trail and an Open House at the VC.
Mark LaSalle did a fantastic job leading the trail walk. And as always, Mark and Lauren acted like a child in a candy store, oohing and aahing over the different species of plants.
The visitor's enjoyed viewing the Mississippi Sandhill Cranes through spotting scopes, looking at the Dusky Gopher Frog Tadpoles in the aquarium, the crane booth, the pelt station, and the refreshments.
We sat outside at Camp Refuge this afternoon with the Hall's and Jeff and had our own refreshments.
The week of pictures:
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