Monday, we had a 10 am Crane Tour and saw 23 Sandhill Cranes. We saw a lot of other species of birds as well. The recent burns are recovering nicely with a little bit of green showing. We had a longer than usual tour when we took a couple that had time constraints back by the visitors center before going to the South Gautier Unit and replaced them with 2 other people.
We were able to see the Adult Eagle at the I 10 crop unit, but the Eaglet must have been napping on this cloudy, on and off again rainy morning. There was a Juvenile Eagle perched in the nearby tree that is frequented by the Adult Eagles. We didn't have any activity at BG's nest.
After the tour we met Anita at Hollywood Casino. We had a nice view of the bay from the 7th floor. We didn't win any money, but as always, we had a good time.
Tuesday, we sat around enjoying our view and drinking coffee at Hollywood Casino and got to see Jackie and Randy for a little bit. We stopped by Island View, Sams, and Sicily's on our way back to camp. Lauren turned his $10 free play at Island View to $50. We got a good talking to from Ferny Kat when we got home about staying out all night.
Wednesday, was a Happy 38th Anniversary!! We went to Pascagoula and Grand Bay looking for birds on this cool but sunny day.
Our first stop was to check out the Arthur Street property where we did the i Naturalist bioblitz last year. They have torn down the house and are converting to native plants. We were pleasantly surprised to see several White Ibis foraging at the edge of the canal.
We checked out shore birds along the Pascagoula beaches. This was our first trip to the Pascagoula since we started Gig II.
Late afternoon, Judy and Terry joined us for a great anniversary dinner celebration at Saltgrass Steak House.
Thursday, we were headed to Dauphin Island for birding and picnicking, when we had a change of plans. The truck had a check engine light come on that needed service. We took the truck to Ray Brandt Chevrolet and received excellent service. We sat in the lounge with complimentary snacks and drinks watching HGTV. We left about 5 hours later, with the repair done at no charge to us. Whew!!
When we returned, Dikkop, Auk, 337, NV 11 and an unbanded Juvenile was in the back yard of the VC foraging. It's great that this wild hatch has decided to visit HQ.
Friday, we had a home school group of 8 on the Crane Tour, 3 adults, 2 teenagers, and 3 kids that were 5 yrs. old and under. We had 15 Sandhill Crane sightings. Lauren finally got lucky and got a picture of the Wilson snipe that has been frequenting Valentine Road.
We were very lucky to see a parent Bald Eagle bring in a fish to her youngster at the I 10 Crop Unit. There were also 2 Juvenile Eagles soaring above us. One of the teenagers was really proud of her pictures and will be coming back with more of her family for another tour.
We saw the Unbanded Juvenile Crane standing in the tall grass in the HQ savanna. Late afternoon, the unbanded, Dikkop, and Auk were eating at the feeder. He must have been standing in the savanna waiting on his cohorts for dinner.
Saturday, we had another fabulous Crane Tour for a group of 8. We had 17 Sandhill Crane sightings on this pretty day. Lauren got a really cool picture of the Belted Kingfisher at Elbert's Pond.
There was no Eagle activity at the I 10 Crop Unit nest, but plenty at the Beasley nest. One of the parents was standing on a limb above her youngster, and another parent came by chasing off a Juvenile. We set up the spotting scope for the group. Some of the group had an interest in looking at the plants, some of the group wanted to talk, but all of them loved watching the Eagles. After standing around for about 30 minutes, we headed back to the VC.
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