12-22-19 - 12-28-19 - Volunteer Gig II

Everyone is gone for the holidays at Camp Crane and the Bunk House except us. We finally took time to do laundry on this cloudy Sunday.  We were entertained by the Ms. Sandhill Cranes hanging near HQ. We walked the Dees Trail and saw lots of birds.  Late afternoon, we sat by the campfire.

Lauren did a Crane Tour on Monday and I manned the VC.  The tour was loaded with 10 tourist that saw 20 Ms. Sandhill Cranes.  We had quite a few folks stop by for a visit today.  Auk, Dikkop, NV11, & 337 hung around the VC for most of the day.  Out of the 33 visitors that stopped by, 29 were able to see Sandhill Cranes.  Loon has not been seen with Auk and Dikkop for a couple of days.
                         

We were off for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We hung around Camp Crane for Christmas Eve.  We saw plenty of birds on our leisurely walk on the Dees Trail.  We also saw our first Southern Coastal Violet of the season.  We wrapped up the day with a nice campfire.

We toured the refuge on Christmas Day.  We went with Angie in the morning to the North and South Gautier Unit.  After lunch, Lauren and I went to the Ocean Springs Unit.  We saw a total of 38 Sandhill Cranes and a lot of other bird species.  A great way to spend the day.  We had another nice campfire after we returned.

Thursday, we went birding at LaFrance Camp area then met Anita at Hollywood Casino for the night.  We all had free buffets and ate too much.  It didn't take long to lose our money and get back to our room.  On a sad note, Loon is confirmed to be a mortality and is somewhere in the marsh across from the boat dock at Camp Crane. 

Friday, we did shore birding then saw a few Sandhill Cranes on the way back to Camp Crane from the casino.  We sat outside with Ferny Kat most of the evening.  We had a new experience at Camp Crane tonight when the lights went out.  Luckily, the electricity was not out for very long.

Saturday, Lauren and I had a Crane Tour with 8 people.  We saw 16 Sandhill Cranes.  Search and Rescue Canine training went on for most of the morning.  We had a total of 82 visitors at the VC today.  Quite a busy day.

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12-15-19 - 12-21-19 - Volunteer Gig II

We started the week with a bang.  After sitting by the fire pit, cooking breakfast outside, and watching Ferny Kat prowl, Anita, Lauren, and I went on a 4 hour Nature Chaser Tour on the refuge.  We saw lots of pretty birds and plenty of Ms. Sandhill Cranes.

We were stopped for almost an hour watching 3 of the 6 recently released cranes first walking away from us on Brown's Trail then turning around and walking toward us.  Their gait got Anita and I singing, Hey Hey We're The Monkeys.  We wonder where the other 3 are???

We saw a total of 10 Ms. Sandhill Cranes, the Eagles nesting, an Armadillo, several other species of birds, and Nemesis.

Late afternoon, we continued enjoying the day with a nice campfire.

Monday morning, we found out Merlin, one of the captive cranes didn't make it.  A coyote mortality.  We worked the VC with Judy and Terry.  Lauren and I had an 11 am tour with 3 tourist.  A very intriguing 90 year old woman, her daughter, and her son-in-law.  We only saw 2 Ms. Sandhill Cranes, Dougie and his mate, but what a show.  Dougie and his partner flapped their wings, then Dougie showed off his graceful dancing skills.  Such a beautiful sight.

The Eagles are still sitting on both nest.  We finally saw the other parent Eagle sitting in his favorite dead tree near the nest at Ben Williams crop unit.  We also saw 3 juvenile eagles in the South Gautier Unit.

Tuesday we worked the VC with Judy and Terry.  We assisted biology with the release of the captive reared cranes at the HQ savanna, along with staff from Fire, Bon Secour, and the National Forest.  The 3 captive reared walked out and flew right over the VC HQ.  It was another fabulous release.  Catherine and Danny got quite a show watching from the blind at the VC.

Wednesday Lauren did a tour while I covered the VC.  He only had 1 person on the tour and they saw 5 Ms. Sandhill Cranes, and of course the Eagles nesting.

Thursday, we weren't scheduled for the VC.  We walked the Dees Trail and took brochures to the Ms. Welcome Center.

Friday, we got news of another mortality, Pipit. He may have been a victim of a Great Horned Owl.
We assisted biology with the Christmas Bird Count.  We tromped around in the wet pine savannas flushing grass birds then drove the refuge roads looking for them.  It was a lot of fun and a lot of exercise.  If we hung with biology on a regular basis, we would be in much better shape.

I found a cool Black Racer snake shed.  There was a time I would have screamed and run.  Today I picked it up and gave it to Carol for use at the VC.

We got the van stuck when we turned around at the Spray Fields, (and Lauren was not driving).  After using our MacGyver skills, we were able to get the van out of the bog and continued with our count.

Friday night we heard a weird chirping as we were sitting around the campfire.  It was the 3 recently released flying over the bayou.  We heard 2 of them splash in the bayou, then rustling around in the thicket.  After a few minutes, 2 of the 3 flew back the way they came.  These crazy birds.

Saturday, we wrapped up the week going to Erica's house for an awesome Williams Christmas get together.

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HQ Release Pictures:

12-8-19 - 12-14-19 Volunteer Gig II

Sunday, we lounged around this morning watching the squirrels eating feed at our bird feeders.  We forgot to bring the cone to keep them off the feeder.  Needless to say, we didn't see any birds on it today.

We went on the Dees Trail with the wagon and reorganized the plant markers.  We haven't seen Banana and Coconut in a couple of days, but NV11 and 337 are hanging around.

Monday we worked with Judy and Terry at the visitors center. It was a very slow day.

Tuesday, we got to witness the most magnificent crane release ever!!  (That's my story and I'm sticking to it 😉).  Judy, Terry, and I assisted biology with herding the cranes out of the gate of the North Gautier pen.  Lauren took pictures.  These are the cranes from White Oaks that have a lot of spunk to them.  They walked out the gate and flew straight up.  It was an awesome sight to see.

Late afternoon, Lauren and I went to the blind overlooking the pond that the cranes were released from to see if they would come back to roost.  We only had one crane roost in the pond, Delores.  He silently flew in, walked around, ate some feed, then waded around through deep water to a shallow spot.  I guess Sandhill Cranes are like humans, they have to find the perfect spot to rest.

Wednesday, we had an 8 am Crane Tour with 3 tourist.  The tour started out with a bang, seeing 3 Ms. Sandhill Cranes on the right and 3 Ms. Sandhill Cranes on the left as we entered Brown's Trail.  We saw a total of 18 Sandhill Cranes, the Eagles sitting on both nest, several other species of birds, and deer.

Thursday, we spent the afternoon working on Crane Fest stuff.  While we were walking on the Dees Trail, we met a lady that asked questions about the plants.  She is a marine biologist and has a whale watching business in Oregon.  She encouraged us to come see her for a fabulous tour.  We may just take her up on that.

Friday, we spent the day getting ready for the Crane Fest.  We barely got the tables and tents set up before it started raining.  We got an impromptu bat presentation from Vicky the Bat Lady.

Saturday, the Crane Fest was a success!!  We had 2 native plant walks and worked the booth.  Our first plant walk had 2 people.  The second plant walk had 25 people.  5 of these were energetic Boy Scouts.  Needless to say, we only finished with about half the people we started with. 

                                                      Whew, Crane Fest is over!!!!!

The first 14 days of Gig II has been extremely busy getting ready for Crane Fest, now it's time to slow the pace and get back to the easy life!!




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