We made it back to Camp Crane on Sunday. Lauren went for his weekly petting of the horses at Sandhill Ranch. We walked the Dees Trail and found a few more plants blooming and lots of Dragonflies. We sat around camp this afternoon wondering what happened to the Red-bellied Woodpeckers. They are nowhere to be seen. We can only hope they fledged and are on a great adventure.
Monday was weed-eating day. We weed-eated at the bunkhouse, Dees Trail, the sidewalks, parking lot, and around the HQ building. We went to Browns Trail Gate and weed-eated and loped some limbs. We also had trash to pick up. Someone left a tub with fish remains. This is also someone's restroom and bar. We found plenty of cigarette butts and Miller Lite caps along with wiping papers. UGH!!
We went with Erin to release 1 DGF at sunset. This could be our last frog to release. Lauren and Erin attempted to catch a Cottonmouth and a Water Snake, but they got away. I watched from a distance. Other than the snake chase, it was peaceful in the savanna tonight. It was one of the most enjoyable releases we have done.
We spent the day pressure washing Tuesday. The morning was spent getting ready, and the evening was spent actually pressure washing. We washed in front of the visitors center and the bookstore. It is definitely a work in progress.
We helped Angie pack tonight getting ready for her move to Iowa.
We were slackers on Wednesday. We had had enough of hard work and took it easy. We took a morning stroll along the Dees Trail, enjoying the many bees and blooms that we saw.
This afternoon, we went to the Fountaineblue Trail to place some brochures and to pick up a little bit of litter. While we were there, we cleaned the Kiosk signs. After a little bit of rubbing, they look much better.
We took a mile walk while we were there, enjoying nature as we strolled.
We had a going away dinner for Angie at Woody's tonight.
Thursday we mowed at HQ, Camp Crane, Bunkhouse, and Crane Lane. While I was mowing I saw 4 Black Runner snakes. They were everywhere. I had to swerve to miss the first one I saw at Camp Crane. My mowing was also diverted by an Alabama Red-bellied Cooter that was laying eggs at Camp Crane. This is the 2nd one of these critical imperiled turtles I have seen laying eggs at Camp Crane. The last one was in 2018.
We also cleaned and repositioned the picnic tables under the oaks.
We placed a few more plant markers on the Dees Trail Friday morning. We went for a ride to the North Gautier Unit to check on the Great Blue Heron nurseries. We have babies in all 3 nest. One of the nest has triplets and are small. One of the nest has twins that are almost grown. One of the nest is hidden and hard to see.
The short while that we were in the unit, we saw 13 Sandhill Cranes. One of them was a colt with an unbanded parent. They happened to cross the road as we were looking at the Herons.
The afternoon was spent at Angie's helping her tidy up her place. On our way back to camp, we saw a couple of deer foraging along Crane Lane.
We got on the road early Saturday morning for a nature walk at Fountainebleu Trail led by Mark LaSalle. It was definitely worth it. He and Lauren are like two peas in a pod when it comes to nature.
After the walk, we came back to camp, ate leftovers, then relaxed outside.
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