Crane Ranch 9-3-23 - 9-9-23

The HQ5 flew in Sunday for their morning snack before we had a chance to bait the bownet.  We walked Crane Lane to give them time to enjoy breakfast.

They had left when we returned.  We got the bownet baited and headed to the trail.  We saw the cranes were headed that way also.  We decided to walk the trail backwards to avoid interfering with them.  We thought that they would be gone by the time we made the loop, but we thought wrong.  They were still hanging near the oak tree, which is where we saw them earlier.  They slowly started easing away from the trail, as we slowly eased by them. Yoshi suddenly ran back and caught a grasshopper.

  

Squall reached down and come up with a mole in his beak.  They were having a snacking good time this morning.

This afternoon we worked on getting rocks out of the underbed of the Kubota from our rock escapade last week.  We washed, took off screens and panels, washed some more, and pried rocks from tiny spaces until we were wore out.  At least we got the ones that we could see. 

 

It was so nice to have a laundry to wash our dirty, sweaty clothes when we finished.  The little things in life!

Sunday Pics:

Monday,  when Lauren went to bait the bownet, the HQ crew started walking toward him as he was pouring his first bowl of corn.  There were quite impatient this morning.

Us nature chasers had a really nice time walking Crane Lane and the Dees Trail seeing cool critters and plants.

When we returned from our walk, the HQ crew were gone, giving us the opportunity to replenish the corn.  They had ate all of the corn that Lauren put out earlier.   

We took a ride to Fontainebleu Trail.  We finally remembered to bring the magnet to get the totals of the trail counter.  Three times is a charm.

We made a tour of the North and South Gautier Units seeing lots of wading birds in Valentine Pond.

We also saw some wading cranes, Banana, Coconut, and their unbanded buddy in Valentine Pond.

We were also lucky to see the Riley Road Family, the Jabba Family and the Milhouse Family.

We had about 35 crane sightings on this 2 hour tour.  This Labor Day has been like a Sunday Funday, except it is Monday!  

Monday Pics:

We got up early Tuesday morning in the hopes of catching NV11 in the bownet.  We knew his regular feeder was probably empty of corn and were in the hopes he would come to HQ for a snack.  He and his mate 337 were there by 7:30 a.m.  She stayed away from the corn, but he came and ate vigorously.  Everything was perfect for the catch, except the switch was not turned on for the remote to release the net.  OOPS!!

Lauren got to drive the new tractor when we replaced the leaning stop sign on Crane Lane.  It sure is nice.

We helped the Lowes guys with their delivery of appliances to the bunkhouse, then installed the 2 dishwashers.  It has been a long day.

Wednesday, shortly after we got the bownet set up some of the HQ gang arrived and ate most of the corn before NV11 and 337 showed up.  It was entertaining watching them high step over the bownet.

The gang skedaddled when the dominate pair showed up.  NV11 went to the corn and started eating, the bownet was released, and NV11 managed to escape capture.  He is quick.  There is a reason he has been able to survive this long.

We said hello to our resident deer on our way back to camp. 

 

We washed and repaired 3 feeders.  We took one to a sheet metal shop to see what they can manufacture for deer guards considering we cannot find the duct caps that we were using.  We did a few other chores then called it, another long day.

Tuesday and Wednesday Pics:

We walked the Dees Trail and Crane Lane Thursday morning. 

The HQ gang came back today, but we haven't seen hide nor feather of NV11. 

We spent the rest of the day working on the new interpretive signs project. 

Thursday Pics:

We got a walk in on Crane Lane then went with Scott to evaluate the acclimation pens at HQ and Fontainebleau.  It is getting to be that time of year again!

We found a few cool bugs and had a crane flyover while we were out and about.

We also flushed a Sora in what use to be the wet pine savanna that is now dry as a bone.

Friday Pics:

Lauren got a few insect pictures while waiting on Lloyd to arrive Saturday morning.

Afterwards, we went to Crossroads for a night, to mow the yard and get the mail. Home sweet home.

Saturday Pics:

Crane Ranch - 8-27-23 - 9-2-23

Sunday morning we lounged around and enjoyed drinking coffee with Anita at Island View before heading back to the ranch.  When we got back there were 7 cranes hanging around in the backyard.  After the cranes left, we baited up the bownet and walked the Dees Trail.  We only took a few pictures on this hot morning. 

 

We heard thunder in the wee hours of the morning but never had rain.  We reported for bownet watch at 6:45 am only to find the corn in the trap had not been eaten.  We piddled around for a bit, watched the HQ crew and Unbanded not eat from the baited trap, then went home for breakfast.  After breakfast we had a nice soaking rain for a while.  By 11 am it was out of here and we mowed grass.  Even with the rain, it was still dusty.

After a Lowes run for the refuge, Lauren went for a stroll along the Dees Trail while I stayed in the comforts of the a/c.

Monday Pics:  

Tuesday, on Lauren's way to the Dees Trail, he found NV11 eating from the bownet while 337 watched from a distance.  She is like, you fooled me once after being caught with the bownet last year.

I joined him for a Crane Lane walk then we headed to the Escatawpa Trail to see if it was dry enough to spread gravel tomorrow, and it was.

We took a quick look at the Grand Bay signs.  All is well with them.  We found a corn snake that had been hit by a vehicle near the boat ramp.  Poor guy.

We walked the Escatawpa Trail enjoying a few blooms. The critters seemed to be enjoying them as well.

We got back, got a much needed haircut, then loaded up the Kubota for tomorrow's rock escapade. 

Tuesday Pics: 

Wednesday was a long day.  We started the morning on Bownet watch for a couple of hours. We saw Link and a couple of deer, but the target cranes didn't show.  Link was pretty vocal when the deer came by.

 Afterwards, we went to the Escatawpa Trail and helped Bill and Tom transport rocks.  Bill loaded the rocks then Tom and us traveled over a mile round trip to unload them.  Between the two kubotas, we had a total of 33 loads.  We called it quits after 5 hours, got cleaned up, then headed to Island View for another fun night with Anita.

Wednesday Pics: 

Thursday, Anita was long gone by the time Lauren and I got up.  We lounged around, watching the dolphins as we drank coffee, then headed back to the ranch.  

We got back and went to work getting a few chores done for the refuge.  One of those chores, was going to Fontainebleau Trail to get the trail counter totals, but we forgot the key.  We picked up the trash and will revisit this on another day.  

We took the Browns Trail shortcut on our way back.  It had been quite a while since we have done this.  We were rewarded by seeing a couple of mature bald eagles hanging around Valentine Pond along with 15 crane sightings.  This is the earliest we have ever seen the eagles return to the refuge.  It was an awesome sight!!

Thursday Pics:

Friday we did Bownet watch with Theresa.  Mist was the only crane that showed up, but did not get near the bownet.  Pretty smart, considering there was one missed attempt on Wednesday and one success on Thursday for crane captures.

After 4 hours, we gave up and went to work on setting up the washer and dryer at Camp Crane.  What should have been a relative easy task turned out to be a major ordeal.  The new washer, that had been bought over 3 years ago did not work.  I talked with a very helpful Samsung tech and found out that the lid was not locking.  Without the lid lock, the machine will not work.  Lauren, aka MacGyver, took it apart and put it back together and it worked like a charm!!  It took 5 1/2 hours to work on the machine, cut out a dryer vent, and hook up the machines in this hot, humid weather. Camp Crane laundry is now operational!

Saturday, we went to the Nature Discovery Hike at the Fontainebleu Trail.  The highlight of the walk was finding our first Pine Lillies of the year and seeing the Orange Fringed Orchids still in bloom.  We always enjoy spending time with our mentor, Janet Wright.

Saturday Pics: