4-14-19 - 4-20-19 (Week 59)

Sunday
We spent most of our day off hanging around Camp Refuge getting a few chores done.  We walked the CL Dees Trail and Crane Lane.  We saw the Free Birds in the fire lane from Crane Lane.

When we returned from Walmart this afternoon, the Free Birds were near the gate along Crane Lane.  They were eating at the feeder in the back yard, right before dark.

Monday
We pulled weeds and fertilized the plants in the native flower garden while manning the VC today.  We had 24 visitors, which is pretty good for a Monday.

Tuesday
We went to Oak Grove Trail today to put the finishing touches on the trail brochure that we have been designing.  We cleared brush away from some posts and took pictures.  We also picked up garbage and did other trail maintenance.

Late afternoon, the Free Birds were near Crane Lane at the VC.  When Dix rode by on his bicycle, they started calling.  After he left, they started dancing, as if to say, we showed him!!  Coconut has finally got her adult voice.  Banana and Crabapple still have the juvenile chirping sound.

Wednesday
We woke up to the elusive call of our Free Birds.  What a way to start the day!.

We had a 10 am Crane Tour with 7 tourist, 3 of these were college students that were completing their Biology class assignment.  It was a another great tour.

The Great Blue Herons were in shift change on their nest near the Valentine Pond.

We only saw 2 Mississippi Sandhill Cranes in Bright"s Pasture this entire tour.  It was a pair that previously were assumed to have a nest.  Either their nest has failed, or there was a colt hiding in the deep grass way across the pasture.

Goober and Georgie, the recent fledged Eaglets, did not disappoint.  Georgia flew away when we arrived at the nest.  Goober was more of an entertainer.  He allowed us to view him in the spotting scope before flying away.

After the tour, Lauren mowed and I manned the VC . I stayed busy with 18 more visitors coming through the VC in this hour and a half.

After closing, we walked the CL Dees Trail and took pictures of the plant recovery since the recent burn.  When we got back, the interns were coming back from their long day.  The 3 Free Birds posed for a picture with the Raptor, (Angie's truck), then flew away.

After dinner we heard all kinds of sirens at the VC.  The Gautier Fire Department had responded to a false smoke alarm with 3 fire trucks.   All was well at the VC.

We thought the Free Birds would be spooked after all the sirens and not come back to roost here tonight.  We were wrong.  They were foraging in the back yard about an hour later.

Thursday
We hung around Camp Crane nature watching today. As we were walking back on Crane Lane, the Free Birds were in the savanna heading to the feeder.  We went inside the VC and watched them eat corn from the feeder, forage in the grass, dance a bit, then fly away.  It was a nice, relaxing day.

Friday
We walked the CL Dees Trail and Crane Lane in this howling north wind today.  We saw a lot of cool blooms, birds, and a photogenic Green Snake.  The Free Birds were at their feeder for lunch.

Saturday
We saw dauphins as we crossed over the water headed to Dauphin Island today.  We were hoping to see a lot of migratory birds resting here because of the howling north wind.  Instead, we saw a lot of people.  Oh well, it is a Saturday.

We had a nice walk at the Audubon Birding Sanctuary.  We saw an Alligator, a Florida Softshell Turtle, some birds and blooms.

We ate lunch at Cadillac Park while watching a momma Blue Bird tending to her young.

We browsed around Shell Mound and saw a few birds.  Most of the birds were hiding from all the people and the loud music coming from the nearby neighborhood.

Ferny Kat enjoyed her afternoon bird watching when we got back.  A squirrel that had been asleep in the branches of the Oak Tree, slumbered by her as she lay under the bird feeder.  It was quite a show, Ferny trying to catch the squirrel.  Wonder what she would have done if she had caught him??

The Free Birds were at the headquarters late afternoon, bowing, dancing, and calling. We watched them walk from the back of headquarters, across the parking lot, and over the hill near the CL Dees Trail.  They definitely are at home here.

Week of pictures:

Dauphin Island:

4-7-19 - 4-13-19 (Week 58)

Sunday
Today is the last day that Lauren and I will be the same age, 58 yrs old.  It is ironic, that this is the 58th week of our Volunteer Gig!

We spent the day hiking at Fountainebleu Trail, hiking the CL Dees Trail, and checking out Gulf Shores National Seashore.  We saw some really cool plants, butterflies, alligators, bullfrogs, lizards,and birds today.  We also saw our first hatching of Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers.

The Free Birds were hanging in the HQ savanna late afternoon.

Monday
Happy Birthday Lauren!!  Anita met us at Island View where she managed to get us a suite for Lauren's birthday..  Nothing like the view from the room overlooking the gulf.

We had plenty of adult beverages, gambled a lot, ate good, and had a great time. And we didn't get escorted to the suite by security like we did the last time we had a birthday suite!

Tuesday
We lounged around enjoying our great view this morning. Watching people, birds, and dauphins.  We ate breakfast, donated some more money to the Island View bank, and took our time driving back along the beach looking at birds.

Ferny Kat was watching for us from the dining table when we drove up.  She missed us enough that she let me pick her up and pet her.

We got our stuff packed for our event at Crosby Arboretum on Thursday, washed clothes, and cleaned up Amber.

Ferny Kat stayed close to us when we were sitting outside this afternoon.  It's unusual for her to stay closer to us than the bird feeders.  She crawled in Lauren's lap and sat with him, until I got up to get her picture, then stole my chair.

The Free Birds were in the back lawn of HQ foraging late afternoon.

Wednesday
Angie, Rose, Shannon, Tyler, Lauren and I dismantled the temporary pen at the VC headquarters in preparation for the prescribed burn next month.  It was not nearly as labor intensive as the last 2 times. Experience pays off.

I did wind up, with roost pond water over my rubber boots, and almost slipped in the pond, but I made it without a splash.  WHEW!

We had close encounters of a Ribbon Snake and Tadpoles.  We found our first Pale Grass Orchid of the spring.

Thursday
We left at 6 am headed to Crosby Arboretum for the Nature Discovery Day.  We had over 200 kids check out our Crane Booth.  They enjoyed making bracelets and checking out the animal pelts.  We had a few that were interested in the telemetry tracker.

We stopped at the Red Zone in Diamondhead for a great burger and an overstuffed baked potato with shrimp.  We were overstuffed when we left.

The Free Birds prefer to roost under the night lights at the VC instead of the roost pond.  So, Biology moved the feeder to the back lawn of the VC.  They were stuffing themselves with corn right before dark.

Friday
We always think that the group we had on the last Crane Tour was the best, then we go on another tour and have another fantastic group of people.

It was a slow day for the Crane Whisperers.  We saw plenty of birds and plants, everyone had a great time enjoying the beautiful savanna, but the Sandhill Cranes sightings were scarce.

We stopped for a college student to take pictures of plants for his assignment.  All 7 tourist got out of the van.  Before you knew it, everyone was out in the savanna, admiring the diverse plant life.  I knew then, this was not going to be a 2 hour tour.

It took us 2 hours to finally see a Mississippi Sandhill Crane way off in the savanna when we got to the South Gautier Unit.   After placing the spotting scope for everyone to view, the solo Sandhill Crane turned into 3 Sandhill Cranes.  It was a great show of the 3 flying away, with the sound of their elusive call.  We may have only seen 3 Mississippi Sandhill Cranes, but it was a grand performance.

The Fire Center had a prescribed burn off Beasley Road, so we avoided that area.  We set up the spotting scope and saw Georgie in the Eagle Nest on Ben Williams Rd.  On our way back, we finally saw Goober perched on a limb behind the nest.

After 4 hours, (or so), we made it back to the VC.  We were late for the Volunteer Appreciation Week luncheon of pizza and desert.  We found out one of our tourist was here celebrating his 90th birthday, so we shared our cake, and sang him Happy Birthday.

We took pizza home and heated it up on the grill and enjoyed the view at Camp Refuge.  It was a great day and a great way to celebrate Volunteer Appreciation Week!

A late afternoon Free Bird check found the 3 in the back yard settling in for the night.

Saturday
The 2 girl Free Birds were foraging at the back lawn when we went to work today.  They flew off when a car stopped to look at them.

Lauren and I set up and dismantled the exhibit at the Gautier Earth Day celebration.  Carol and Melissa manned the exhibit.

We had a couple of visitors joined us on our quest to take pictures of the prescribed burn recovery progress in the South Gautier Unit this afternoon.

The youngster of the two was really into nature.  It is fun to interact with a child with this much enthusiasm for nature.

Goober and Georgie were both in the nest.  Goober flew out while Georgie watched.  Goober was pretty awkward  flying in this 20 mile an hour or so winds.  It was so much fun to watch.

One of the parents was nearby in their favorite perch watching as well.

The kid and his uncle were mesmerized by the plant diversity of the wet pine savanna.  It seems to have that effect on a lot of people.

We have been here over a year, and found something  today that we had never seen in all this time. A Mississippi Sandhill Crane nest with 2 eggs sitting in it.

We went out to eat with Carol and Charley then went to Pat's church program that she has been working on for the last few months.  It was a great performance with very talented singers/actors.


Week of pictures: