Sunday we went to Crossroads to winterize the house. We had a marvelous time at Erica's for the Williams Family Christmas get together. We had to use the gate code for our gated community when we returned Sunday night.
Monday morning, a Hispid Cotton Rat joined the Doves, Red-winged Blackbirds, American Goldfinches, Blue Jays, and Towhees at the feeder.
The HQ 10 hung around the visitor center for most of the day. They are quite entertaining.
We were finally able to get some photos of the 2022 cohorts with the Crane Crossing sign in the background.
We got the mileage and checked fire extinguishers at the visitor center. We took some brochures to the Fontainebleau Trail taking the scenic route through Browns Trail. Banana and Coconut were chomping down at the Browns Trail Pasture. We always know it is them when they don't fly away.
After we returned, we wrapped pipes at Camp Crane in preparation for the upcoming cold weather.
Tuesday, we took Jake's Mom, Dad, and Brother on a tour of the refuge on this cold, rainy day. They were greeted by the HQ crew when they arrived at the visitor center.
Banana and Coconut were right on cue, hanging out at North Valentine Savanna with cranes 2002, Milhouse, and 2005.
We saw a full bellied Cottonmouth on our way out of the refuge.
The Power Family were a lot of fun and were very engaging on this 2-hour tour.
Wednesday, the Crane Tour fun continues. We had 6 people on the tour. Of course, the pressure to see cranes was off when the HQ 10 were present in the backyard when they arrived.
The cloudy day did not dampen the mood. We had 31 crane sightings after we left the visitor center, along with a few other critters.
We saw what appeared to be our first Greater Sandhill Cranes of the season. They were foraging along with a couple of Mississippi Sandhill Cranes.
Dougie and Family were foraging in Brights Pasture along with the cows.
All in all, we had 41 Sandhill Crane sightings. Not a bad way to spend a cloudy day.
Thursday, we were pleasantly surprised when Mayong, one of the FB recently released cranes, was hanging out in the backyard with the HQ 10.
We went to FB pen to see if we could get a visual on Wyaluigi, her last remaining cohort. We climbed up in the blind and saw 5 cranes foraging in the savanna. About a 150 yards from them were 2 coyotes. Thankfully, the coyotes and the cranes were walking in opposite directions from each other.
We have a new claim to fame at the refuge, our first sighting of a live coyote on the refuge.
We made a ride through Browns Trail hoping to find Wyaluigi. We found a bunch of cranes, but not the one we were looking for.
We went back to the FB pen with a spotting scope and verified that the cranes were the 2021 cohorts.
We won't be able to find out where Wyaluigi is until Scott gets settled in over seas.
This afternoon, we loped limbs around HQ. After a couple of loads, we called it quits and will work on it again another day.
We received a message from Robin Friday morning, that Ember, one 2022 cohorts was limping and the other cranes were bullying her. After watching her for a while, her gait improved.
She got better as the day progressed.
Mayong is still hanging with the HQ 10. We are hopeful that Wyalugi is ok wherever he is.
The high temperature for the day happened this morning. We are dripping water in the hopes of preventing busted water pipes. It has been in the 20's since this afternoon.
Saturday, we woke up with temps in the lower 20s on this Christmas Eve morning. When the temperature got up to the mid 30's we took a quick walk. We saw cranes walking toward the pen. We realized why when we saw 8 people on the back porch watching them through spotting scopes.
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