4-1-18 - 4-7-18 (Week 5)

Sunday
We spent this beautiful Easter morning looking for Sandhill Cranes.  This is the first time in 2 weeks we could go behind the locked gates.  We watched a pair for about 45 minutes, dancing, eating, and strutting around on Ben Williams Road.  We would have pictures, but they blurred because we took them through the windshield.  Oh well, we got our memories. We had 11 Crane sightings, 2 eagles, and a lot of geese.

We had a late lunch/early supper of grilled baby back ribs.  We took a walk along the trail, then relaxed by the campfire until after dark.  The quietness of the night was broken by someone shouting at each other.  It sounded as if it was coming from headquarters.  No one was there, so it must have been an echo from a nearby neighborhood.  It sure did mess up our tranquil evening.
More Pictures:

Monday
Our one month anniversary of being here. Where did the time go?  It is amazing the things we have learned in a month.

We made a stock up run to Walmart after my eye exam.  I love shopping with the seagulls.

We have been slackers to exercise except for exercising our minds to learn about the Refuge. Today was the day.  We decided to go to the weight room at the Fire Center to work out.  We were done in about 15 minutes, but hey, gotta start somewhere.

Tuesday
We checked out Grand Bay Wildlife Refuge, another refuge in the Gulf Coast Complex.  We watched Ospreys from the nice boardwalk at the Visitor's Center.  We only saw a few birds on the 1/2 mile thickly wooded birding trail.  We drove to the boat lunch, there was not much going on there.

We went to Ruby Tuesday for our free birthday salad bars and made a stop at Scarlet Pearl for our free Pancake rings. A small donation later and we were out of there.

We met up with Jim and Cindy at The Blind Tiger.  We sat out on the deck overlooking the gulf, catching up.  It was another fabulous get together.

Wednesday
We had a great lunch at Huck's Cove with Jim and Cindy.  Unfortunately, the weather turned cold.  This is our second trip to Huck's Cove where we had to eat inside due to inclement weather.  Maybe one day we will pick a day that is pretty enough to sit outside and dine.

Thursday
Our first full day to work by ourselves. We had our sheets pulled off the bed and ready to wash in our down time today. Melissa had a chore she wanted us to do while we weren't busy today.  That didn't happen.  We had one car after another arrive for a total of 60 visitors.  Lauren went to the Bunkhouse and started our wash around  2 pm so our clothes would be washed before the Interns got off.  All for that slow day.

Friday
Today was the direct opposite of yesterday.  We had very few people visiting before noon, they were closer to 3 pm.  We stayed over about 45 minutes to allow some late comers to look around and watch the video.  We later found out, that Melissa took a College group of 30 out on the trail while we were accommodating the late comers.

We have been studying identification of plants and flowers.  After closing, we went to the trail and placed markers out to identify the wildflowers.  Hopefully, we got them right.  Botanist We Not!

Saturday
It was Audubon Bug Day at the Visitor's Center.  It was cold and rainy.  What better way to spend the day than inside with Bugs. 

Stephanie from the Audubon Bug Center was very good, very patient, and very brave.  She had the audience interacting with cockroaches, a big ole roach, some other bugs/animals, and a tarantula aka Penelope.

We were surprised that Carol, (also known in our minds as Snake Charmer), would not have anything to do with these bugs.  She will let Clem wrap around her arm, but she will not touch bugs.  I guess everyone has their limits.

This event was not as exciting as The Raptor presentation a few weeks ago, but when you take it all in prospective, bugs are pretty amazing.  And Lauren was brave enough to let Penelope walk across his hand.  I think he may just warm up to Clem before long.

After a nice relaxing day at work, we took a stroll around the trail and placed a few more plant identification markers. We grilled some sausage before being run inside by the rain.  It was another great week at the refuge.
Pictures here:

3-25-18 to 3-31-18 (Week 4)

Sunday
We had a pretty warm day to take a ride on Amber. We went to Ocean Springs and strolled around looking at the numerous booths at the Art Festival.

                                                                 Making Ice Cream

We rode to the beach when we left the festival.  I didn't realize the beach at Ocean Springs was so nice with it's concrete walkway.  There were lots of people enjoying the water and sand.

The birds were about as plentiful as people.  Especially, when we got to the harbor where fisherman were cleaning their fish.

I had a free Birthday Buffet at Scarlet Pearl, it was very good.  Lauren tried the Birds of  Pay slot machine, that he won on last time.  I sat beside him at the Leprecoin slot machine.  After much entertainment and fun, I came out $70 ahead.  Lauren lost $20.  It was way to pretty to stay inside, so we motored on.

We cruised down Highway 57 and saw 5 Cranes.  When we got back to camp and was sitting under the Oak Tree, a beautiful Swallow Tailed Kite did a fly over.

Late this afternoon, we took a walk around the C.L. Dees trail and attempted to identify plants and look for birds.

Pictures are here:

Monday
It was a foggy morning.  Us, and the other volunteers, headed to Bon Secure, another refuge in the Gulf Coast Complex.  We put on our shorts and short sleeve shirts, being we were headed to the beach and it was so warm yesterday.  What a difference a day makes.  We like to have froze.

The wind was howling, the gulf was rough, and the sand was blasting.  That didn't stop me from going to the waters edge for just a moment.

We stopped by O'Charley's and had lunch then returned to the Refuge.

We sat around until dark, watching the birds and the squirrels.

Tuesday
We went home to check the mail, mow the yard, and wash clothes.  I will get  my lab work done in the morning and we will head back tomorrow.

Wednesday
We made it back to the Refuge, had a free lunch on IP, and was $29 ahead from the free play IP gave Lauren.   We took a walk around the trail in an attempt to walk off the heavy meal we ate.  There was not much activity going on with the critters this evening.  They must have been as full we were.

Thursday
We were given the day off due to the bad weather predictions.  The first rain arrived around 3 pm.  It was just a rain, no biggie.  We decided to go to Island View and play our free play.  The weather was a biggie on the ride over, it was flooding.  We made it safe and sound and were surprised they were having the crawfish boil.  We enjoyed our platter of crawfish, then cashed out $30 from our free play.  It was worth the trip through the monsoon rain.

Friday
It was a steady work day today.  We had a few projects going on early in this morning, putting together a desk and inventorying the tee shirt order.  After wrapping that up, we had several Visitors come in enjoying this beautiful Good Friday. We spent the afternoon outside looking for critters.

Saturday
It was another steady day at the Visitor's Center.  The exhibits got a makeover.  It turned out good.  We walked the trail and sat outside by the campfire until after dark.  A nice way to wrap up a great week.
More pictures here:

3-18-18 to 3-24-18 (Week 3)

Sunday
I had a fantastic birthday!!!  Anita, Lauren, and I went on the Sandhill Crane Whisperer Tour this morning.  We saw our first Crane of the day on Rock Hill Road.  He was standing by the pond with the gorgeous azaleas behind him.  The reflections in the water of the Crane and the bold color of the azaleas were stunning.  I think the azaleas in this area are as pretty as the ones we saw at the Master's Golf Tournament.

We saw 19 Cranes, a Raccoon, an Eagle, a Red Squirrel,a hawk,  Ducks,  Herons, and Geese on our 5 hour tour of the Refuge.   It goes without saying Anita had a blast, and so did we.   She is as enthusiastic as we are.

We went to Huck's Cove for dinner this afternoon.  It is a pretty neat place on the Pascagoula River.  The outside deck was closed for dining because of the rain.  The food and atmosphere was great.
The stinking rain didn't dampen our party.

Anita made me some Birthday Cupcakes from scratch, that were delicious, she gave me a solar dragonfly, I named Sandy. 

Spending the day with her, Lauren, Ferny Kat, and the phone calls and text wishing me a happy birthday was the perfect Birthday Celebration.

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Monday
Anita headed home this morning.  Lauren and I went to Davis Bayou at the Gulf Shores National Seashore.  It was a pretty happening place today.  We saw Dolphins from the boardwalk at the Visitor's Center.  We also saw 2 alligators, a snake, ospreys, pelicans, and herons.  A very enjoyable experience.

We went by Scarlet Pearl to get our free earbuds,  Lauren played Birds of Pay and left with $70 of their money, I lost $20.  We ate their 1/2 price buffet, one of the perks of being old.  It was very good.

We got back to camp and stayed out until dark watching the critters and looking at the sliver of the moon.  Another awesome day.

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Tuesday
After a walk this morning, we went to Island View and played our free play.  We came back and sat outside in the cool wind until the sun started down.  It was an early night for bed.  The birthday celebration has caught up with us two old farts.

Wednesday
We stayed around camp today and raked leaves.  We got a text from Melissa that the interns are going into the refuge to count Cranes.  We will have limited time behind the locked gates of the Refuge for the next couple weeks.  Dang it.

Thursday
It was Jr. Duck Stamp judging day at the Visitor's Center.  There are some talented young artist.  Our favorite was Donald Duck.  He didn't win.

We made a quick tour of the walking trail with Sally.  She showed us her way of placing identification markers near the plants.  We have a lot to learn about this, but it is a great learning experience.  Walking outside, looking for plants, and deciding what kind they are is just another perk of this gig.

Friday
We had a fairly slow day at the Visitor's Center.  Two people that came in were very happy when they spotted a pair of Cranes after Lauren gave them directions.  They came back and showed us their pictures and thanked us.  Lauren still has the Crane Whisperer thing going.

I spent most of the day studying how to identify plants and flowers.  I have a long way to go!!  But, it's only been one day that I have been working on this.  Patience and a lot more studying needed!!

Saturday
We spent the morning cleaning the C.L. Dees signs, they sure look better.  Our first visitor's of the day were 21 people from North Carolina State University.  They are majoring in Wildlife Biology.  They spent a couple of hours looking around.  The afternoon was steady, a few people in and out.

We walked to the Bayou Overlook on the trail late afternoon to check out the wildlife.  We walked the trail again, looking at all the plants, wildflowers, and birds.

Pictures are here:

3-11-18 to 3-17-18 (Week 2)

Sunday
We came home yesterday to mow the yard.  Mother Nature delayed our plans when she dumped a bunch of rain this morning. Anita came over this afternoon and spent the night with us.  It was great to catch up with her.  We  always have a great time when we are together.

Monday
The sun was shining, the wind was blowing, and the grass was growing.  We dove in and got most of the yard mowed and some of the leaves picked up, even though Lauren bogged the mower down several times. 

Tuesday
Last week,when we took pictures of the Sandhill Cranes, they were way out there.  We decided to buy another camera lens that could reach out and capture them.  The lens arrived at the Refuge shortly after we did today. We took a few pictures, playing around with the new lens and was ready for Castille to fly over.  It was another no show day.

Wednesday
We were not scheduled to work at the Visitor's Center today, so we cleaned out some brush at the campground.  We hung the wild bird feeder that Momma gave us for Christmas many years ago and our Hummingbird feeder.  Within the hour, we had several birds feasting on the bird seed.

We found a string in a tree and hung the metal eagle that I gave Lauren for his 55th birthday.  The only problem, the eagle is now swinging around close to the bird feeders.  We have seen less birds feasting since we hung him there.  Hopefully, they will get use to him.   If not, we will have to relocate.

It was buy one get one free buffet at Sicily Pizza today.  We met Carol, Charley, (their granddaughter - Christina), Carole and Roger for dinner.  The buffet was very impressive and tasty.

When we returned, we went to the South Gautier Unit of the Refuge.  We saw 3 Cranes immediately upon entering Fire Tower Road.  We also saw an adult and juvenile Eagle, and something, we haven't seen in a long time, an Armadillo.

We returned at dusk and entered our gate code to get back into headquarters.  As Carole says, we now live in a gated community.

Pictures right here:

Thursday
We had the Visitor's Center opened and was almost finished cleaning the glass doors when Carol, Charley, Roger, and Carole arrived.  We are rocking.

We spent the morning with Melissa on the C.L. Dees Trail, learning about the Carnivorous and other plants.  We are amazed to learn about the plants.

We took a ride to Biloxi High School to pick up their Jr. Duck Stamp entries.  Man, what a school!

We toured the North Gautier Unit of the Refuge this evening and saw a Sandhill Crane immediately as we entered Brown's Trail in the fire lane to our right.  Shortly after, we spotted another Crane to our left, ole Sticky Bunz.  We saw the nesting goose, 2 Blue Herons, and an Eagle flying around on Valentine Road.  We also saw 4 Cranes fly over and a 5th Crane joined them way off in the distance.  We saw 6 Deer, one of which was a Buck.

Spotting 7 Cranes makes for a pretty good evening for the Crane Whisperers.

Pictures are here:

Friday
We had planed to clean the signs on the C.L. Dees Trail this morning.  About the time we got our tools together, Angie asked if we wanted to go with her to check out the Dusky Gopher Frogs, an endangered species of frogs that have been introduced to the Refuge for the last few years.

Angie gave an informative lecture on the frogs.  She got very aggressive toward a spider and a dragon fly when they threatened to enter the uncovered tadpole tanks. She is very protective of her tadpoles.

It is rather ironic to us, that there are endangered species of frogs and cranes at this refuge, considering cranes eat tadpoles.

We had a Home School Group of 31 arrive around 10 am.  Carol gave a great presentation about Indian Culture.  Afterwards, the kids had fun making Indian crafts.

We spent the rainy afternoon making magnets and bookmarks to sell in the Bookstore.

Saturday
Anita came over to spend a couple of days with us to celebrate my birthday.  She sat around with us this afternoon at the Visitor's Center and got to see us in action/inaction.  It was a pleasant day of work.

Ferny Kat loved the gifts Aunt Nana bought her.  Two feathery bell toys and a fountain water bowl .  Ferny Kat was fascinated by the water fountain on her bowl.  I thought she was gonna drown herself drinking from it.

We walked the C.L. Dees Trail after we closed the Visitor's Center then spent the rest of the afternoon, sitting outside enjoying nature and each other's company.

Our 2nd week on the job has been great.

Pictures:

3-4-18 to 3-10-18 1st Week on the job

It was a really great first week at our volunteer gig.  It is fun to meet and great Visitors and give them information. If enthusiasm is a plus for this gig, we are excellent.  We love to talk about the Refuge.

Sunday

The Visitor Center was closed today.   We had our first company at our new campsite, Judy and Terry.  It was a beautiful day to sit outside and visit with our good friends.   Afterwards, Amber was ready to rumble, so we took her for a spin.  We rode to Ocean Springs and hiked the Fountaine Bleu Nature Trail.  We finished the day with our first campfire.
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Monday

We had another day off.  We took a ride on Amber to IP and Island View to play our free play.  We, (actually Lauren), came out $40 ahead. That doesn't happen very often, but it is fun when it does.  Our new neighbors/volunteers, Roger and Carol arrived.  Carole and Roger will be our camping neighbors and co-workers for the next few months.

We finished the afternoon with some good ole fried tabby cat that Jeannie and Ronnie gave us.
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Tuesday

We opened the Visitor Center.  Lauren accused me of being bossy when I started telling him what to do.  Charley chuckled when he heard the comment. We met Melissa, Refuge Visitor Center Manager/Ranger, and Pat, another Volunteer.  Melissa gave us our keys, including keys to the gated areas of the refuge and encouraged us to take the government vehicles and spend time there.  She also encouraged us to spend the next 2 weeks as visitors. On the Job training has never been this good.

We spent most of this rainy morning riding around with Melissa on the public roads looking for Mississippi Sandhill Cranes.  Melissa told us that our chances of seeing Ms. Sandhill Cranes was low because  it was late morning and it was raining.  We saw a single crane in a the pasture at Cauley Farm and a pair in a field near Glenn Crane and Rigging.  They were too far off to get a good picture with our cellphones.

After lunch, we spent most of the afternoon riding around with Charley to Grand Bay National Wildlife Management Area. where Lauren will assist with mowing.  We saw a bunch of osprey nest on top of the power line towers and saw one osprey flying. We closed up the Visitor Center successfully.

While we were relaxing at camp this afternoon, Lauren saw a bald eagle flying over the marsh around 5 pm.  Unfortunately, the camera was inside and he was unable to get a picture.
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Wednesday

We opened and closed the Visitor's Center on our own.  Lauren cleaned the glass on the doors really well. Charley said the doors had never been that clean.  Lauren and I took a ride along the same route Melissa took us on yesterday.  Today we traveled in the van, aka The Ox Wagon. We haven't been in a vehicle without power windows and locks in a long time.  It took me a little while to remember how to roll down a window.

We saw a Red Tail Hawk flying over the Savanna on Crane Lane.  We saw a pair of Mississippi Sandhill Cranes at the pond near Glenn Crane and Rigging.  When we got back to the Visitor's Center, we jokingly told Melissa and Carol, We are The Crane Whisperers.

We made a couple of sales without any help from Carol.  Lauren gave directions to a visitor of possible locations where the Cranes may be spotted. I attempted this, but obviously, this is something I need to improve on.

Back at camp, we were sitting on ready for the eagle fly over at 4:50 pm and got plenty of pictures.
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Thursday

We opened and closed the Visitor's Center and made a few sales successfully today.  The flow of things is getting much easier.  Melissa took us, Roger, and Carole in the field.   We went on smoke patrol for the prescribed burn.  Everything was going well with the burn, so we headed back to the Refuge to look for Cranes.

We saw 5 Cranes today, 1 near a swimming pool on Rock Hill Road, 2 in Brights Pasture, and 2 at Glenn Crane and Rigging.  We saw 3 Eagles flying near their nest at Firetower Road. We also saw a Great Horned Owl perched in the tree in this same area.  His feathers looked like ears. We later found out, Great Horned Owls look like they have ears when they are on alert.

We sat outside this afternoon and watched for our eagle, we have named Castille, (Bayou Castille).  He was a no show.  We did see 3 woodpeckers in the trees and got some good pictures.
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Friday

This was our day off, we thought.  We decided to ride on the Refuge and look for Wildlife.
We got up and hit the road at 6:20 am and returned at 11:20 am.  We had a beautiful sunrise to start this cool, crisp morning with fog hovering over the bayou. You know we are having fun when we get up early to look for Cranes.

We took Brown's Trail where we saw 4 deer shortly after we entered.  Driving around the trail, we saw a goose on her nest with her mate close by in the swampy water.  A Blue Heron was perched above them in a tree.  It was mesmerizing to hear the loud chirps of the Cranes talking to each other in the distance, although we could not see them.

We made our way back via Hwy 57, where we saw 3 Cranes in a yard between 2 houses.  We later found out 2 of these were a pair, that had been missing.  We saw 5 Cranes in Bright's Pasture, one of which we observed dancing, a part of their courting ritual.

We went back to Brown's Trail and was greeted by Sticky Bunz, aka Trouble Maker, near the gate. He was conversing to some more Cranes that were further away that were not visible to us .  We made the turn on Valentine Trail and saw 4 Cranes scurry across the road.  They flew off, but we were able to see them across the Savanna.

We made a stop at the Visitor's Center to check on Pat, who was working alone.  Nothing was going on, so we went to Firetower Road.  We saw a majestic Eagle perched in the tree close to the huge eagle nest.   We saw 2 Cranes from a distance on Ben Williams Road then 4 more on Beasley Road.  On our way out of the Refuge, we saw a big ole gator splash in the water.

We came back and spent the afternoon assisting Pat at the Visitor's Center.

Our total wildlife count today was 4 Deer, a bunch of Geese, 19 Cranes, an Eagle, and an Alligator.
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Saturday

Our day off, again - not.  We went to the Regal Raptor presentation given by Environmental Studies Center.  The stars of the show were Owls, (Screech, Barn, Barred, and  Great Horned), a Mississippi Kite, an American Kestrel,  a Broad Winged Hawk, and a Bald Eagle.  We thoroughly enjoyed the show, especially when the Bald Eagle flapped his mighty wings.  The turn out was so high, a second show was needed.  We stayed during the second presentation to allow Carol, Charley, and Melissa to watch without interruption.

We met Carol and Charley's grandson, Justin, who is in the Air Force stationed in Milton, Florida.  We encouraged Carol and Charley to go out and eat lunch while we manned the center.  They took us up on the offer.  We did just fine on our own for the couple of hours they were gone.  Carol put Clem in his other container to eat before she left.  While they were gone, Clem got very restless, so Lauren transferred him in the little container to the big aquarium, where Clem immediately slithered out to drink water.

We went home late afternoon for a couple of days to clean up the yard.  We made a stop at Pizza Inn in Wiggins, our favorite pizza buffet, for dinner on the way home.

I am amazed the things we have learned in our first week of volunteering.  We are getting our groove with the flow of  things at the Visitor's Center. I have even improved giving directions of locations for possible crane spotting.

We have seen cranes every day we have gone into the fields.  It hasn't been a bad count of cranes for beginners.  Our first day this week, we spotted 3, and the last day in the field, we spotted 19.  We are getting better at identifying them by their bands as well.  I never dreamed we would be bird watchers..

This gig has made us much more appreciative of wildlife, their habitat, wildflowers, and other plants.  We love this gig so much, we have volunteered some extra time,  Lauren has accused me of trying to get 250 hours in one week so we can get our Volunteer National Park Pass.

Our weekly count of spotting Mississippi Sandhill Cranes is 29. Maybe, we are the Crane Whisperers!
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3-3-18 - First Day On The Job

Last week when we visited the Refuge, we had a detailed tour/orientation with Carol.  We left the Refuge pretty much brain dead.  As Melissa said, "Carol is an overachiever."

Today we worked with Carol and Charley.

All the information Carol gave us last week, became a lot clearer today.  Our first sale in the bookstore was a success, (with the a little help from Carol).  The duties aren't that hard, we just have a learning curve of the flow of things.

Today is Saturday, the day Clem, (the corn snake resident), gets fed.  This requires picking up Clem and putting him in a different container to eat.  I was a little bit astonished when Carol walked in the book store with him wrapped around her arm.  Neither Lauren nor I had any desire to pet him or hold him.  Luckily, this is not a job requirement.

We ended the day with a walk and a stop by the bunkhouse for a meet and greet.

3-2-18 - Volunteer Gig

A few weeks ago, we saw an opportunity, close by home, to volunteer at Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Refuge in Gautier.  We decided to check it out.

We were pleasantly surprised when we visited the Refuge for the first time.  After our visit, we filled out our resume for Volunteer Park Rangers and were very excited to get a call from Carol.  We spent a couple of hours with Carol on our next visit, and were ecstatic when we were offered a chance to volunteer at the Refuge.

We  have a nice, quiet,  place to park our camper across the road from the Visitor's Center where we will work 3 days a week, from 9 am till 3 pm.

Obviously, Ferny Kat was also ready for this adventure.   She usually hides, when she sees us pack up the camper, getting ready to leave,.  Today, she was waiting for us to put her in the truck.  That cat loves to travel.

After we arrived at the Refuge, and  were setting up the camper, Ferny Kat was chomping at the bit to get outside and explore.    Lauren put her lead on and she lead him all over the campsite.  We definitely have the Ferny Kat approval!

After we got the camp set up, Lauren and I walked the nice, quiet, 3/4 mile trail.

We are amazed that this area is so quiet considering I 10 is so close. The quiet was broken around dusk by the howling of the coyotes.

Tomorrow is our first day of  our new adventure of being Volunteer Park Rangers.

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