Friday, September 4, 2020

8-23-20 - 8-31-20 - Camp Host Last Week

We stopped and took a few pictures on our Sunday morning rounds. The storms in the gulf had people leaving the campground early this morning.  We were supposed to have 32 checkout, but instead we had 40 to leave.  We stayed busy until around 2 pm getting all the campsites tidied up.  There are only 4 campers left in our campground which makes for a nice, quiet, afternoon.


We watched a Spotted Sandpiper on the beach, moved a Common Musk Turtle out of the road, and watched a Wasp on the Yellow Passion Flowers during our rounds Monday morning.



We made a trip to Crossroads to take a load of stuff from camp and to put stuff up at the house in case of flooding this week.   When we returned, Ferny Kat was ready for some outside time.  She thoroughly enjoys taking her bath under the dripping water from the a/c run off.

We got drenched making our rounds on Tuesday morning.  The heavy rain was on and off for most of the day.  In between showers, we were out and about, taking a few pictures. 





 Ole' Perchy is still enjoying her nectar at the Hummingbird feeder.

A Little Blue Heron was feeding at the pond at the Interpretive Area Wednesday.  It was another on and off, rainy kind of day.  

The high water had the critters on the move Thursday.  We saw the turkeys again on our morning rounds.


  

We saw lots of butterflies on our evening round. 





Friday morning we made our last round as Camp Host for this gig.  We came back and let Ferny Kat out.  Again, she loves taking her bath with the water dripping off the camper on her.

The Dotted Horsemint growing at the Beach area, not only caught our attention, but the attention of a lot of bees.



A Downy Woodpecker made an appearance at camp this afternoon.

We had planned on going on the Gorge Run Trail Loop in it's entirety this fall.  Plans changed, when we only have a couple of more days left for this gig.  

We hiked almost 6 miles, Saturday, up and down the hills, stopping to take a lot of pics, and we have another ching ching.  Our claim of surviving the entire main loop of the Gorge Run Trail in one outing.  







We found a lot of cool birds and such, especially the White Eyed Vireo, that luckily for us, made us stop and catch our breaths while we looked for them in the tree canopy.


We spent a while sitting in the cold, Bonner Creek with Jeannie, then made it back to camp and sipped on a few beer sodas.  We are definitely making the most of our last few days here.

We did a couple of short hikes Sunday.  One to the Lower Gorge Boardwalk and the other was the Meeting Room Spur.

We hiked from Camp to the Lower Gorge Boardwalk.  I snapped this picture right before Lauren bounced on his butt 3 times down the stairs.  I would have got a sequence, but I was pretty sure he had hurt himself.  He made it through with no broken bones, just bruising and an abrasion.  Whew!

We took our time and took a few pics of dragonflies, spiders and stuff on our 3.5 mile hikes.






We packed up the camper and pulled out Monday morning.  Our first Camp Host Gig has been great.  We are leaving here with great memories,  new friendships, and possibly a little more fit than when we arrived.


Pictures:




Thursday, September 3, 2020

8-16-20 - 8-22-20 - Camp Host - Week 10

We went home Sunday and came back to camp Thursday afternoon.  We spent Sunday mowing the yard and doing housework.  We went to Fountainebleu State Park and the Boy Scout Trail on Monday.  It was a nice day of hiking and taking pictures.

We saw some Yellow Warblers near the beach area at Fountainebleu.

We also found a lot of waterfowl, an alligator, dragonflies, and pretty flowers on the Marsh Boardwalk Trail.








We continued enjoying the flowers, butterflies, dragonflies, and waterfowl at the Boy Scout Trail in Lacombe.  





We saw a large gathering of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. We love the unique laughter sound they make, as well as their pretty looks.



We also found Black Swallowtail Caterpillars on the Water Cowbane.



Tuesday, we went to the Sandhill Crane Refuge.  We thoroughly enjoyed taking pictures of the plants and stuff.  We sure do miss this place.  

We were greeted by Deer as we drove in on Crane Lane.


The Dotted Horsemint that we thought was not going to make it in the Native Flower bed, was thriving beautifully and the Coral Beans were plentiful.



A Southern Toad has taken up residence on the sidewalk. 

We found a lot of pretty blooms on the Dees Trail including Stokes Aster, Tall Ironweed, Blueflower Eryngo, Pine-woods Rose Gentian, Coastal False Alphodel, Sandbog Death Camas, and Pineland Hibiscus, (just to name a few).







The pollinators and other critters seemed to be enjoying the blooms as well.







A check on the Crane Family found all is well with them.

Wednesday afternoon, we had a pool party with Anita at Erica's.  As always, we had a lot of fun.

After we made it back to camp on Thursday afternoon, we took a couple mile stroll and snapped a few photos.  We finally found the Yellow Passionflowers in bloom.

The Purple Passionflowers were also in prime bloom with a lot of little critters attracted to them. 



 Friday morning, we took a 2.5 mile hike, taking pictures and enjoying the scenery.  We enjoyed a morning of finding critters and plants.









While we re-hydrating after our walk, a Nighthawk perched in a nearby tree at camp.

Friday afternoon, we took on the Camp Host duties for our last week of this gig.

After our rounds of taking a few pics on Saturday morning, we had ole' Perchy sipping nectar out of the hummingbird feeder.  


Bogue Chitto Pics:

Fountainbleau and Big Branch Pics:

MSCNWR Pics: