Since Retiring: 4-5-20 - 4-11-20 Volunteer Gig II

Sunday, we took a leisurely walk on Crane Lane. Crane #337 was out in the back yard at HQ when we started our walk. Her mate, NV11, must be sitting on their nest.

We saw several pretty butterflies, a few cool plants, and a North American Racer during our walk.

The lizards were out and about this morning on the Dees Trail. We saw some more butterflies and our first bloom of the Pencil Flower.

We took a ride to check on one of the crane nests. The crane flattened out when we slowed to have a look. We should have babies any day now.

The Coca Cola crane pair were at their hangout. The oldest Crane 920 was sitting under the shade watching her partner foraging nearby.

A Northern Parula has become a frequent visitor at Camp Crane. He is a pretty bird with such a pretty song, but very hard to photograph.

Monday, we spent the day washing clothes and doing grocery pickups. I heard the elusive sounds of the Cranes calling and got a couple of pics of them flying in the beautiful morning sky then landing in the savanna. It was probably Dikkop, Auk, and the Wild Child.

We spent the afternoon doing a little bird watching at Camp Crane.

Tuesday, we went to the Dees Trail and the Fountainebleu Trail and tweaked our phenology plant GPS coordinates. It wasn't supposed to rain, but we got wet before we got off the Fountainebleu Trail.

We checked on one of the crane nests again today. One parent was on the nest and the other close by. Those eggs should hatch any time now.

We spent another afternoon bird watching at Camp Crane. We saw our first Blue Grosbeak of the year.

Wednesday, Happy Birthday to Lauren!! The Big 60!!

We did a leisurely stroll on the Dees Trail this morning. We found our first Pale Grass Pink orchid on the Dees Trail and a bunch of other pretty blooms. The spring blooms are bursting with color.

We took a ride to Graveline Beach. The tide was too high to walk the beach. We rode to Mars Pier and saw a very photogenic Snowy Egret.

On our way, we stopped to check on one of the crane nest. There wasn't a crane to be found. They must have hatched and are out and about.

We did a walk along Crane Lane and got a few cool pics of butterflies and such. Nemesis made an appearance during our walk. I believe he was telling Lauren, "Happy Birthday!"

Judy and Terry got us crawfish from our favorite, Taranto's. They sure were good!

Thursday, we walked Crane Lane and the Dees Trail taking a few pictures of plants and stuff. We spent the afternoon checking out WMA's. We won't be hiking there anytime soon with all the yellow flies. We had another quiet afternoon of bird watching with Ferny Kat at Camp Crane.

Friday, we hiked the fire break around the HQ savanna today. In our 3 mile hike we found a bunch of cool plants, butterflies, frogs, and such.

We gathered berries today and made a delicious Dewberry Cobbler.

Saturday, Dikkop and Auk came by for a visit this morning.

Our native plant garden is looking prettier and prettier.

I wanted a special post for my 1000 iNaturalist observation I got the perfect one when we found the other Crane nest hatched. It was so wonderful to get a family portrait of Mom, Dad on the nest, and the 2 chicks standing by him.