We had 40 Sandhill Crane sightings on this Sunday Funday. It started with NV11 and 337 visiting HQ.
The Fire Center has been busy the last few days burning in the North Gautier Unit. The Cranes were busy too, enjoying the roasted grub.
The Gray Ghost made an appearance today. The first one we have seen in a while.
We saw a Merlin, several Kestrels, Bullfrogs, a Cottonmouth, a River Cooter, and the resident Kingfisher before heading to the South Gautier Unit, where we found more Cranes, more Kestrels, and a few more species of birds.
Along our drive to Fontainebleau, we saw the Coke pair resting near the pond at Glenn Crane and Rigging. When we arrived at the pen, we saw 3 Bald Eagles.
All of the White Oak Cohorts were safe inside the pen. Although one of them was inside the netted pen trying to figure a way out.
We came back and did a time study on the Audubon Cohorts. They were quite entertaining for a brief time picking up sticks and grass, jumping, and hoping around.
We wrapped up the evening with a nice campfire.
Monday morning, we heard the call of the Cranes at HQ. We didn't even go out the door to see who was there. We later found out that there was 9 Cranes total enjoying the backyard.
We took a stroll along the Dees Trail and Crane Lane, before heading to Walmart to get a few things for Thanksgiving. The Holidays are amongst us.
While walking the trail, a Ribbon Snake slithered across. The same thing happened yesterday, but today I didn't scream and was able to get a picture.
We set up the traffic counter on Crane Lane this afternoon, then set outside for a bit, before Lauren and Ferny Kat had enough of the wind.
We took our morning stroll along the Dees Trail, then went to the Fontainebleau Trail. It had been a while since we walked the Fontainebleau Trail.
We were greeted by an American Kestrel when we returned to the HQ parking lot.
We built a campfire, then called it a day.
Wednesday after getting our walk in, we got ole' Billy Goat out and blew the debris off the parking lot, Crane Lane, the Bunkhouse and Camp Crane.
This afternoon, we got our prep work done for our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.
It was a Happy Thanksgiving, Thursday morning. We went to HQ to cook our already stuffed turkey in the oven. We were hoping for some crane activity as we drank our coffee while the turkey and dressing was cooking. The only crane activity was from the captive reared cranes flying around in the pen. Lauren took a walk along the Dees Trail and found some cool critters and such to photograph.
We thought, the turkey would need a couple of hours to get done. We had to double that, but I have to say, it was moist and the dressing was awesome. Patience paid off.
We had lunch with Carol, Charlie, and Hefan. It was a pretty good meal at Camp Crane of the turkey, dressing, waldorf salad, stuffed eggs, green bean casserole, rolls, and pecan pie.
After everyone left, we had a nice campfire, then called it a night.
We got our 2.5 mile walk along the Dees Trail and Crane Lane in the cold wind on Friday morning. After eating Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch, we headed to the Fontainebleau Trail and the Oak Grove Trail to pick up litter and do some measurements for repair of a couple of the boardwalks.
We stopped by to check on the White Oak Cohorts and found them inside the Fontainebleau Pen. One of them decided to show off his kung-fu moves while the others watched.
When we got back, I got in the Christmas spirit and decorated the RV. We are ready for Santa!
Lauren got a walk in Saturday morning, while I lazed around. We took the truck to the dealership to get a check engine light checked that happened to be on the same exit as the Harley Davidson shop. We stopped by the HD shop and found a band playing, burgers being grilled, and drawings for money toward a purchase. That $50 free money, cost us another $110 when we found hoodies that we wanted. One minute we are thinking of selling Amber and the next minute, we are buying HD merchandise. I don't think we will be selling her anytime soon.
We went to Sandhill Ranch this afternoon and watched the cow practice. It was quite entertaining, until the temperatures started to drop, then it was time to get back to Camp Crane.
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