Crane Ranch - 4-9-23 - 4-15-23

The Easter cold snap was right on cue.  We started out Sunday morning with clouds, wind, and the temps in the 50's.  After lounging around for a bit, we went on an Orchid Safari in the Ocean Springs Unit.  We were hoping to find a new location for the Calopogon multiforus.  We found a lot of pretties, but not the ones we were focusing on.

We were definitely in a wet pine savanna, which is not the habitat for these rare beauties.  We sloshed around until we found higher ground, but never found any of the Imperiled Orchids we were looking for.  Oh well, we got a good workout and a lot of photo ops of other pretties along the way.

We saw a bunch of cranes, a Northern Harrier, deer, and a couple of turkeys.  That ole' Gobbler strutted his stuff!

We made a stop at the Gautier Pen on the way back in the hopes of getting a good photo op of the chick.  We saw the family across the way, but a little too far off for a good photo.

While we were hanging in the blind waiting for the Jabba family to get closer, we saw all kinds of birds, including our first of the year Red-headed Woodpecker.

 

We made it back to Camp Crane and in for the night.  This tromping around in the wet pine savanna in the cold wind has these two old coots tired.

Sunday Pics:

I was awakened by the elusive unison call of the sandhill cranes on Monday morning around 6:30 am.  I went back to sleep with a smile on my face, then woke up at 8 am.  After I got up, I realized Lauren slept until 7:30 am.  Both of us must have needed extra rest after our tromping around in the wet pine savanna yesterday.

We made a Wally World run then got to work, washing the mud off the visitor services truck and attempting to repair the lawnmower.  The truck looks much better.  The lawnmower will need more parts before it can be repaired.  

We waited for last years cohorts to leave the HQ feeder so we could check it.  When they left, there was only a few pieces of corn left.  We cleaned and refilled the feeder, they were back with their friends in just a bit.  These cranes love that yellow gold.

We found a few more new blooms of the season when we walked the Dees Trail.  Spring is definitely here!

While resting at Camp Crane, we watched a male and female Ruby-throated hummingbird at the feeder, (along with a few bees).  It is not often that we see 2 of them perched at the feeder together.  Maybe there will be babies before long.

Monday Pics:

Tuesday, we walked around with Robin, Jackie, and Bill, the new maintenance guy, and showed them around Camp Crane and the Fire Center.  We took Bill on a tour of Grand Bay Shop and the Gautier Units.  We just happened to see a few cranes while we were out and about.

This afternoon, we met Anita at Island View for a couple of nights.  We walked to Kelly's Bar and Grill and had tasty appetizers for our meal.  We gambled for a bit then returned to our adjoining rooms.  These adjoining rooms are about as good as a suite.

Tuesday Pics:

Wednesday, after our good buffet breakfast, Anita, Lauren, and I went riding.  We rode to Silver Slipper then back to Jones Park. It has been a long time since we have been shore birding.

We saw all kinds of cool birds while we were out and about.

We made another donation to the casino before grabbing our grub and going to the room for the night.

Wednesday Pics:  

Thursday morning, I had $150 of free play on my account.  I tied with 6 other people in the Old Folks slot tournament yesterday.  I will be back in a few weeks and try my luck with that.

We weren't scheduled for the visitor center until afternoon.  We were back and working by 10 a.m.  We spent the day piddling around and talking to a few folks that stopped by.  It was a no picture taking kind of day.

Friday, we helped Theresa place an artificial nest platform in the North Gautier Unit in the hopes that Thriller and Adelaide would use it.  Their first nest of the season had been predated and it was time for them to renest.  We put on our hip waders and checked the area for their new nest.  We found where they were starting a new nest, so we placed that nest on the top of the platform.  It is a long shot, but we are  hoping they will use this nest due to the history of flooding in the area.  It would have been great to have been able to watch them when they saw the nest contraption.

When we returned to HQ, Scott asked us to go with them and check the Martin's artificial nest platform that we had placed a few weeks ago.  We ditched the hip waders for our rubber boots.  They had not used the platform, so we searched over an hour looking for their nest.  We were in the deep of the swamp looking for the nest, with water going over the top of our boots on a regular basis.  We did see a crane leave from the drain, but never found the nest.  Dang it!

We also found a fishing pole that someone had left on the side of the road when we entered the unit.  They won't be using that fishing pole anymore. 

While we were nest searching, we came upon a crane nest marker.  It was a pipe with a dog tag that had the year and nest number stamped on it.  Things sure have changed in the last 20 years.

We returned to HQ and got some pictures of the HQ Gang feasting on their corn and pictures of the DGF tadpoles.  It won't be long until the tadpoles turn into frogs and let loose.

Friday Pics:

Saturday, 4 of the 6 people, (2 no shows) that were scheduled for the crane safari had a nice tour.  We saw plenty of cranes and other critters.

   

The flooding rain started this afternoon.  After the rain, we had our first, (and second), Rose-breasted Grosbeak sighting at Camp Crane.  Such a pretty bird.

Saturday Pics:

Crane Ranch - 4-2-23 - 4-8-23

The week started out good.  We had 5 cranes walking through the savanna enroute to the HQ feeder.

We took advantage of this cloudy morning with no one on the Dees Trail to explore.  We were not disappointed.  We heard and saw all kinds of birds.  One of them was a singing Common Yellowthroat.

We also found a lot of other pretties along the way.

By the time we left the trail, there was one after another pulling in the parking lot.  We took a leisurely walk along Crane Lane enjoying a lot more birds, including Cedar Waxwings.  The birds are very vocal today.

We got back and processed all the pictures while being serenaded by several different species of birds.  Spring is definitely in the air.

After lunch, we took off again.  This time we headed to the Fontainebleau Trail where we heard a lot more birds singing and saw a lot more pretties along the way. 

We made it back to camp this afternoon and did a little bit of arm chair birding before calling it a night.

Sunday Pics:

Monday, we got ole' Billy Goat out and blew off the debris on Crane Lane and our campsite.  The cranes in the backyard were not bothered by us doing this.  On the other hand, they were bothered by someone that had a dog on a leash a good distance away from them.  The cranes were squawking and jumping and came within a few feet of the dog while the dog sat there and watched.  They obviously think they own this place.

We took a ride to check out a couple of prescribed burns that happened over the weekend.  We found one of the Eagle babies perched in a nearby tree.  They have definitely fledged.

While we were out, we found our first Tuberous Grasspink.  Always, a pretty find.

We were surprised to find an American Kestrel still hanging around Ben Williams pen.

We came back and relaxed at Camp Crane.

Monday Pics:

Tuesday, the Interns brought the bownet in, in pieces.  It came apart as they were trapping cranes this morning.  Lauren and them worked on putting it back together.  The bownet has caught 11 cranes in the last year.  I guess after a while, it needs a little bit of maintenance.

The afternoon, we went to The Reef and had a great linner sitting outside watching the waves roll in on this cool, windy day.

When we returned, the Fire Center had a prescribed burn across the bayou from Camp Crane.  These guys don't waste no time.

Wednesday, we did a little bit of piddling on sign projects.  

Thursday, was another sign project day.  We loped, sawed, pulled, pounded, and maybe said a curse word or two, but we got 23 boundary signs replaced along Gautier Vancleave Road.  We had 5 more to go when we called it quits.  Changing the signs sounds easy, until you realize the work that goes into clearing the brush and straightening the posts.

While we were clearing, we watched a American Racer climb a tree.  I sure am glad he is not climbing on the trees that we have been clearing.

Thursday Pics:

Friday, the 5 signs that we had left to replace, turned into double that.  When you start looking you find more signs that are covered with tree growth.  We now have replaced the signs from Crane Lane to Rock Hill on both sides of the road.

  

We went on a much needed R&R to the Gautier Pen to take pictures the Jabba family with their newly hatched chick.  They stayed too far out and in the tall grass to get good pictures, but it was definitely relaxing to watch.

On our way in, we saw a Killdeer doing that fake broke wing thing.  We saw it's nest on the edge of the road and placed a traffic cone so it won't get run over by a vehicle.  It is amazing that they did a prescribed burn yesterday in the unit with all that heavy traffic and it survived.

As we were climbing the stairs going into the blind, we flushed a Dove that was sitting on it's nest.  Nesting season is here.

Jabba's mate was off chasing other cranes when we drove by the crop unit.  He flew in, then he and Jabba did a beautiful unison call. 

 

Friday Pics:

Saturday was a Happy Birthday for Lauren.  The day started out wet, but by noon, the rain was gone.  We went to check on the Beasley Eagles and found both of them perched in a dead tree, then watched both of them fly away. 

We thought this was a good birthday celebration until found the most Calopogon multiflorus that we have ever seen in one location.  Right off of Ben Williams Road in a 3 1/2 week old burn, there were over 70 plants adorning the savanna.  Awesome!!

We found some more pretties in the bog below the pen.

A North Gautier drive through found Banana and Coconut at Brown's Trail crop unit waiting to wish Lauren a happy birthday.

Saturday Pics:

Crane Ranch - 3-26-23 - 4-1-23

Sunday, Lauren observed one of the cranes on top of the netted pen with his legs hanging through.  By the time he got a scope to get a closer look, the crane flew off.  Which is much better than having to get a ladder and get him out.

We went to the North Gautier Unit on this hot humid morning looking for orchids.  We only found one Rose Pagonia before the rain started.

We saw several cranes and a Northern Harrier along Valentine Road. 

We saw Mean Momma and her mate walking on the other side of Valentine Pond.  They have been nesting in this area.  We are optimistic that the nest has hatched and not been predated.  (We found out later that the nest was predated, dang it)

While we were at the South Gautier Unit we looked in the area that we found Many-flowered Grasspink blooms last week.  We did not find any new blooms.

It was a very enjoyable start to the week, seeing 27 sandhill cranes and a lot of other cool stuff.  It was also nice to relax and enjoy our refuge.  

Sunday Pics:

Monday was a nice, laid back, no picture kind of day.

We worked in the visitor center with the Linas on this rainy Tuesday.  We got a lot of organizing and decluttering done.  It was another no picture, kind of day.

Wednesday we had a Crane Tour for 4 people on this cloudy, cool day.  During the 3 1/2 hour tour, we had 18 crane sightings and plenty of other bird species.

Before we got to Valentine Road, Lauren stopped the van, and said "my oh my!" in response to seeing several Calopogon multiflorus plants.  This was one of many stops that we made to admire the pretties in the savanna.

We saw a lot of other cool stuff, including a Cottonmouth, our first Eastern Kingbird sightings of the year, and our first Solitary Sandpiper sighting on the refuge.

After the tour, we took Sami on a short ride through the North Gautier Unit then headed to the casino for a night of fun with Anita.

Wednesday Pics:

Thursday we made it back to camp after making a stop for breakfast and a Sams run.  We didn't win any money, (that we took home), but had a great time at the casino.

We spent the afternoon moving stuff around to get ready for flooring replacement at HQ.  We found out after the fact, that the flooring will be delayed for a few weeks.  It was another no picture taking, kind of day.

Friday morning 6 of the HQ gang and an unbanded were hanging around HQ.

While we were getting a few chores done, we saw a bunch of Cedar waxwings in the HQ savanna.

This afternoon we went on an orchid safari with Jake and Theresa.  We were hoping to find Calopogon multiflorus in a new location, the Coke Savanna.  

As we were driving out on Crane Lane, we stopped for an North American Racer that was crossing the road.  Theresa jumped out and grabbed it.  Needless to say, these Interns are into herpes.

On the way, we stopped and admired the Calopogon multiflorus that we found earlier in the week at the East Valentine Savanna.

We also found a frog skeleton.

We tromped around in the savanna for a couple of hours.  We found a lot of pretties, but not the rare ones that we were looking for.

We had several cranes around during our search, including our favorites, Banana and Coconut. 

 

A Swallow-tailed Kite did a fly over as we were walking back to the van.

We got back and relaxed at Camp Crane.  After all the walking, it was much needed.

Friday Pics:

Saturday morning we checked on the Beasley Eagle nest.  We only saw one of the babies.  It appears Bad Beak may have flown the coop.

We did not have the first crane show up for the 40 visitors that we had in the visitor center today.  After the thunderstorm, we sat outside and relaxed at Camp Crane.  We could hear the cranes calling late afternoon near the visitor center.

Saturday Pics: