MSCNWR - 6-20-21 to 6-26-21

Ferny Kat was obnoxious, again Sunday morning, making sure that Lauren got up before 7 am.  I on the other hand, got to sleep as late as I wanted, 7:30 was good for me.

We took a walk along the Dees Trail, taking in all the humidity, and a few cool critters.

We took several detours along our way to Sandhill Ranch, checking out the bayou and such. One of our turn arounds was to get a picture of a really pretty Mud Snake.  Unfortunately, he had been run over by a car.

After spending a little time at the ranch, we headed to the beach to see if any of the Least Tern nest had made it through the storm.  The only nests that survived in Gulfport were located between the sidewalk and Hwy. 90 above the storm surge.  We talked to a Gulf Coast Audubon Volunteer and found out, that they will renest for their 3rd and final time before calling it quits.

 

A stop in Biloxi, was mostly sad.  We saw a bunch of eggs, washed up on the beach.  But on the bright side, we saw a few adorable hatchlings running around. 

 

We saw a couple of cranes at Sunplex on our way home.

We watched the Red-bellied Woodpecker feeding their young when we got back to camp.  A Red-headed Woodpecker attempted to sit on top of the tree the nest was in, but the Red-Bellied Woodpecker was not having it.

Sunday Pics:

Monday, we trimmed limbs at the Bunkhouse, then started working on cleaning up the plant beds that are in the parking lot and around the building at HQ.  We got some assistance from fire, and cut down the eyesore that is at the edge of the parking lot.  A lot of sweat and 4 wasp stings later, the place is looking better.

We found this cute Saddleback Moth Caterpillar while we were working. 

Banana and Coconut came to HQ today.  It is the first time we have seen them here since we have been back.

Monday Pics: 

Tuesday, we finished the cleanup of the plant beds at HQ.  Afterwards, we took a ride to the North Gautier Unit, seeing a Nighthawk, a few cranes, and some neat plants.

We had a nice, peaceful afternoon, sitting under the front of Rap watching the rain come down.

Tuesday Pics:

Wednesday, we started the day helping Erin and Angie with the DGFs.  We drained the one tank that has no more frogs in it.  We are one tank closer to ending the 2021 DGF season.  When we returned to the VC, we processed 18 frogs.  Angie processed her last DGF today.  It looked like he was trying to tell her that she would be missed.

We took a ride to get the SUV oil changed and to donate items to Goodwill.  We just happened to stop by the Fountainebleu Trailhead and found not only garbage in the parking lot, but a bag of garbage tied to the sign. Jeez!!

We also found a bird cage with an open door hanging in a tree.  I wonder if they let their bird loose here.

After getting the oil changed, we went back to FB in the truck and picked up almost a 5 gallon bucket of trash.  When we got back to HQ, Lauren realized that he had lost the Kubota key.  After searching at HQ, we made a 3rd trip to Fountaineblue looking for the key.  No such luck finding that little key.

We finally got to see one of the baby Woodpeckers sticking his head out of the nest cavity while being fed.

We went with Angie tonight for her last DGF release.  We had a pretty sunset as we released 18 frogs.  She will definitely be missed!

Wednesday Pics:

Thursday, I woke up at 6 am all rested up and got out of bed before Lauren woke up.  I am not sure who was more shocked, Lauren or Ferny Kat.  

This rainy week has given us limited opportunity for mowing.  We were able to cut the grass at the Bunkhouse and most of the grass at HQ.  Even though, we had to stop for a rain shower.  At least all the rain, settles the dust.

I just happened to find that little Kubota key in front of the VC today.  Mystery solved.

Thursday Pics:

Friday we went home to mow the grass and get a few chores done.  Lauren almost got the grass cut before it rained.

MSCNWR - 6-13-21 to 6-19-21

We took a Sunday morning ride through the refuge.  We saw 8 Ms. Sandhill Cranes in the North Gautier Unit and 6 on the South Gautier Unit.  We saw plenty of pretty blooms, birds, and other critters. 

 

We worked a little bit this afternoon loping limbs at HQ getting ready to mow tomorrow.

Sunday Pics:

Monday was Mow Day.  We mowed grass at Headquarters, Dees Trail, Camp Crane, Bunkhouse, and Crane Lane.  Luckily, we had enough rain to settle the dust yesterday and it was not quite as hot and humid as it has been.

After a Walmart run, we sat around the rest of the afternoon listening to a male Cardinal singing.

We also are hearing a lot of noise inside the Red-bellied Woodpeckers nest cavity when the parents are bringing in food.  As busy as the parents are, we should see the babies heads peaking out before too long.

Monday Pics:

Tuesday morning we reported for frog duty at 8 am.  We assisted Erin and Angie with weed-eating around the tanks before removing 8 DGFS.  We lowered the water levels and adjusted the traps in the tanks.  Lowering the water levels and the temperatures in the 90s should speed up the metamorphosing process.  

We found a cool Live Oak Metria Moth at Camp Crane today.  He camouflaged well with the oak tree we put him on after removing him from our chair.

 

We took a late afternoon ride to get pictures of Snowy Orchids at the North Gautier Unit.  As a bonus, we saw 17 Mississippi Sandhill Cranes.  We were surprised to see this many cranes in about 30 minutes.

Tuesday Pics:

Wednesday was another report for frog duty at 8 in the morning.  We helped Angie and Erin remove 6 DGFs and processed the 43 DGF frogs that have been collected over the last few days.  We found a cool Carolina Praying Mantis on top of one of the nets on the frog tanks.

The afternoon, we pulled a few weeds from the garden, walked the trail, found a few new plants to mark, and purchased a battery for the VS SUV.

Wednesday Pics:

We ignored Ferny Kat when she tried to get us up around 5:30 Thursday morning.  We had no frog duty until the afternoon, which allowed us to ease into the day.  We took a stroll on the Dees Trail and placed a few more plant identification markers.

We took a ride to the South Gautier Unit and checked out the pretty flowers, critters, and a few birds.  We only saw one Ms. Sandhill Crane.

We helped Erin remove 4 DGFs from the tanks.  Lauren and I released 47 DGFs at sunset.  We got there way too early and had to wait an hour for sunset.  We took a walk on the road past the frog pond killing time and killing bugs.  The mosquitos, gnats, deer flies, and horse flies were abundant.

  

After we released the frogs, we had a nice walk back, enjoying the pretty colors of the sunset and watching a couple of Nighthawks flying above our heads feasting on all the bugs.  We have walked 6.5 miles today, I bet we sleep good tonight.

Thursday Pics:  

Friday was a lazy kind of day.  We took a leisurely ride through the North Gautier Unit.  The critters sightings were a little scarce for a while, especially the Sandhill Crane sightings.

It looks like we have 3 different Great Blue Heron nests at Valentine Pond.  While we were looking to see if we could find any babies, we witnessed the changing of the guard.  An adult gracefully flew in, and relieved the mate of nest duties.  Nature is so cool!

Just as we wondering where Banana and Coconut were, we found them at the Browns Trail Crop Unit.  They were hanging with 3 of last years captive release.   We stopped and watched them for about 45 minutes.  The three 2020 cohorts were watching Banana and Coconut as they walked right by us going to the feeder.  They just couldn't hang with these 2018 hatchlings.

We sat around this afternoon under the awning while the rain peppered on and off.  We had a really happy Ferny Kat playing in the rain dripping from the awning.

Friday Pics:

Ferny was a little bit obnoxious this morning when she went nose to nose with Lauren as he tried to sleep, then meowed at the top of her lungs.  Lauren ignored her, so she went on, allowing us both to ease into the day.

Tropical Storm Claudette pretty much went right over Crossroads.  We had a lot of rain here on the eastern side of the storm, but all in all, not a big deal.

The Dees Trail overlook at one point was underwater.  By the time we got out and about, the water had subsided.

We managed to walk the Dees Trail and Crane Lane without any rain.  By the time we got back to camp, we had a few light showers.

We took a ride to Pascagoula.  We found a Snowy Egret, aka Golden Slippers, fishing in the rain water near the road, flew into a tree when we stopped to take a picture.

We were in awe finding a few Magnificent Frigatebirds, aka Storm Birds, flying above Point Park. 

We found a couple more Magnificent Frigatebirds flying at Lake Mars Pier.

We haven't seen any Ms. Sandhill Cranes at Sunplex Industrial Park for a long time,  Today was the day, we saw 4 of them grazing in the grass.

We watched the Red-bellied Woodpeckers feeding their young at Camp Crane this afternoon.  

We actually thought about going to Crossroads this weekend, because of the stormy forecast,  We are so glad we didn't.  Today was a much better weather day than what was predicted.

Saturday Pics: