2-17-19 - 2-23-19 (Week 51)

Sunday
We got back to Camp Refuge around lunch time.  We walked the CL Dees Trail and put out plant markers for the newly budding and blooming plants.  Thank goodness spring is near.

We heard the elusive sound of adult Sandhill Cranes in the HQ savanna.  4 Sandhill Cranes had gathered outside the pen near Banana, Coconut, and Crab Apple  One of the 4 outside the pen was Plantain.  She is from the first batch of Cranes released from this pen.  It is great she brings her friends over for a visit.

We noticed that Crab Apple no longer has a leg band transmitter, wonder what happened to it.

We took a ride to check on the Eagles.  Right before we got to the BW nest, 4 sandhill cranes did a fly over.

The twins on Ben Williams nest and the nestling on Beasley were alert and watching us. No parents were in sight.  We also saw a sub adult Eagle and a Coopers Hawk.

The recently burn is beginning to green up.  Hopefully, we will see colorful blooms before too long.

Monday
We got caught up on crane reports for yesterday and the 2 tours from last Wednesday.  We made a quick stop at Island View to play our free play then went to help Charlie change tires on their camper.  We will move it to Camp Refuge tomorrow.

Tuesday
We left Camp Refuge, went to Saucier, got the Loew's camper, and was back and had it set up in 2 hours.  The rest of the day was a rainy day.  Got our Walmart run in, propane tanks filled, and haircuts.

Wednesday
We took a ride with the Loew's and Sally to check on the Eagle nestlings.  We only saw one of the nestlings at Ben Williams and one of the parents, until the other parent showed up with lunch followed by a sub adult.  The sub adult didn't stay around very long.

BB, aka Beasley beast, was hunkered down in the nest.  One of the parents was nearby in the top of a dead tree.

A walk on the CL Dees Trail and Crane Lane was welcomed considering it was suppose to be a wash out today.

We sat under the awning and watched 100's of Robins, plenty of Red Wing Black Birds, Cardinals, and Doves.  It looked and sounded like a movie clip of The Birds at Camp Refuge.

Thursday
We had a full tour of 8 tourist on our 1 pm Crane Tour.  We had 29 Sandhill Crane sightings.  The first 3 cranes we saw were just a few yards off the road, and posed for our pictures.  It is very unusual for them to stay around that long.

You know it's been a good tour when one of the tourist believes he saw so many Cranes today that they need to be taken off the endangered species list.

The Eaglets were not cooperative today.  Goober and Georgia were huddled in the nest, teasing us with movement of their wings, but no heads popping up.  We could barely see BB's head, (Beasley Beast) on the other nest.  One of the parents was nearby, and allowed us to adore her majestic beautify for a bit.

Friday
We had another full tour of 8 tourist on our 1 pm Crane Tour.  One of the couples had been here 6 times.  They had never been able to catch a tour, had tried driving around to see the cranes, but had never seen a Mississippi Sandhill Crane.  No pressure, they were able to view the 3 in the temporary pen at HQ through a spotting scoped before our departure.

We had 11 Sandhill Crane sightings on this cloudy, misty day. They were all way far away in the savanna.  Lauren has been given a new nickname of Hawk-Eye.  The husband of the couple that had never seen cranes until today, called him this for his ability to spot cranes.

In addition to the cranes, we also saw Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, a Red-Tailed Hawk, and a Belted Kingfisher.

Saturday
It was a great turn out for the Double Feature at the refuge today.  We had a Birds and Botany trail walk with Mark LaSalle at Fountainebleu Trail and an Open House at the VC.

Mark LaSalle did a fantastic job leading the trail walk.  And as always, Mark and Lauren acted like a child in a candy store, oohing and aahing over the different species of plants.

The visitor's enjoyed viewing the Mississippi Sandhill Cranes through spotting scopes, looking at the Dusky Gopher Frog Tadpoles in the aquarium, the crane booth, the pelt station, and the refreshments.

We sat outside at Camp Refuge this afternoon with the Hall's and Jeff and had our own refreshments.


The week of pictures:

2-10-19 - 2-16-19 (Week 50)

Sunday
We did a special request tour of the refuge today with an avid birder and her son.  It was a cloudy, misty, dreary day for birding, which was not a very productive sighting day, except for the Bald Eagles.  We had a family feud on the Beasley nest and a great family portrait on the Ben Williams nest. The pictures do not do it justice.

After spending hours in the limited access Mississippi Sandhill Crane Wildlife Refuge behind the locked gates, we finally found some Mississippi Sandhill Cranes at the Coca Cola plant.  Then a few more mixed in with the Greater Sandhill Cranes at Bright's Pasture.

Monday
We had a program for 4 students and their instructor from Seminary High School,  As an added bonus, we had the 3 captive raised cranes to release in the temporary pen.

We showed the students the movie, Angie and the interns talked with them, and then we took them on a Refuge Tour.  It was a misty, rainy day.  After we returned, the group got to watch us with the release of the cranes.

We did all the banding and data recording inside HQ, because of rain, then walked them out to the temporary pen.

We got Cucumber back.  She is the one that had to go to Audubon for a leg injury.  The other two are Banana and Crab Apple.  Crab Apple is the only male.

Cucumber was the first out of the box.  She only needed a leg tracker and weight recorded.  She was pretty agile from being handled so much.

Banana was chosen as the next Crane to band, because she was less aggressive than Crab Apple.  She was pretty feisty and not as cooperative as Coconut.

Crab Apple was saved for last and was not as bad as I expected but did require injections prior to release to help him de stress.  It is so cool to look out the back door of HQ and observe Cranes in the pen.

We are having issues with the bird feed being poured out on the ground and something stealing the suet bars.  We found out what the varmints were tonight.  2 Raccoons are the culprits.  Between the birds, the squirrels, and the coons, the bird feed does not last long.

Tuesday
We worked the VC on this dreary, rainy day.  We had a few visitors.  The slow day enabled us to get a lot of paperwork caught up, (such as crane reports, plant markers made for trail, Oak Grove Trail brochure rough draft, etc.).

Wednesday
Our 8 am tour had 6 people with 6 Crane sightings.  They also enjoyed looking at the Bald Eagles and nestlings.

We were supposed to go out to lunch with Angie and Brian, that didn't happen.  Angie had a unexpected job project and we had an impromptu Crane tour, so we decided to go eat afterwards.  The crane tour was a success with 20 sandhill crane sightings and of course the majestic Bald Eagles.

We finally made it to Country Gentleman and had enjoyable linner at 5 pm.

Thursday
We helped Scott and the interns catch Crab Apple and Coconut to replace their trackers.  It appears there is a design flaw on the new trackers. Crab Apple began limping yesterday.

It went really smooth, we caught both of them, changed out the trackers, and released them in 14 minutes. Crab Apple is walking much better.

We made it to Crossroads about 3 pm today.  We have no doubt that Ferny Kat was ready for her road trip.  She really enjoyed staying outside all evening and wallowing in the pretty green grass in the driveway.

Lauren cranked up the tractor and bush hogged the field for a little bit.  It is way to wet to do any more.

Friday
We had a rather moist day today.  All for getting any more bush hogging done at Crossroads.  We made a lunch stop for a Zesto hot dog on our way to pick up Anita then went to Big Branch Marsh Wildlife Refuge.

The rain stopped long enough for a nice walk on the Boy Scouts board walk.  There were not nearly the waterfowl in this area as we saw the last time we were here.  It looks like that pesky invasive plant is taking over here.

We had a great visit with Carole and Roger then went back to Anita's to spend the night.   We had fried shrimp for supper, smores for desert, and a nice campfire when we got back.  Another great day!

Saturday
We lounged around at Anita's drinking our coffee and bird watching before heading back to Crossroads.  Ferny Kat wasn't really that upset with us for leaving her alone overnight.  Although, she did let me pick her up and pet her for a minute or two.

We washed the truck to get off the mildew then met Anita in the McDonald's parking lot headed to visit Janice and Bill.  Bella, their spoiled dog, was the center of attention.  After a nice visit, we headed back.  Anita realized she didn't have her phone right after we left Janice and Bill's.

A search of her vehicle was unproductive.  After she investigated further, she realized that her phone was at a house a few blocks away.  She notified the police, they went to the house, and they were unsuccessful at the recovery of her brand new I Phone 10.  Dang it!!

Weeks worth of pictures:

2-3-19 - 2-9-19 - (Week 49)

Sunday
We lazed around this morning, enjoying our coffee and watching the birds at the feeder.  We got a new resident, a Carolina Chickadee.

We started our Refuge tour in the South Gautier Unit on a mission to check out the recent controlled burns.

We saw 5 Sandhill Cranes near the burn on Beasley Road.  They did a little dancing way out in the savanna.

We could not detect if there was an Eaglet in the Beasley eagle nest, but there is no doubt about the Ben Williams nest.  We could see one of them really good, we named him Goober.  The other Eaglet's head was behind a limb. One of the parents was close by, perched on a limb.

We made a ride through the South Gautier Unit then to the Ocean Springs Unit. As we were driving up to the lake for our picnic lunch, we flushed a sub adult Bald Eagle from the water.  As we were eating our lunch, we had a flyover of a mature Bald Eagle. Nice picnic ambiance.

After 6 hours of puttering around, and seeing 9 Sandhill Cranes,  bunches of Red-tailed Hawks, a few American Kestrels, Deer, a Kingfisher, a Great Egret, a couple of Great Blue Herons, a couple of Pied-billed Grebes, a Pileated Woodpecker, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, several other bird species, an Opossum, and a Rat Snake, we made our way back to Camp Refuge.

We got a pizza and watched the super bowl outside while sitting around the propane fire pit, until half time.  We were more entertained by the commercials than the football game.

Monday
Our first scheduled 10 am Crane Tour was a success.  We had a really great group of 8 tourist and we saw 11 Sandhill Cranes.  All for that, your not going to see any Cranes unless you go at 8 am belief.

One of the Eaglet parents was soaring around on Beasley while the other parent was setting on the nest keeping her young warm and dry from the light rain.

We saw one of the Ben Williams Eaglet parents perched in a tree near the nest, but no Eaglet sightings.

We took a late afternoon stroll on the CL Dees Trail. The overlook is finished and looks fantastic.

Tuesday
We planned on helping with 3 captive reared Cranes from Audubon's release today which was cancelled at the last minute.  We had a cloudy, warm day with no plans, so we did a few chores and a little walking.  We saw more birds at Camp Refuge than on the trail.  The birds know they have it made at Camp Refuge.

It was warm enough today for short sleeves and short pants. Last week, we had a possibility of snow flurries. What a difference a week makes.

Wednesday
By the time we got to moving around this morning, it was time for lunch.  It stayed foggy for most of the day.

We have a few blooms on the CL Dees Trail that we put markers on.  While we were putting them out, an instructor picked up a Speckled King Snake for her college class to see.  Spring is in the air!

Late afternoon, we parked on Brown's Trail and walked 2.5 miles in the fog.  We saw 9 deer and a few plants we would have missed on a drive through.

Thursday
We made 2 trips to check on the Eaglets today.  One trip with the Loews and one with Pat.

Our first trip, we could never get a look at the Ben Williams Eaglets, but we got a show at the Beasley nest.

There is only one Eaglet on the Beasley, and he is almost grown.  His parents kept him hid for a while, but now he is getting too big to hide.  While we were admiring him, Momma started squawking as a sub-adult Eagle flew by.  It wasn't long, Daddy got back, when the sub-adult flew close the next time, Daddy took off after him.  After a 2nd chase, Daddy came back, sub-adult did not.  What a show!

We took a quick ride to Valentine Road and Briarcrest Pasture.  We saw 2 Sandhill Cranes as we were leaving the North Gautier Unit and 16 at Briarcrest Pasture.  We got our crane fix.

We made the 2nd Eagle trip with Pat. Both parents were near the nest and the Eaglet twins were visible this time.  They have grown a lot since Sunday.  The feathers on the back of their head remind me of George Washington's wig.

We saw the kid in the Beasley nest.  Mom was in the nest, and dad was in a nearby tree with dinner.

We got it made.  Where else can you spend your day off watching Eagles?

Friday
The Fire Center had a back pack qualifier this morning on Crane Lane.  The participants had to walk, not run, 3 miles in less than 45 minutes carrying a 45 pound backpack.  Lauren and I were the cheer leaders for Danny, Angie, and Scott who qualified with minutes to spare.

We had 8 people in our 10 am Crane Tour.  We saw a Buck as soon as we entered the North Gautier unit, but the Sandhill Cranes were in hiding.  I can't really blame them, it is a cold, windy, cloudy morning.

An hour later, we finally saw 7 Greater Sandhill Cranes in Bright's Pasture.  They were hunkered down in a low area, probably avoiding the cold wind.  They were very patient and photogenic for us.

The Eagles in the South Gautier unit put on another spectacular show today.  Both of the Eaglets were visible in the Ben Williams nest.  One of the parents arrived with a fish for dinner while we were watching. Lauren didn't get the picture, he was too busy setting up scopes and helping people find the eaglets.

We found 2 Mississippi Sandhill Cranes eating the roasted grub in the recently burned savanna on Beasley.  The Juvenile Eagle on the Beasley nest was easily seen sitting on a limb at the nest.  One of the parents was close by keeping on eye this fast growing baby.

Another great Crane Tour in the books.

Saturday
We got up moving to open the VC and take off on a Crane Tour with the one person that signed up yesterday for this 8 am tour.  She was a no show.  Around 8:20 am a woman came speeding in and we assumed it was our no show.  Well, everyone knows about assumptions, but she was more than happy to go on the tour, so away we went.  We saw 13 Sandhill Cranes and the adult and baby Eagles on their 2 nest..

When we returned to the VC, we had an impromptu Crane Tour of 6 tourist.  It was another great tour with 24 Sandhill Crane Sightings, the adult Eagles and their young in both nests, and a Snow Goose.  This lone Snow Goose was hanging with 10 Greater Sandhill Cranes in Bright's Pasture.  Quite an odd thing to see.

We had our 3rd Crane Tour for Pat and her friend Dorothy.  We saw 24 Sandhill Cranes, the Snow Goose still mingling with the Greater Sandhill Cranes, and the Adult and baby Eagles.  Afterwards, we went out to eat at Rosy's Mexican Restaurant. 

Whew! What a day!! We have played hard today and will sleep well tonight.


The Week of Pictures: