We had a great Williams Christmas get together at Erica's on Sunday, then headed back to Camp Crane on Monday. We took turns unpacking the truck and watching Ferny Kat as she enjoyed her great outdoors. After coaxing Ferny Kat inside, we took a walk on this cool, wet, cloudy day to the Fire Center. Our walk on the cold side turned out to be a good thing, finding NV11 and 337 foraging near the frog tanks. I bet they were looking for a snack 🐸.
When we returned to camp, we could hear Ferny Kat hollering before we opened the door. She got her way and came out for a bit. When we finally convinced her to come back inside, she bee-lined it to the couch and got under her blanket. All is well at Camp Crane tonight.
Tuesday the Cranes were having them a good ole time on this cold, dreary, misty, day.
We got our last minute Christmas shopping done this morning, then spent the rest of the day doing odd and end things. Before we left, the HQ 5 and the 2 Unbanded were near the pen. When we returned, the HQ 5 were near Crane Lane. They flew away when they saw us.
We took a ride through the South Gautier Unit to check on the Eagles and found the Beasley Eagle nest occupied and 25 Sandhill Cranes.
We found 23 more Sandhill Cranes when we went to the North Gautier Unit. We found 3 of them at the Browns Trail crop unit. The other 20 were congregated in the North Valentine Savanna.
The Crane Count at HQ and along the road to Fontainebleau Trail gave us at least 63 Sandhill Crane sightings for the day.
As we were finishing up at the Visitor Center this afternoon, the HQ 5 came flying into the back yard. What a way to wrap up the day!
We spent the day Wednesday installing touchless faucets in the HQ restrooms. The HQ 5 were spotted around the pen. We did not take the first picture today.
We got our 2 1/2 mile walk in Thursday morning. It had been almost a week since we have walked the Dees Trail, which is usually a daily thing.
After lopping the green trail at Fontainebleau Trail, we used the short cut on Browns Trail to come back. We were glad we did. Cranes were everywhere when we got to the intersection of Browns Trail and Valentine Road. It is very odd to look out in the previously burned savanna and see that many Cranes.
On our way out, they decided to fly toward us then away. Over 20 Cranes enjoying some flight time.
Of course, we got our Nana and Coco fix. When the Cranes flew away, they did some unison calling, then went to the feeder. They like it when we chase off the others.
The American Goldfinch were enjoying the sunflowers in the native plant garden and the HQ 5 were foraging near the pen this afternoon.
We went exploring on Friday to the South Gautier Unit, hoping to find both of the Eagles nest occupied. The Beasley nest was active, but the I10 Crop Unit nest is having empty nest syndrome, or they are hiding from us!!
The first couple of cranes that we saw in the I 10 Crop Unit, flew as we were making the first turn on Firetower Road. They must have White Truck Syndrome.
We saw 5 Sandhill Cranes at the Ben Williams Pen that we didn't flush. So in reverse we went, (after taking a few pics), to allow them their privacy.
A Red-tailed Hawk was hanging around the tree line when we were headed to Beasley Road.
We had an abrupt stop to take pictures of a Glass Lizard. He was very photogenic and did not move until we drove around him.
We filled up with fuel, then made a stop at Martins, where we found 3 more Sandhill Cranes and a few other cool things.
North Gautier Unit was abuzz with Cranes again as well as 5 Immature Eagles.
We made it back to Camp Crane, fixed some dinner, sat by the campfire, and called it a night. We have had a great Christmas Eve at the refuge tonight.
We spent Christmas Day exploring the Ocean Springs Unit of the refuge. There was not a lot of critter activity on this hot, windy, day. We did see our first Cottonmouth couple cuddling. They are obviously cold blooded. It is way too hot to cuddle in South Mississippi.
We thought we were going to get skunked with the Crane sightings, but finally had 5 sightings before departing the refuge. On our way back, we had a 5 some flyover the Gautier Vancleave Road, then 5 more sightings of the HQ 5. We settled in at camp with a fire and grilled steaks.
