6-10-18 - 6-17-18 (Week 15)

Sunday
We packed drinks and snacks and headed behind the locked gates of the refuge.  8 hours later, we pulled back into headquarters.

Our first stop was to admire the Purple Bladderworts that are blooming at the Ocean Springs Unit.  These carnivorous plants have beautiful tiny flowers growing above the water, that are really hard to photograph.  The pictures do not do them justice.

We found White Meadow Beauties that are not on the CL Dees Trail, as well as newly seeded Toothache Grass.  The CL Dees Trail did not have a prescribed burn this year and Toothache Grass only seeds after a burn.  We are still amazed by the beauty of the Savannah, especially after it is burned.

We went to a couple of the Ocean Springs Units, Sunplex Industrial Park, and then through Brown's Trail.

Baby Sunplex and his parents made it across Highway 57 and were foraging between the Mingledorff and Talon Buildings.  That colt sure has grown in just a few days.

We saw 4 deer, a raccoon, blue herons, great egrets, and 16 Sandhill Cranes.

We waited until late afternoon to walk the CL Dees Trail.  It was nice to watch Momma Osprey in her nest being attentive to her baby.

After our walk, we sat around camp and bird watched.  Not only are the seed feeders being frequented, our Hummingbird feeder is beginning to get a lot of attention.  Hummingbirds are one of the most amazing creatures to watch. 

Monday
We walked the CL Dees Trail this morning then went to De Soto National Forest this afternoon.  We were on a quest to find a Redcockaded Woodpecker that lives in this forest.  We saw plenty of holes in the trees, but no woodpeckers.  A flooding rain shortly after our arrival, may explained why we didn't see any..

The rain showers continued and hindered our outdoor activities at camp this afternoon.

Tuesday
We went on a new adventure to check out the beaches in Pascagoula.  The Pascagoula beaches are more of a fish friendly kind of shoreline.

We saw a lots of birds at the Port of Pascagoula.  The Yellow Crowned Night Heron and the Willet is my favorite picture of the day.

Riding around, we saw Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks paddling around under a bridge.

We made a stop at Beach Park, where the kids looked like they were really enjoying the splash pad.  We took a walk on the pier across from the park where a few people were enjoying the small swimming area.

We could see River Park as we crossed the bridge on Highway 90. After a little bit of exploring, we made our way there.  It had a nice fishing pier and kayak launch. The lightening in the horizon shortened our stay. It was another rainy afternoon on the coast.

Wednesday
We got ready and was on our way into the  VC today, when we found out we didn't need to work.  Nothing like a spur of the moment change in plans.  We were on a road trip by 9 am.  We wanted to go on Amber, but with 60% chance of thunderstorms, we went in the truck.

Our first stop was the Environmental Studies Center in Mobile, Alabama.  They have a lot of rescue animals that have disabilities that would make it  hard for them to survive in the wild.  It was a very nice habitat, full of all kinds of creatures.

After admiring the animals, we headed towards Dauphin Island for a picnic lunch.  We stopped on the way at Muddy Creek Wildlife Refuge for a 2 1/2 mile hike.  It was a very wooded and secluded trail with slippery footage on the boardwalks due to the damp conditions.  We saw a raccoon, a snake, and plenty of spiders and their webs during this hike.

We ate our picnic lunch at Bay Front Park, watching the numerous shorebirds.  We really enjoyed seeing the Snowy Egret but were unable to get a picture.

We toured the Island then headed home.  We were thinking, we should have road Amber, until about 20 minutes before we got home and got in flooding rain.  We made a wise decision.

Thursday
Pat and I worked in the VC.  Lauren mowed grass at Headquarters.  Another rainy evening, slowed down the bird watching.

We have been seeing a coon in the woods nearby.  This afternoon, being we were inside, he came and ate under the bird feeder.

Friday
Lauren spent the morning of this workday checking out things at Independence Storage Yard and Grand Bay while I manned the VC.

We are seeing more and more Hummingbirds at the feeder.  It is fun watching the Hummingbirds on the limbs of the trees grooming themselves after their nectar feast.

We saw our first male Red Throated Hummingbird drinking nectar today. He was gorgeous.

Saturday
We had a good flow of people today at the VC.  After closing, we decided to head to Crossroads for a few days. 

More pictures here:

6-3-18 - 6-9-18 (Week 14)

Sunday
We were headed out the gate at 6:30 this morning, excited to go on the Crane Whisperer Tour.  We were met with the calling of the cranes as we entered the refuge at Brown's Trail, then saw Sticky Bunz and several others.  Our count was up to 5 in just a few minutes.

Ole Sticky must have partied hard last night, he looked like heck.  He really needs to work on that grooming thing.

We had heard there were a couple of Mississippi Sandhill Cranes frequenting Highway 90.  We went to check it out and found 2 foraging in a field.

On our way to Firetower Road, we were so glad to see the colt with his parents foraging at the edge of the woods on Highway 57.

We had another fantastic day looking for cranes and other birds and enjoying the beauty of the refuge. 

We packed up and were leaving for home, when our new camper neighbors/co volunteers  arrived, Katie and Bruce.  They will be at the Refuge for the next couple months.

A look at the power lines on I 10 on our way home, revealed 2 more cranes.  Our total today is 17.  Not bad for a hot, humid, morning.

Monday
It didn't take Lauren long to get the grass cut at Crossroads.  Most of the grass was dead from the dry weather.  Crossroads has not got the frequent showers that Camp Refuge has.

Anita came over and spent the night.  It goes without saying, we have fun when we are together.

Tuesday
We made it back to Camp Refuge just in time for lunch.  We went to the Tiki Room.  It was very good food, reasonable priced, and a great atmosphere.  The rain this morning cooled the temperatures which allowed us to enjoy sitting outside at a table on the deck overlooking the water.

We put an empty can that had been holding bird feed in the camper compartment when we left, which attracted the critter.  Lauren has a new strategy to try to catch this varmint before he does some major damage. 

The slinky on the bird feeder pole has the squirrels slowed down, but they do make it up it occasionally for their feast.  I guess the birds will have to share.

We managed to get our trail walk in before the rain this afternoon.  We sat outside under the canopy watching the water soaked birds eat from the feeders until the rain ran us in. We had an awesome view of the sunset from the kitchen window.  Not bad for a couch view.

Wednesday
We walked the CL Dees Trail this morning waiting for the Canon camera to arrive and found some new blooms after that rain yesterday. We also found what must be a young Cardinal.  He was a pretty thing, even though he wasn't as vibrate as the adult males.

We loaded up the camera with the big lens and went to the Ocean Springs beach this afternoon.

On our way, we had to check on Baby Sunplex.  He was at the edge of the woods foraging with his parents across from Sunplex.  He has grown a lot in a week.  We sure were glad to see he is still around.

We sat on the beach for a couple of hours.  Lauren took lots of pictures of boats, birds, people, and things. It has been years since we sat on a beach.  Luckily, the beach umbrella was still in good working condition.

It is amazing the things you see on a beach.

We went back to Camp Refuge and enjoyed watching the birds feasting at the feeders.

Thursday
It was supposed to be a big work day at Escatawpa Trail today.  Instead it was Lauren and I.  Bruce worked at headquarters, Charlie is on vacation for a month, and Melissa is off on fire duty in Colorado.

It was a hot, stuffy, trail to work today.  We picked up limbs until we were heat exhausted and physically exhausted.  The bad part is after we were tired, we had to walk 3/4 mile back to the van.

But we are two tough old birds, it wasn't nothing that a shade, a snack, and a Powerade won't cure.

We sat around again this afternoon watching the birds feeding at the feeder.  We have a new pair of birds, a male and female House Finch.  They seem to enjoy sitting on Momma's bird feeder eating their grub.

Friday
This morning I worked on our list of plants for our plant walk tomorrow.  Lauren mowed the grounds at headquarters.  I was surprised when  I realized how many plants we have identified.  We have learned a lot in the last few months.

This wasn't my only surprise of the day.  A walk on the trail at noon, revealed we had more work to do to get the trail ready for tomorrow.  Due to maintenance issues, we had to rearrange a lot of our plant markers.  Nothing like spending the hottest part of the day looking for plants.  After a few hours, we had it plant walk ready.

                                                  chopped all the plants that we had marked

Saturday
We had 5 people on our trail plant walk this morning.  We were pleased anyone showed up, after all it is hot and humid.

A 2 year old in the group had as much fun as anyone.  He was full throttle for about 2/3rds of the trail, then got hot and tired and wanted his water.  His face was as red as his hair by the time he got back to the VC.

After our plant walk, Lauren spent the rest of his morning, working on getting the movie going at the VC.  After much troubleshooting, he finally came up with the solution.

We got off at lunch time and went to eat at Tapatio's. They really have a good taco salad.

This afternoon, we met Judy and Terry at Golden Nugget for her pre birthday celebration.  There is some big money in this fishing tournament. We were very impressed with the yacht with a helicopter and boat sitting on top.  Somebody is rich!!

This fresh water catfish girl was amazed at how big these salt water fish are.  We stayed for about an hour, watching the weigh ins.  We got to see the Billfish winner, 796.9 pound Marlin.

Happy pre Birthday Hatchie!!

More pictures are here:

5-27-18 - 6-2-18 (Week 13)

Memorial Day Weekend
It was a beautiful and fun weekend at the Rez visiting our friends and watching people playing on the lake.  We made it back to Camp Refuge by noon and had a much needed relaxing afternoon.

                                                                    Rez Sunset

It's hard to believe we have been volunteers for Mississippi Sandhill Crane Wildlife Refuge for over 12 weeks.  Time flies when you are having fun!

On a sad note, Clem, the Visitor's Center snake, passed away last week.  R.I.P. Clem.

Tuesday
We shipped off our Canon camera today for repairs.  We will be without it for a few weeks, which means we won't be able to take pictures with the big lens for awhile.

We have had a lot of birds eating from the small bird feeder momma gave us years ago, so we added a tower bird feeder.  The birds circled in the trees, squawked, and looked at the tower feeder.  They are not brave enough to eat from it yet.  Unfortunately, the squirrels are not having a problem with it.

We were so excited to finally see our first colt today.  It was walking along the edge of the woods with his parents on Highway 57.  He or she is approximately a week old.  It's ironic to see the cranes on the side of a very busy highway when they have over 20,000 acres of refuge to roam.  And as luck would have it, our camera with the reach out there and get a good picture lens, was sent in for repairs this morning.  At least, we had our old side kick, Nikon point and shoot.

We walked the CL Dees Trail this afternoon and saw a fox squirrel in a nest and her mate nearby perched on a limb.  We will keep a watch out for their babies.   We are always finding something new to entertain us on this trail.

Wednesday
Only a few birds have been brave enough to eat from the new tower bird feeder.  The squirrels, on the other hand, are climbing the pole and eating from both of the bird feeders.  I sure hope they don't topple it all over.

We had 3 Pileated Woodpeckers come by for a visit this morning.  There must be some good vittles in these trees.

Our stroll on the CL Dees Trail was more exciting than usual this morning.  During our stroll, Lauren grabbed my arm to prevent me from stepping on a King snake.  I started jumping around and squealing when he grabbed me, although I did not see the snake until it slittered away in the deep grass. Needless to say, Lauren was very amused by my theatrics.

This afternoon, Lauren manufactured a squirrel deterrent by rigging up a platter around the pole of the bird feeder.  We will see how this turns out.

Thursday
Lauren's squirrel deterrent kept the squirrels from climbing the pole on the bird feeder but not from jumping from the limbs of the trees to the top of the feeder.   Lauren's new strategy was to move the feeders away from the trees.  This worked for a little while.

By afternoon, the squirrels figured out how to climb on the deterrent to get to their feast. Lauren is gonna have to step up the game if he is going to outsmart these critters.

Friday
Lauren made a special trip to Walmart to buy a slinky which he hung around the pole of the bird feeder.  We sat outside for hours watching, there were no squirrels in sight.

More and more birds are getting use to the tower feeder and are starting to eat from it.  At least today, while the squirrels are away.

Saturday
We wrapped up this slow week at the Visitor's Center.  We were going home today to mow the yard, but decided it would be more fun to go on the Crane Whisperer Tour in the morning.

The pictures are here:

                                                            Hummingbirds too!!!!!

5-20-18 -5-26-18 (Week 12)

Sunday
We got a late start for our Crane Whisperer Tour this morning.  We left at 9 am on this hot, humid morning.  The recently burned savanna on Brown's Trail was breathtaking with the beautiful colors of all the different species of plants.

We only saw 5 cranes today and a few other birds which is a lot less than our usual sightings.  We contribute the less sightings to sleeping in, hot weather, and the distraction of the colorful savanna.

We spent the afternoon clearing brush at Camp Refuge for a better view of the bayou.

We have a smart critter that has been frequenting our storage compartment in the camper.  Lauren's attempt to catch it in the mouse traps have been unsuccessful.  Whatever it is, eats the peanut butter and never gets caught.  Lauren stepped up the game today adding a rat trap, and 4 glue traps.  Hopefully, this we get him out of our compartment.

Refuge Pictures:

Monday
Lauren's effort for the critter catching were unsuccessful last night.  This critter is very talented, he must have Houdini genes.

We put up a hummingbird feeder a couple of months ago.  We moved it to different locations hoping to lure the birds in.  We saw a few fly around in the trees, but never feeding at the feeder, until this morning.  Clearing the brush must have been the ticket.

Tuesday
We got to meet the endangered Dusky Gopher Frogs this morning.  We have watched them grow from tadpoles to frogs in the last couple of months.  They are on the top 100 endangered species in the world.

Some of them were being processed for release in the refuge in the conference room.  They are about the size of a tree frog, and very active if they get a chance to get away from the handler.  Lauren actually was brave enough to weigh and measure one and not lose him.

Anita came over to spend the night with us.  We enjoyed our stroll on the CL Dees trail before lunch.

After lunch, Anita, Lauren, and I helped Angie and the interns check the 150 frog traps.  It was a rather busy afternoon, checking the traps, releasing the tadpoles, removing the frogs, placing the frogs in individual containers, and labeling each container.

                                          Back in the tank, grow some before being released

I have never touched a frog until today.  One of the frogs jumped out of the container Lauren was placing him in and was swimming around in the tank.  I swooped him up in my hand and got him in the container.  I will always have a claim of fame that my first frog catching was one of the rarest amphibians in the United States.  I am becoming a brave nature chaser.

We sat around Camp Refuge this afternoon, watched the birds feed at the feeders, and had a great visit with Anita.

Wednesday
Lauren and I worked the VC today.  Anita hung out with us until after lunch.  Lauren went to the Ocean Springs unit of the refuge to take pictures of the purple bladderworts while I manned the center.  We are really glad our investment in our camera is providing some really pretty pictures.

When we got off, we met Anita at Island View to spend the night with her.  We all had lost our quota for the night and made one last stop to try and recoup.  Lauren hit enough to cover our losses and Anita hit enough to cover most of hers.

We stopped and ate at the diner then went to the room and watched the rain fall.

Thursday
We had a beautiful sunrise when we got up at 6 am at Island View.  It's not very often that I get up early enough to see the sunrise.  We sat around and enjoyed our coffee before putting it in high gear to get to work on time.  We made it with plenty of time to spare.  We thoroughly enjoy spending time with Anita.

Melissa covered for Lauren, Pat, and I to go to lunch at The Shed for Matt's farewell lunch.  Matt has been an intern at the refuge since October and will be heading to Colorado to work with Raptors and Big Horn Sheep.  The guy is leaving at a good time considering summer and the hurricane season is upon us. We wish him all the best.

Lauren still has been unsuccessful catching the critter in the camper compartment.  He added more traps to his collection in hopes of outsmarting this critter.

Friday
Lauren and I worked the VC.  It was a rather slow day, but we enjoyed the few people that stopped to visit us.

Saturday
We took the day off to go and spend a couple of nights with Rick and Jerri for the Memorial Day Weekend.

The week of pictures:

Memorial Weekend at Timberlake: