3-15-20 - 3-21-20 - Volunteer Gig II

We had an oops kind of moment this morning.  As we were putting the finishing touches on this weeks blog, it was accidentally deleted.  Oh well, stuff happens.  So, this is a much shorter, redo version.

Sunday morning, Ferny Kat was very considerate and let Lauren sleep until 7:30 after our busy, fantastic, fun, last week.  We did our mile walk on Crane Lane in slightly under 15 minutes then took a leisurely walk on the Dees Trail.  We found our first Pitcher Plant Mining Moths for this year.

Late afternoon, we heard the call of the Cranes and found Dikkop, Auk, and the Wild Child at the HQ feeder.  The Wild Child was bullying Auk.  Meanie!

Monday, we were supposed to have a 10 am Crane Safari for 2 people that were no shows.   By 11 am only 4 people had walked the trail and no one had darken the door of the VC.  We packed our picnic lunch and went out for trail patrols.

We picked up a lot of trash at the Oak Grove Trail, but very little on the Fountainebleu Trail.  We found a lot of pretty blooms, butterflies, dragonflies, and a pretty Blue-headed Vireo.

We picked up trash on the Browns Trail entrance.  We saw several Sandhill Cranes, a Great Blue Heron, and a very photogenic Fox Squirrel.

All Crane Tours for the rest of the month have been cancelled due to the Coronovirus.

Tuesday, Lauren showed the new volunteers around today while I manned the VC. We had a few more visitors walk in the VC today than yesterday.

One of our visitors spent several hours on the trail.  When she came back into the VC she showed us her sketch she did while sitting on the bench overlooking Bayou Castille.

Starting tomorrow, the VC will be manned by HQ staff due to Coronovirus.  We will be doing outdoor projects.

Wednesday, Happy Birthday to Me!!  We strolled around the Dees Trail then went to Pascagoula to shore bird watch.  Not much going on in the bird world today.  We did see a Pine Warbler gathering grass for his nest on the Dees Trail.

The afternoon was spent bird watching, grilling steaks, and eating ice cream and chocolate syrup for desert.  Another great birthday celebration!!

Thursday, we decided to get out and about today.  We went to DeSota National Forest and finally found the Chapman Butterworts that we have been looking for.  There were plenty of other pretty flowers there as well.

We had a great picnic lunch at the POW Camp pond while enjoying the neat plants, birds, butterflies, and dragon flies.

Friday, we planted 5 new plants in the native plant garden.  We pulled weeds and placed mulch on one side of the garden.  It sure does look good.

We went with Angie and the Interns to dip net Dusky Gopher Tadpoles.  We didn't have any luck, we'll regroup and attempt again on Monday.

We did a quick look at a crane nest.  Momma sure is sitting pretty on that nest while Daddy is watching from the bank.

We found out today that Coconut is a male instead of a female.  I have been trying to figure out why 2 females would be doing a Unison Call.  I finally asked Angie today and showed her the video we did a few weeks ago.  She consulted Scott.  After he watched the video several times, he said that Coconut is a male.  As the Crane World Turns!!

The VC is now officially closed until the Coronovirus subsides.

Saturday, Mary, Lauren, and I finished the other side of the Native Plant Garden.

We did a phenology walk with the Gulf Coast Phenology leader and will be checking the Dees Trail on a weekly basis.

This afternoon, we went to the North Gautier Unit to see if the Many Flowered Grass Pinks had bloomed. It was 5 weeks after the prescribed burn and they are suppose to bloom 6 weeks after a burn.  This is a plant Lauren has been wanting to see for a long time.  Lauren was hesitant about looking for them a week early.  He sure was glad he did.  We found 2 of them in the East Valentine Savanna.  This species is imperiled.  It is very rare in Mississippi.

It was very cool to get a picture of a bee visiting the flower while we were taking pictures.

 Here is pollination data from iNaturalist.
This species falsely lures bees with the promise of pollen, but it is not fulfilled. The beard of the flower is deceptive in that once the insect lands on it, the lip of the beard swings down, hinge-like, placing the insect’s head and back on the column thereby picking up pollinium load, or placing the pollinium on the stigma if the insect already carries a load on its back.[1]

The Sandhill Cranes were enjoying this beautiful afternoon.   We saw the White Oak group flying together over the savanna.

Jr. is still hanging with Mom and Dad.  All the other parents have kicked the kids out.  Coconut and Banana are still having duets together and are hanging near The Family.   We picked up Coconut's tracker from the middle of the road.

We had our first Eastern King bird sighting of the year.

The Great Blue Herons are actively nesting in a cypress tree in Valentine Pond.

We saw Jr. in the I 10 Crop Unit Eagle Nest and one of the parents in their favorite roost tree.  As we were walking in the savanna to get a closer look at the parent Eagle, we walked upon a North American Racer.

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3-8-20 - 3- 14-20 - Volunteer Gig II

Sunday we enjoyed spending time with Anita drinking our coffee this morning even though we lost an hour of sleep due to Daylight Savings time.  Not a problem, we were asleep before 9 pm last night.

Our first goal of the day was to complete a mile in less than 15 minutes.  We walked Crane Lane and made our goal with 28 seconds to spare.  Way to go Us!!

We made a nice stroll out in the savanna looking for Chapman Butterworts.  The grass was as tall as our heads in spots.  We didn't find any Butterworts, but we did find a few skeletons around the pond.  This is the same pond we found a Ms. Sandhill Crane remains near last year.  We have named this pond, Boneyard Pond.

We ate lunch, then headed to Fountainebleu for a leisurely walk.  We saw a few birds and a bunch of cool plants on this gorgeous day.

On the way to Fountainebleu, we slowed down and saw 2 Sandhill Cranes at the nest we found yesterday.  On the way back,we slowed down again and saw one of the cranes hunkered down in the water with 2 eggs shining in the sunlight on top of the nest.

We sat outside at camp with the Hathcocks before the evening started to cool off.  Another great day at the Refuge.  BTW, we got in over 7 miles of hiking today.

Monday Scott found 2 hatchlings with their parents today.  This is the earliest hatching of cranes on record at the refuge.

We worked at the VC today.  Our 10 am Crane Tour had a group of 9.  We had 17 Sandhill Crane sightings.  We only saw one of the adult Bald Eagles in a tree.  We could only see the top of the heads of both Eaglets in their nest.  The wind rocking the tree must have put them asleep.  This afternoon, we pulled signs off the Dees Trail getting ready for Spring blooms.

Monday night we went with Biology and the Ms. State group looking for Yellow Rails.  Last year when we did this, it was in December and the savanna had been burned earlier in the year.  This year, it was hot, the bugs were swarming our head lamps, and the grass was thick and above our waist.  We drug the rope with bottles filled with rocks for almost 2 hours in the North Gautier Unit then went to the South Gautier Unit for about 45 minutes.  At least when we got to the South Gautier Unit, it had been burned in the last year and was easier to walk.  After walking, and/or stumbling, 5 miles around in the savannas, we did not find the first Yellow Rail.

It was almost 11 pm when we got home.  I got a shower before Lauren did.  Lauren must have smelled pretty bad, cause Ferny Kat tried two different times to sit in his lap.  She would lick his leg and come sit with me.  It is very unusual for her to sit in my lap.

Tuesday we got to spend the morning banding the Eaglet at the I 10 Crop Unit.  The Eaglet was perched on a limb under the nest and both parents were above him.  Jared, from Ms State, and the bucket truck operator from Ms. Power went up and retrieved the baby.  Both parents flew above and called while the Eaglet was being handled.  After being admired for a bit, Lauren got to hold this big boy.  Lauren was hoping he didn't bite him, and he didn't.  He was very docile. Lauren may need to borrow Ferny Kat's Seresto collar to get the feather mites off of him.  Danny has now named Lauren, Big Feather.  Needless to say, mites and all, Lauren is one happy Volunteer!!

After we banded the Eagle, we went American Kestrel hunting with Biology and Ms. State.  The only one we found was flying away from us in the savanna.  It sure would have been cool to see this bird up close and personal.

Wednesday we worked at the VC and had a 9 am Crane Tour for a group of 8 with 21 Ms. Sandhill Crane sightings.  We saw the Eaglet standing in his nest looking over the savanna like he owned the place and one of the parents bring in a fish to the Beasley Eaglet.  It was a pretty busy day with 61 visitors at the VC.

Late afternoon, we heard the cranes calling.  On our way to see which cranes were at the VC, we saw Nemesis scurrying around under the oak trees.

Thursday we hiked the Escatawpa Trail looking for Orange Azaleas.  We barely found them before all the blooms were gone.

We also went to the South Gautier Unit to look at the Honeysuckle Azaleas.  They were in their prime bloom season.

We went to the North Gautier Unit to check on the beaver dam in Valentine Pond.  We were pleasantly surprised to see the 2 chicks with their parents when we entered the North Gautier Unit.  We also saw a Red-tailed Hawk flying low over them.  Thankfully, he didn't swoop down.

There were at least 20 Sandhill Cranes in the Valentine Savanna.  Banana and Coconut were near the road and not the least bit concerned by us.

Friday we did a Wally World run this morning.  We walked the Dees Trail this afternoon and placed plant markers on a few new blooms.  The Pitcher Plants are having more and more blooms.  The afternoon was spent sitting outside bird watching at camp.

Saturday we had a 9 am Crane Tour for a group of 4.  We had 21 Ms. Sandhill Crane sightings.  It took us 45 minutes to get to the Browns Crop Unit because of all the crane activity.  We had an unexpected sighting when we saw a crane nest in the pond near the road.

The South Gautier Unit was busy with Eagle activity. The I 10 crop unit nest had the Eaglet standing tall and proud with both parents nearby.  The Beasley Eaglet was standing in the nest when one parent flew in with lunch, while the other parent chased off a Juvenile Eagle.

We had an impromptu tour in the afternoon for a group of 11 from Clemson University Waterfowl Ecology and Management Class.  Dr. Rick Kaminski told us his students were the top of their class and our future conservationist.  We thoroughly enjoyed spending a few hours with these engaging, nature enthusiasts.  We had 15 Ms. Sandhill Crane sightings.  The group was excited to see Coconut and Banana about 20 feet from the van.  They also enjoyed viewing the Eaglets on the South Gautier Unit.  Afterwards, we joined the group for an early dinner at Bozos Too.  The perks of being volunteers here are awesome!!!

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Eagle Banding: