It's the final countdown, (♫ Da, Da, Da, Da, Da, Da, Da, Da, ♫). We depart the refuge next week. The first volunteer gig is coming to an end.
We met another US Fish and Wildlife volunteer yesterday at the VC. We were going on the refuge today to take the last set of photos of the controlled burn on the South Gautier Unit and invited her to tag along with us.
We took Mary, (the volunteer), on our usual Crane Tour route. We were enthused when we entered Brown's Trail and immediately saw 3 Ms. Sandhill Cranes.
It was on the last leg of the tour that we finally saw more Ms. Sandhill Cranes. We sighted 6 of them foraging in the Beasley Savanna. They were not in a hurry and allowed us to enjoy their beauty.
Nine Ms. Sandhill Crane sightings, looking at all the pretty plants, frogs, birds, etc. made for a great Sunday morning tour.
We had an early dinner of Hamburger Steak, gravy, and fries. We were so ready for this hot, home cooked meal.
No Free Birds sightings today, the feeder is out of corn.
Monday
This is the first scheduled work day of the last week for us to volunteer here until the fall. Time sure flies when you're having this much fun.
We worked at the VC with Pat on this, on and off rainy day.
We realized yesterday that the Free Bird's feeder was empty. We offered to fill it up this morning, but was assured the Interns would fill it today.
After a pretty good rain shower, Lauren and I went to pull weeds from the native plant garden. We were distracted by the Free Birds foraging across the parking lot. I notified Scott they were there and he told me that they have been foraging at the Fire Center's trash bin this morning. After pecking around the fender walls of Scott's truck, they went toward the feeder in the back yard.
Scott met them out there with a solo cup of meal worms. They were so happy, they almost got in a fight at the feeder. Crab Apple was the bad ass. A little bit later, Scott came out with another solo cup. After a third time, he said he was trying different meals for them at the feeder. It was our first Crane Watch, taste tester, observation. We pulled up chairs and got comfortable.
Scott put out meal worms, beetles, and pumpkin seeds. The winner is ????? the pumpkin seeds.
The Free Birds stayed around for about 2 hours with no visitors in sight. Our first visitors of the day barely got to see them walking away in the savanna.
The Free Birds were back for their 2nd show when a grandma and her two grandchildren showed up around 3 pm. The kids were so excited to finally see Ms. Sandhill Cranes, something they had stopped to see several times. Needless to say, we were late closing up, and it was definitely our pleasure.
We did manage to pull weeds from the right side of the VC native plant garden between the rain showers and the Crane watch.
Tuesday
We attended the Project Wild workshop at the VC. We spent the day actually doing some of the nature activities that we can use for future programs. It sure is fun acting like a kid.
We sat outside late afternoon doing a little bird watching and talking with Jeff.
Wednesday
This is our last scheduled day at the VC for this gig. Ferny made sure Lauren was up in plenty of time to get the van to the Ford dealership for door lock repairs at 8 am. I attempted to sleep in, but got curious when I heard the Free Birds calling for about 15 minutes. By the time I got up, they had quit calling. All the ruckus was because a known mated pair of Ms. Sandhill Cranes were in the Free Bird domain.
I pulled weeds in the flower garden and worked on new plant id markers. I am really pleased with the results of my timely research on this project.
There were 21 visitors today. We had 5 visitors right after we opened the VC then 16 people in the VC around 11, then no more for the rest of the day.
The Free Birds showed up for vittles around 10:30 am.
Thursday
We planned to ease into the day today. I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to find Ferny Kat curled up sleeping on my side of the bed. When I realized she was there, she put her head in my hand so I could pet her. This doesn't happen very often.
Lauren woke up before the Ferny Alarm. He got up before 6 am. As I was rising at 8 am, we got a text from Melissa that the Free Birds and the 2 other Sandhill Cranes were on the back porch of the VC. We got it in high gear. On our way over, we saw Nemesis.
The cranes were off the back porch by the time we arrived. Melissa and Angie were heading to check on an injured crane at Seaman Lagoons. We were so happy to hear we could tag along.
We found the injured crane with the help of one of the employees that was riding a 4 wheeler. She has a bum leg, but good wings. In our chase of her, we saw all these amazing birds: Rosette Spoonbills, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and their ducklings, Wood Ducks and their ducklings, Mamma and Baby Stilts and Common Gallinules.
Our fast movement of the morning, resulted in not thinking to grab the cameras and binoculars. Angie was the only one who had her camera and binoculars. Unfortunately, she forgot to put her card in her camera. Oh well, we have our memories.
We worked on the plant id markers for the VC native plant garden, then went to our going away party at The Cypress Taphouse. We are so blessed to not only have been accepted here as volunteers, but to be a part of the Ms Sandhill Crane family. They gave us messenger bags, Ms. Sandhill Crane Refuge challenge tokens, water bottles, and caps. Carol had come up with a new cap to sell in the Bookstore and had pushed really hard to make sure that they were ready for our departure gift. We loved the gifts, but we love the people behind them more.
The thunderstorm we drove through getting there resulted in an extreme drop of temperatures. I put on a jacket for our outdoor time at the camper when we returned.
Gotta go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow we head back to the Lagoons. We have our binoculars and cameras packed and ready to go.
Friday
It was a much welcomed cooler start to the day. We walked out at 6:15 am and found the Free Birds at the feeder. When we went to the VC at 6:30 am there was a couple of cranes eating at the feeder. When we walked in, we found the Free Birds on the back porch watching the intruders eating their feed.
While we were waiting on Angie, the Free Birds came around the corner of the building. When the a/c unit kicked on, the Free Birds and I jumped. I guess I am as skittish as them. Coconut walked over to the bumper of Angie's truck and started pecking in the grill. She must like the roasted radiator bugs. We walked toward her and directed her away from the parking lot.
On our way to the Seaman Lagoons, Lauren, aka Eagle eye, saw a Swallow-tailed Kite sitting in the top of a tree.
We found 7 Ms Sandhill Cranes which were id'd and placed in Angie's log book. None of them was the injured bird.
We took a drive around and found Common Gallinules, Great Blue Herons, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and their ducklings, Little Blue Herons, Black-necked Stilts and their babies, Snowy Egrets, a Rosette Spoonbill, Gulf-billed Terns, a Least Bittern, Wood Ducks and their ducklings, Great Egrets, a Green Heron, an Alligator, a Nutria Rat, Turtles, Dragonflies, and a few pretty flowers.
We finally found the injured crane on our way out. We attempted to get close to her, but she flew a short distance, then went into the wet area with thick vegetation. She did not fly as far as yesterday and still has a distinctive call. There is no way to catch her at this time.
We walked the Dees Trail twice today to place plant id markers. We marked a lot of plants that have not bloomed yet. There was a lot of guessing involved. Hopefully, we got some of them right.
We grilled brats and had a nice get together with Carol and Charlie late afternoon.
Saturday
Ferny Kat was shocked that Lauren got up without her alarm. They both were shocked when I got up with them at 6:30 am.
We were going to go into the VC and watch the Free Birds out the back door and drink our coffee. Plans changed when we found them foraging at the end of Camp Crane. They were not scared of us at all. They probably think, Smile, there's our buddies, the McLaurin's coming to take pictures of us.
We went back to the camper and had our coffee watching the birds at the feeders.
We completed the VC plant garden diagram and did some finishing touches on a couple more plant id markers. The Free Birds showed up around 10 am for their snack at the feeder. Sandhill Cranes are sure graceful in flight, but ungraceful when they land.
We made a trip to Sam's and got my glasses, then stopped for a visit with Judy and Terry.
We sat on the back porch at the VC right before dark, watching the Night Hawks. We saw and heard the Free Birds about a couple hundred yards out in the savanna.
Sunday
Another shocker, I am up early again. We had to have one more Sunday in the refuge. Sunday's are our favorite days to go into the refuge while everyone else is off.
We were on the road before 7 am. The Free Birds were foraging at their feeder when we went to get the van keys.
We saw 2 Ms. Sandhill Cranes as we entered Brown's Trail. We saw a total of 9 Sandhill Cranes. Not bad for our last Sunday refuge tour for a while.
We saw one of the Great Blue Herons still in the nest near Valentine Pond
We also saw deer, bullfrogs, butterflies, spiders, a cottonmouth, dragonflies, blue grosbeaks, neat spiders and webs, and pretty blooms.
The Free Birds were still at the feeder when we returned. They showed off a little bit when we drove in, when we walked to the back door to return the van keys, they did not have a care.
Nemesis was at the trail head munching on lunch.
We started packing in preparation of our departure tomorrow. I can't believe how much stuff we have accumulated in the last 16 months.
Monday
The Free Birds were eating at the feeder when we went to tell Angie and the interns goodbye around 7 am.
We loaded Amber, did a few last minute chores, said our goodbyes to Carol, Charlie, Pat, and Jeff, and was on the road by 9:15 am. We thought we would get up early and leave before it got too hot. We were right about leaving early, but wrong about leaving before it got hot.
Our first volunteer gig that was supposed to last 3 months has finally come to an end, 16 months later.
It took Lauren twice as long to mow the grass. I raked up some of the grass and emptied some essentials from the camper. It is a work in progress.
We sat around in the back yard late afternoon bird watching. We had a couple of Swallow-tailed Kites fly over. We watched a Blue Grosbeak foraging in the tall grass. We watched the Blue Bird parents go in and out of their house feeding their babies. We watched Carolina Wrens feeding their babies in their nest in the garage which really got Ferny Kat's attention. We had a Cardinal and an Indigo Bunting feed at the feeder that we filled today. Our first volunteer gig sure has given us a greater appreciation of nature!
Week of pictures:
