12-1-19 to 12-7-19 Volunteer Gig II

We are back at our gig!!  We set up at Camp Crane on Sunday.  Ferny Kat slept all the way here.  She must have been resting up, cause when we turned into Crane Lane, she got up and started meowing.  She was out and about at our campsite as soon as we would let her.  Everybody is happy to be back.

After we got the camper set up, we checked out the new observation blind and the CL Dees Trail.

As we were sitting outside watching the twinkling of lights on the cedar tree we decorated, we heard the cranes calling as they were flying in for their roost.  We sure have missed that elusive sound.

Monday, Judy and Terry moved in to Camp Crane.  It's nice to have our long time friends be co-volunteers and camping neighbors in our gated community.

Tuesday, we gave Judy and Terry an orientation drive.  We went to Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge and to the South Gautier Unit. We saw 20 Ms. Sandhill Cranes, 4 Bald Eagles, and a Merlin.  The 3 juvenile eagles we saw near the Ben Williams crop unit were flying around.  We were able to see that one of them had a green band on his right leg.  We are pretty sure it is Goober.

The eagle nest on Ben Williams had a bald eagle sitting on the nest.  We think we saw an eagle sitting on the Beasley nest.  We will keep an eagle eye on them.

Wednesday, we did our first Crane Tour.  We had 2 tourist and Terry.  We saw 9 Sandhill Cranes, a Pied-billed Grebe, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker,  and an American Kestrel.  We confirmed that both Bald Eagle nest had an eagle sitting in them.  We reported the eagle sightings to Angie and Scott.  We were the first to report sightings of Goober and the Eagle's nesting.

Thursday, is our first official day to work at the visitor's center for Gig II.  We had about 40 fire fighters in fire training at HQ and 21 visitors. A pretty busy day.  We were a little bit rusty but managed to pull it off.  Biology reported that Coconut and Banana have relocated to another area.  This is so disappointing.

Banana and Coconut greeted us at the intersection of Crane Lane and Camp Crane Drive on our walk to work Friday morning. It is so good to see them back.  They hung around headquarters most of the day.

We had a special visitor today, Elf on the Bayou.  He got his picture taken with Banana and Coconut in the background that will be used for the 12 days of Elf-mas contest on the city of Gautier Facebook.  The girls are becoming more and more famous.

Angie found the 1st ever, adult Dusky Gopher Frog, today near the ephemeral pond.  Looks like all the hard work of their recovery is beginning to pay off.

Around roost time, we heard the elusive sound and found 4 Mississippi Sandhill Cranes in the back yard of the VC, (Banana, Coconut, NV11 & 337).

Lauren went on a Crane Tour without me on Saturday.   Terry rode with Lauren and opened the gates.  Judy worked with me at the VC.  If we have to break up Team McLaurin in our volunteer duties, it's great to have friends that are willing to step in.

The Crane Tour was a success.  They saw 10 Sandhill Cranes, 2 Deer, Great Egrets, Blue Herons, American Kestrels, and Bald Eagles.  I was very envious when I heard the group talking about their fantastic tour.  (Poor, poor, pitiful, me😢)

The birds have finally found our bird feeders that have been out since Sunday.  We had Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Thrashers on the feeders this morning and a Towhee feeding on the ground.  It was quite a contrast of colors.

After we closed the VC, Lauren and I took a walk on Crane Lane on this cool, cloudy, day without cameras and binoculars.  We saw an exhausted Buck running in the savanna.  He stopped before crossing the road, saw us, and turned back to the savanna.  Lauren had his phone camera ready for the shot, but hit the wrong button.  He did get a picture of him after he ran back into the savanna.  Next time we will make sure we bring cameras and binoculars.

Our first week of Gig II was very busy, but quite enjoyable!!


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10-4-19 - 10-8-19 (Day 72 - 75 - Wally Docking/Timberlake/Home)

10-4-19 - Friday
We traveled 336 miles to Pine Bluff, Arkansas.  Or as the radio announcer in Kansas pronounces the word Arkansas as in the Arkansas River, "R Kansas."

Ferny Kat slept on her box in the back seat until we got to Little Rock.  She got back on her co-pilot duties when we got in all the traffic.

We are Wally Docking tonight.  We had a couple of destinations that were about 2 hours less travel time that didn't work out.  Luckily for us, it is cool tonight.  The temperature is in the mid 70's dropping to the 60's by morning.

This is one busy Walmart.  The traffic going by the camper is like a freeway.  There is a lot of engines racing and boom boxes booming.  We have definitely left the laid back West.

Ferny Kat was entertained by all the traffic whizzing by the camper door, then called it a night.

10-5-19 - Saturday
We got up around 6:30 this morning when the traffic picked up.  At least, it kinda slowed during the night letting us get some sleep.

We had a short travel day of 223 miles to Timberlake Campground.  It is great to be back with our long time friends.  This is like a second home to us.

10-6-19 - 10-7-19 - Sunday and Monday
We spent the days at Timberlake visiting with our friends.

10-8-19 - Tuesday
                                                                      Home!!!!

We were gone 75 days.  We traveled 6,306 miles in the truck and used 572 gallons of fuel.  We traveled 2,774 miles on Amber.  We took 4,273 pictures.  I added 139 new species and 212 more observations to iNaturalist.  Lauren added 247 new species and 639 more observations to iNaturalist.  Our average camping per night was $6.33 a night. Another great time for us nature chasers!

Pictures:

10-3-19 - (Day 71 - Quapaw Casino)

We are getting a little closer to home after traveling 267 miles on this cool, rainy day.

We have another free campsite at Quapaw Casino which is barely across the Oklahoma State Line with water and electric hookups.  We got here, got registered, and grilled some chicken.

We grilled chicken on the opposite side of the camper that was out of the wind with pretty grass.  We thought Ferny Kat would love this place.  We were wrong.  This is not a Ferny Kat approved campground.

We went to the casino and ordered a couple of beers that cost $4.50.  We are definitely not in South Mississippi where the drinks are free.

We left the casino with more money than we went in with.  We are happy campers with our free campsite and a little jingle in our pockets..


Pictures:

10-2-19 - (Day 70 - Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area/Quivira NWR)

It was a dreary, rainy, day with the temps in the mid 50's.  Another day of riding in the truck.  Although, the dirt roads we traveled on are not for the Asphalt Queen.

We checked out Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area.  It has an auto tour around the marsh and lakes.  It had an abundance of Coots and Great Blue Herons, as well as a lot of other shore birds.

We went back to Quivira NWR to check out the prairie dog town looking for badgers and burrowing owls.  We found plenty of prairie dogs, but no badgers or owls.  At least the little fellows didn't have to worry about being badger dinner while we were there.

We went back through the Quivira Wildlife Auto tour and saw some of the same birds that we saw yesterday, along with a Bobwhite and a Pheasant that we didn't see yesterday.

The American Kestrels were plentiful today.

We made a stop in town to fuel up and plan to make another southeastern relocation tomorrow.


Pictures:

10-1-19 - (Day 69 - Quivira National Wildlife Refuge)

We spent 4 hours riding around in Quivira National Wildlife Refuge looking at the salt marshes on this windy, cloudy day.  Salt marshes are not something you think would be located in Kansas.

We got a lot of good information from the law officer at the visitor's center then walked the Prairie/Birdhouse Trail. There were 100's of Monarch Butterflies and other butterflies as well as grasshoppers on this short 1/4 mile trail.  It was a very enjoyable walk.

We went to the observation deck and photo blind at the Little Salt Marsh.  There were hundreds of shorebirds here, including White Pelicans and Avocets. 

We continued on the dirt, sandy, roads on the 14 mile auto tour to the Big Marsh using our 4 wheel drive at times.  We saw at least 40 different species of birds.  The bird activity here reminds us of the Seaman Lagoons.

The rain started so we skipped the Prairie Dog Town to look for badgers.  We will stay another night and check that out tomorrow.

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9-30-19 - (Day 68 - Lyons, Kansas)

We moved 310 miles in a southeasterly direction.  We are camping at the Lyons Overnight Trailer Park in Lyons, Kansas.  It is another free campsite with electric hookups.  We have access to a dump station, water spigots, and restrooms with showers.  We are living it up!!

We are parked next to the playground.  There are lots of trees with lots of birds.  This is a really nice place.

After traveling 6 hours to get here, we did pretty much nothing this afternoon; other than hit the shower.  We sat outside listening to bunches of birds in the howling wind.  I do believe, this is Ferny Kat's favorite campsite this trip.

We plan to stay here a couple of nights and check out the wildlife refuge.  There is a 90% chance of rain tomorrow so we have left Amber in the garage.


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