Crane Ranch - 4-2-23 - 4-8-23

The week started out good.  We had 5 cranes walking through the savanna enroute to the HQ feeder.

We took advantage of this cloudy morning with no one on the Dees Trail to explore.  We were not disappointed.  We heard and saw all kinds of birds.  One of them was a singing Common Yellowthroat.

We also found a lot of other pretties along the way.

By the time we left the trail, there was one after another pulling in the parking lot.  We took a leisurely walk along Crane Lane enjoying a lot more birds, including Cedar Waxwings.  The birds are very vocal today.

We got back and processed all the pictures while being serenaded by several different species of birds.  Spring is definitely in the air.

After lunch, we took off again.  This time we headed to the Fontainebleau Trail where we heard a lot more birds singing and saw a lot more pretties along the way. 

We made it back to camp this afternoon and did a little bit of arm chair birding before calling it a night.

Sunday Pics:

Monday, we got ole' Billy Goat out and blew off the debris on Crane Lane and our campsite.  The cranes in the backyard were not bothered by us doing this.  On the other hand, they were bothered by someone that had a dog on a leash a good distance away from them.  The cranes were squawking and jumping and came within a few feet of the dog while the dog sat there and watched.  They obviously think they own this place.

We took a ride to check out a couple of prescribed burns that happened over the weekend.  We found one of the Eagle babies perched in a nearby tree.  They have definitely fledged.

While we were out, we found our first Tuberous Grasspink.  Always, a pretty find.

We were surprised to find an American Kestrel still hanging around Ben Williams pen.

We came back and relaxed at Camp Crane.

Monday Pics:

Tuesday, the Interns brought the bownet in, in pieces.  It came apart as they were trapping cranes this morning.  Lauren and them worked on putting it back together.  The bownet has caught 11 cranes in the last year.  I guess after a while, it needs a little bit of maintenance.

The afternoon, we went to The Reef and had a great linner sitting outside watching the waves roll in on this cool, windy day.

When we returned, the Fire Center had a prescribed burn across the bayou from Camp Crane.  These guys don't waste no time.

Wednesday, we did a little bit of piddling on sign projects.  

Thursday, was another sign project day.  We loped, sawed, pulled, pounded, and maybe said a curse word or two, but we got 23 boundary signs replaced along Gautier Vancleave Road.  We had 5 more to go when we called it quits.  Changing the signs sounds easy, until you realize the work that goes into clearing the brush and straightening the posts.

While we were clearing, we watched a American Racer climb a tree.  I sure am glad he is not climbing on the trees that we have been clearing.

Thursday Pics:

Friday, the 5 signs that we had left to replace, turned into double that.  When you start looking you find more signs that are covered with tree growth.  We now have replaced the signs from Crane Lane to Rock Hill on both sides of the road.

  

We went on a much needed R&R to the Gautier Pen to take pictures the Jabba family with their newly hatched chick.  They stayed too far out and in the tall grass to get good pictures, but it was definitely relaxing to watch.

On our way in, we saw a Killdeer doing that fake broke wing thing.  We saw it's nest on the edge of the road and placed a traffic cone so it won't get run over by a vehicle.  It is amazing that they did a prescribed burn yesterday in the unit with all that heavy traffic and it survived.

As we were climbing the stairs going into the blind, we flushed a Dove that was sitting on it's nest.  Nesting season is here.

Jabba's mate was off chasing other cranes when we drove by the crop unit.  He flew in, then he and Jabba did a beautiful unison call. 

 

Friday Pics:

Saturday was a Happy Birthday for Lauren.  The day started out wet, but by noon, the rain was gone.  We went to check on the Beasley Eagles and found both of them perched in a dead tree, then watched both of them fly away. 

We thought this was a good birthday celebration until found the most Calopogon multiflorus that we have ever seen in one location.  Right off of Ben Williams Road in a 3 1/2 week old burn, there were over 70 plants adorning the savanna.  Awesome!!

We found some more pretties in the bog below the pen.

A North Gautier drive through found Banana and Coconut at Brown's Trail crop unit waiting to wish Lauren a happy birthday.

Saturday Pics:

Crane Ranch - 3-26-23 - 4-1-23

Sunday, Lauren observed one of the cranes on top of the netted pen with his legs hanging through.  By the time he got a scope to get a closer look, the crane flew off.  Which is much better than having to get a ladder and get him out.

We went to the North Gautier Unit on this hot humid morning looking for orchids.  We only found one Rose Pagonia before the rain started.

We saw several cranes and a Northern Harrier along Valentine Road. 

We saw Mean Momma and her mate walking on the other side of Valentine Pond.  They have been nesting in this area.  We are optimistic that the nest has hatched and not been predated.  (We found out later that the nest was predated, dang it)

While we were at the South Gautier Unit we looked in the area that we found Many-flowered Grasspink blooms last week.  We did not find any new blooms.

It was a very enjoyable start to the week, seeing 27 sandhill cranes and a lot of other cool stuff.  It was also nice to relax and enjoy our refuge.  

Sunday Pics:

Monday was a nice, laid back, no picture kind of day.

We worked in the visitor center with the Linas on this rainy Tuesday.  We got a lot of organizing and decluttering done.  It was another no picture, kind of day.

Wednesday we had a Crane Tour for 4 people on this cloudy, cool day.  During the 3 1/2 hour tour, we had 18 crane sightings and plenty of other bird species.

Before we got to Valentine Road, Lauren stopped the van, and said "my oh my!" in response to seeing several Calopogon multiflorus plants.  This was one of many stops that we made to admire the pretties in the savanna.

We saw a lot of other cool stuff, including a Cottonmouth, our first Eastern Kingbird sightings of the year, and our first Solitary Sandpiper sighting on the refuge.

After the tour, we took Sami on a short ride through the North Gautier Unit then headed to the casino for a night of fun with Anita.

Wednesday Pics:

Thursday we made it back to camp after making a stop for breakfast and a Sams run.  We didn't win any money, (that we took home), but had a great time at the casino.

We spent the afternoon moving stuff around to get ready for flooring replacement at HQ.  We found out after the fact, that the flooring will be delayed for a few weeks.  It was another no picture taking, kind of day.

Friday morning 6 of the HQ gang and an unbanded were hanging around HQ.

While we were getting a few chores done, we saw a bunch of Cedar waxwings in the HQ savanna.

This afternoon we went on an orchid safari with Jake and Theresa.  We were hoping to find Calopogon multiflorus in a new location, the Coke Savanna.  

As we were driving out on Crane Lane, we stopped for an North American Racer that was crossing the road.  Theresa jumped out and grabbed it.  Needless to say, these Interns are into herpes.

On the way, we stopped and admired the Calopogon multiflorus that we found earlier in the week at the East Valentine Savanna.

We also found a frog skeleton.

We tromped around in the savanna for a couple of hours.  We found a lot of pretties, but not the rare ones that we were looking for.

We had several cranes around during our search, including our favorites, Banana and Coconut. 

 

A Swallow-tailed Kite did a fly over as we were walking back to the van.

We got back and relaxed at Camp Crane.  After all the walking, it was much needed.

Friday Pics:

Saturday morning we checked on the Beasley Eagle nest.  We only saw one of the babies.  It appears Bad Beak may have flown the coop.

We did not have the first crane show up for the 40 visitors that we had in the visitor center today.  After the thunderstorm, we sat outside and relaxed at Camp Crane.  We could hear the cranes calling late afternoon near the visitor center.

Saturday Pics:

Crane Ranch - 3-19-23 - 3-25-23

Sunday, was another cold day with the temps in the 50's and the wind blowing about 10 mph.  We did a little bit of shopping in the morning waiting for the weather to warm a bit.  After lunch, we headed out on our first 2023 orchid safari.  We went to the South Gautier Unit to an area that was burned 6 weeks ago.  The first place that we checked was too wet for the Calopogon multiflorus.  Even though we did not find our target orchid, we found several other orchids, Rose Pagonia, Pale Grasspink, and Bearded Grasspink, along with several other cool plants and critters.

Our second location that we checked looked more like the habitat for the Many Flowered Grasspink, and it was.  We found 2 plants, one of them had blooms.  Cha-ching!

While we were looking for the orchids, we had 2  Red-tailed Hawk squawking and flying above us.  It appears that we got too close to their nest.

We were tired of the cold wind, so we did a road survey in an area that was burned a month ago in the North Gautier Unit.  We didn't find any orchids, but we did see at least 15 Sandhill Cranes. 

 

It has been a great start to the week, having 35 crane sightings and a successful orchid safari.

Sunday Pics:

Monday, on our way to check on the Beasley eagle nest, we saw a pretty Red-tailed Hawk.

This afternoon, we got the new directional signs up along Gautier Vancleave Rd and a few other chores done around the visitor center.

Monday Pics:

Tuesday morning, a Dark-eyed Junco was feeding on the seed at Camp Crane.

The HQ gang were hanging around the feeder and the HQ savanna.   They were around for most of the day, which is always good for the visiters.

Tuesday Pics:

Wednesday, we had some nice, local, folks on our Crane Tour.  It was a fun tour seeing 35 cranes.  Our 2 hour tour lasted 3 1/2 hours.  Time flies when you are having fun.

As we were checking on the Beasley Eagle nest, a sub-adult Bald Eagle was checking it out as well.  The Eaglets were not fond of the attention they were getting, especially from the Eagle that was gawking at them.  He perched on the edge of the nest for a bit, then flew away.  Whew!  I am glad he was not looking for a meal. 

While we were checking out the Eagle nest, we found a baby pond slider on a log with his head resting on a limb.  So dang cute!

The HQ gang were hanging out in the backyard when we returned from our 3 1/2 hour tour.

We met Anita at Island View and had a great celebration for my birthday.  Not to mention, the great view that we had.

Wednesday Pics:

Thursday, we lounged around and drank coffee with Anita, and still made it back to Camp Crane by 9 am.  That's what happens when you get up at 6 am.  

On our way to the Fire Center to check on the lawn mower, a Fox Squirrel was scurrying in a tree along the edge of Crane Lane.

As we were taking the squirrel's picture, a Swallow-tailed Kite fly over Crane Lane.  Our camera lens were a little bit foggy for clear shots, but it is what it is.

Lauren got some great pictures of Palamedes Swallowtail butterflies that were attracted to the blooming Bristle Thistles.

We disposed of some tires that were dumped at the North Gautier gate, worked on the lawnmower, and pulled some grass from the native plant garden.

 

We topped off the afternoon, by doing a little arm chair birding and squirrel watching at Camp Crane.

Thursday Pics:

Friday, we eased into the day then took a stroll along the Dees Trail and Crane Lane enjoying all the pretties along the way.

We had another entertaining evening of arm chair birding at Camp Crane.

Friday Pics:

Saturday, we only had 2 people show up for the Crane Tour.  Not a problem, they seemed to really enjoy their private tour.

The cranes did not disappoint.  We saw 21 of them during the tour.

We saw several other bird species while we were out and about including a Great Blue Heron nesting at the Valentine Pond rookery.

One of the Eagle parents had brought lunch (fish) to the Beasley babies.

On our way out of South Gautier Unit, we saw 3 Little Blue Herons.

After resting up a bit, we took a stroll along the Dees Trail and watched an Osprey enjoy his fish in a tree across the bayou.

As we were relaxing at Camp Crane this afternoon, we had a Bald Eagle fly over.  It has been another great week at the ranch!

Saturday Pics: