6-21-20 - 6-27-20 - Camp Host Week 2

After yesterday's hike, I was sure that I wouldn't be capable of walking up and down these hills today,  I was wrong.

We started out Sunday morning on another of those short, unstrenuous strolls going in the opposite direction than yesterday on the Gorge Trail Run.  A couple of hours later and  about 3 miles and 11 flights, I had wobblier legs than yesterday.  Geez!!

We hiked the Gorge Trail Run until it crossed the gravel road to the tubing area then hiked the road to the beach to take pictures.  Lauren got a good close up of a Cottonmouth yawning as we walked across the bridge.

We made it back to camp, relaxed a while, then went riding around for about 10 minutes.  Before we got back, the ole wind started blowing what we thought was a thunderstorm brewing.  Luckily for us the wind only got our canopy over the table and not our awning.  Whew!  And by the way, the wind was calm and we never had a thunderstorm as we were putting down the canopy and awning.

We spent a little time with Kay showing us how she does her Camp Host work, then took another ride around the park.  We had a beautiful Mississippi Kite flying above us as we were driving at the power line.

We returned to camp and realized that without an awning or a canopy above our heads, we can see more birds.  Losing the canopy that we bought in the 90's and never used until our first day here, was more of a blessing than a curse. 

Late afternoon, as we were grilling our dinner, a Summer Tanager was eating a wasp for her dinner.

BTW, yesterday we didn't get a good picture of the Hooded Warbler.  But today was another day.

Ferny Kat was very insistent that we get up early on Morning morning.  We finally gave in, and got up at 6:30 am.  As soon as we opened the door to go outside, she bailed outside.

We had on and off showers that she played in, while we sat under the awning and drank our coffee.  She sure has a lot of personality today.  After breakfast we went to Crossroads for a few days.

Tuesday morning we went to the Dees Trail looking for a Snowy Orchid that we found 2 years ago.  On the way, we made a detour and checked on the colts.  They are about grown and should be fledging soon.

We didn't find the Snowy Orchid, but as usual, we found lots of other pretty plants and such.

Wednesday afternoon, we got back to camp and took over the Camp Host duties.  I was flagged down from one of the campers to report a maintenance issue during my first time of driving the gator from Kay's.  We are official Camp Hosts!

Of course, our maiden voyage of making sure the beach and restrooms were tidy, involved some picture taking.  We rarely leave home without our Canons.

Thursday was our first full day of being Camp Hosts.  We met a really nice guy at the beach who is a professor that was doing turtle surveys.  He was most interested in the Pearl River Map Turtles and Ringed Sawback turtles that are only found in the Bogue Chitto River and Pearl River.  He gave us a lot of information on the turtles.  He set up his spotting scope for us to view as he explained the characteristics of the turtles.

He has done studies on Mimic Glass Lizards at the refuge and was on a field trip with his students on the Dees Trail last summer.  He was also involved with the Dusky Gopher Frogs earlier in the recovery program.  It is a small world!!

His conversation inspired us to go turtle hunting.  We found Ringed Sawback and Pearl River Map Turtles, along with a few others.   The only problem, most of them were across the river and a little bit much to reach with our camera lens, but we snapped turtles anyway.

We realized when we were headed out to spruce things up on Friday morning that we had left our disinfectant spray in the last restroom we cleaned yesterday.  Our first rookie mistake.  One of the employees found it and returned it to us.

We stopped on our way back to check out an alligator swimming near one of the campsites at the Bottomland Campground.

We started out Saturday morning watching Cardinal parents feed their young fledglings seeds from the bird feeder.

As we were driving to the beach, there was a jogger, running around drawing circles and arrows on the road with a white powdery substance while carrying a roll of toilet paper.  You see all kinds!!

Saturday evening as we were driving back to camp, a Swallow-tailed Kite was soaring above us.  A great way to wrap up the day. 

Pictures:

Bogue Chitto Camp Host - First Few Days, AKA First Impressions

We ended our gig at the Mississippi Sandhill Crane Refuge on May 31st.  We came home and spruced up the house, thinking we weren’t going anywhere for a while.  That all changed when we made a visit to see the Gill’s at Bogue Chitto State Park where they are camp hosts.  Our visit turned into a camp host position for us.  We have some wonderful friends!!

When we took the ride on Amber last week, it was unusual cooler temperatures for the month of June. As we were riding in on Bogue Chitto Drive, a Swallow-tailed Kite circled low above us. The Swallow-tailed Kite is one of our favorite birds, (of course, our favorite species of birds are the elusive Mississippi Sandhill Cranes). 

Our thoughts when we left the closed down, (because of Covid,) wildlife refuge, was we would go home, get new tires on the camper, and hopefully head Northwest about August.  At this time, it doesn’t look like we will be traveling any time soon.  It is so great to have other options.

Ferny Kat gave an OK approval the first evening we were here.  The next morning when Lauren got up at 6 am and headed out the door for some alone birding time, Ferny Kat beat him out the door.  I raised the shade of the bedroom window at 7 am thinking I might see a bird or something, and there was Lauren being led around by Ferny Kat.  We definitely have a Ferny Kat approved site.

We put bird seed and nectar out on our first day here.  The Cardinals started frequenting the feeder shortly after we put it up.  The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds found the nectar the next day.  The second morning that we were here, one of the Hummingbirds hovered within a couple of feet from my head and looked me eye to eye.  After checking me out she hovered at the window looking at Lauren at his computer before sipping on her nectar.  This must be her way of letting me know that she is enjoying her nectar and we have Hummingbird approval for this camp host position.

Friday afternoon, we went to the gravel pits near the splash pad and found some cool plants, birds, bullfrogs, a wild boar, and a speckled king snake.  This is definitely our kind of place.

We weren’t going to start hiking until the weekend crowd left.  What started out as a short stroll  to check out the Lower Gorge Trail on Saturday morning, lead into a hike to the Upper Gorge Trail. We got in a couple of miles of hiking and 19 flights.  Let’s just say, us flatlanders are not use to all these hills.  

The Gorge Trail is a beautiful, woodsy, kind of trail with lots of cool plants, birds, and insects.  The trail meanders on the ridge of the gorge then has a boardwalk to walk on at the bottom of the gorge.  We are definitely going to spend some more time exploring this trail!

Saturday afternoon we got to spend time with Anita, Jackie, Randy, Marsha and family.  We rode around late afternoon and showed Anita around.  The beach looks like it has been a happening place today.

Pictures:

5-24-20 - 5-31-20 Volunteer Gig II

Sunday, we have 7 more days until departure. We got up fairly early this morning and walked around Melissa's property. We saw a Pileated Woodpecker and a couple of Red-tailed Hawks.

We made a detour to check on the Colts on our way back. The family is looking good.

We found a River Cooter laying eggs in the recently mulched area when we returned to Camp Crane.

We found another cool moth, a Giant Leopard Moth, on our Dees Trail walk along with several new plant blooms.

We walked to the Fire Center and found two of the Killdeer eggs have hatched. Momma Killdeer tried to distract us from the nest by running away from the nest and acting like she had a broken wing.

On our walk back, we had Kingbird sightings and a Great Creasted Flycatcher sighting.

Monday, we both got much needed haircuts this morning.

Ferny Kat was more than her usual bossy self today. She was determined to go outside every time the door opened. She let herself out as I was going to meet Lauren for a walk. I stayed outside with her for a few minutes. She was so mad after I picked her up and put her back inside that she would swat at me if I tried to touch her.

When we got back from our walk, she was sitting by the door and again let herself out. She wasn't happy when we made her go back inside when we had to leave for our appointments.

We got back from our haircuts, and again, she let herself out. She stayed outside for about 5 hours before she finally decided it was time for her to go in. She is definitely a spoiled, rotten cat.

We had a new visitor for our arm chair birding/Ferny Kat watching today, a Yellow-throated Vireo.

Tuesday, Ferny Kat woke Lauren up at 6 am, she usually don't bother me after she gets him up. This morning was not the usual. She kept calling until she got me out of bed at 7 am. It was all good, I needed to get up and get our washing done.  After she ate her breakfast, she heard thunder and headed into her closet for the day.

We saw 2 Sandhill Cranes at the Martin Savanna as we were driving in the rain going to Gautier.  We resorted to our cell phone for a picture because we didn't have our cameras.

We had on and off thunder storms for most of the day. This afternoon, the rain lightened up and Ferny Kat was ready for some outside time. We pulled out the awning while she played in the rain.  Crazy Kat!

Wednesday, Ferny Kat started trying to get Lauren up at 6 am. After her success of getting him out of bed, she made sure I got up. She talks way to much.

We had another rainy morning, then the sun came out.  We took a walk on Crane Lane and the Dees Trail.

We found Crane 337 in the HQ savanna and Nemesis during our walk along Crane Lane.

We found our first Narrow Leaf Ironweed blooms of the season on the Dees Trail.

After lunch we took a ride to Pascagoula.  We saw the usual shore birds, a pretty Swamp Rabbit, and an alligator.

The afternoon was spent arm chair birding/Ferny Kat watching.  At least today she isn't quite as grouchy as the last 2 days.

Thursday, Lauren got up around 6 am and woke Ferny Kat up.  She even let me sleep until 7 am. She must be over whatever had her grouchy for the last 2 days.   I lounged around while Lauren took a walk along the Dees Trail.  He saw Dikkop and Auk at the feeder and got grackled by a grackle as he walked the trail.

After lunch, we walked up to the Fire Center and checked on the Killdeer hatchlings.  All 4 were running around at high speed near their mother.

Friday, we did our usual walking on the Dees Trail and Crane Lane.  Lauren was another target for the net shoot.  The first shot was a dud, the second shot the net did not unfold as it should have.

We checked on the killdeer again, they were running all over the place.

We went to Biloxi to check on the Least Tern nests.  After looking real hard, we found a few new hatchlings.  The parents were bombing us as we walked on the sidewalk.

We saw the Coca Cola Crane pair and the Crane family on our ride back.

Coconut hung around this afternoon.  He walked in the savanna across from the Fire Center entrance, Crane Lane, the Bunk House, then over to HQ.  He posed well for our photo shoot.  He finally decided to fly late afternoon.  He started making a purring/grunting noise then flew away.

We had a nice sunset after our great crawfish for supper that the Hathcocks got for our going away party. 

Saturday, we made our last walk of Gig II on the Dees Trail and Crane Lane.

We started packing up stuff, getting ready for our departure tomorrow, then grilled burgers. Ferny Kat came out late afternoon and drank water as it dripped from the faucet.

Sunday, Crane 337 was at the feeder early this morning.  We drank our coffee outside this morning while Ferny Kat antagonized the squirrels.  Those squirrels are sure gonna miss her.

We were packed up and home by noon.  Gig II is now complete.  We are disheartened that our volunteer duties were shut down for the last two months, but it was a pretty good place to be for social distancing. 

Pictures: