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.
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.
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.
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!!
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.
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