6-17-18 - 6-23-18 (Week 16)

It is Sweet 16 Week of our Volunteer Gig!

We spent most of this week in Crossroads.  Lauren mowed the yard Sunday, and I got caught up on house chores.

We went exploring at Big Branch Marsh Wildlife Refuge on Monday.  We took a hike on two of the three hiking trails at Headquarters.  One of the trails was very woodsy.   In other words, snakey.  We saw 2 Cottonmouths on one of the short 1/2 mile trails.  Luckily, Lauren didn't tell me they were Cottonmouths until after the fact.  I'm sure I would not have been brave enough to walk on the slippery rock-way, a few feet from them, if I had known they were poisonous.

We left Big Branch Headquarters when we saw the dark clouds heading our way and went to Boy Scout Road and Boardwalk.   We sat in the jeep while it rained and ate our lunch while looking for endangered Red Cockaded Woodpeckers in the trees.  We saw one, but was unable to get a picture.

After the rain stopped, we walked the 1/2 mile long board walk. It was a nice, leisurely, walk over the marsh watching the Great Egrets, Juvenile Little Blue Herons, Green Herons, Snowy Egrets, Wood Ducks, Black Bellied Whistling Ducks, Nutrias, Turtles, and King Rails.

The nice, leisurely, pace changed when we got on the 2 mile Boy Scout Road.  It was a road cut through the forest with deer flies galore.  After swatting our way to the overlook, we swatted on back.  Bug repellent did not slow these mean flies down.
Big Branch pics:

We went to Anita's to spend the night with her.  We had a short visit with Nick, Hope, and Madison.  Jackie and Randy were there and we spent quite a while catching up.  We all enjoyed watching all the birds at Anita's bird feeders.  It was so good for all of us to be together.  Just like the good ole times.

We spent the next day, lounging around at Crossroads, before heading back to the Refuge on Wednesday.  Lauren rigged up a new squirrel deterrent out of some boat trailer fenders he had laying around the shop.  We sure hope this works, considering the amount of bird feed that has disappeared in the few days we were gone.

After work on Thursday, we watched a squirrel try to get around the fenders and climb up the pole to the bird feeders.  He would hang upside down, then fall to the ground.  There really isn't any reason for him to work so hard, considering the Blue Jay rakes out a bunch of seeds to the ground while he is picking out sunflower seeds.

Thursday night we got to release some of the endangered Dusky Gopher Frogs with Angie and the interns, (Kelly and Sarah).  We loaded up in the truck with our frogs and headed to the Ocean Springs Unit to a vernal pond. 

After we traveled down a bumpy, muddy, road, we made it to the vernal pond.  It was not holding water due to the lack of rain this spring.  We followed behind Angie, who was carrying a bucket and what looked like a trash picker upper inside the fence of the pond.

We thought we were going to pick up trash.  Wrong!  We were there to pick up snakes that were inside the fence.  They usually find one or two snakes.  Tonight, we found six snakes.  Three were Cottonmouths, two were Ribbon Snakes, and one was a Water Snake.

Sarah took the three nonvenomous snakes and walked them to another area to relocate them.  The three Cottonmouths were placed in a bucket and drove down the very bumpy, muddy, road a good ways away from the pond and released..

Finally, at dark, we had the 31 containers of frogs in place for their release.  We let them hop out, one by one, from their containers.  Lauren's frogs went pretty easily, my frogs had to be coached out of the container.  I don't blame them, after all the snakes we found.

This was way more exciting than we thought it would be.  We had no clue we were going snake hunting, we just thought we were releasing frogs.

The things that are done to protect North America's most endangered amphibian.  We will always have a claim of fame that we took part in it.  Not only Lauren and I, but Anita, when she helped with the catching of the frogs from the tadpole tanks last month.

After work Friday, we sat around and watched birds.  Our late night last night, (getting home about 9:30), had caught up with us.

We noticed Saturday morning, that we are having a lot more birds at the bird feeders, since Lauren's squirrel deterrent invention. We rearranged plant markers on the CL Dees Trail after work today and did some more bird watching.

Releasing Endangered Dusky Gopher Frogs during our 16th week of this Volunteer gig, just made it even sweeter!!

More pics:

6-10-18 - 6-17-18 (Week 15)

Sunday
We packed drinks and snacks and headed behind the locked gates of the refuge.  8 hours later, we pulled back into headquarters.

Our first stop was to admire the Purple Bladderworts that are blooming at the Ocean Springs Unit.  These carnivorous plants have beautiful tiny flowers growing above the water, that are really hard to photograph.  The pictures do not do them justice.

We found White Meadow Beauties that are not on the CL Dees Trail, as well as newly seeded Toothache Grass.  The CL Dees Trail did not have a prescribed burn this year and Toothache Grass only seeds after a burn.  We are still amazed by the beauty of the Savannah, especially after it is burned.

We went to a couple of the Ocean Springs Units, Sunplex Industrial Park, and then through Brown's Trail.

Baby Sunplex and his parents made it across Highway 57 and were foraging between the Mingledorff and Talon Buildings.  That colt sure has grown in just a few days.

We saw 4 deer, a raccoon, blue herons, great egrets, and 16 Sandhill Cranes.

We waited until late afternoon to walk the CL Dees Trail.  It was nice to watch Momma Osprey in her nest being attentive to her baby.

After our walk, we sat around camp and bird watched.  Not only are the seed feeders being frequented, our Hummingbird feeder is beginning to get a lot of attention.  Hummingbirds are one of the most amazing creatures to watch. 

Monday
We walked the CL Dees Trail this morning then went to De Soto National Forest this afternoon.  We were on a quest to find a Redcockaded Woodpecker that lives in this forest.  We saw plenty of holes in the trees, but no woodpeckers.  A flooding rain shortly after our arrival, may explained why we didn't see any..

The rain showers continued and hindered our outdoor activities at camp this afternoon.

Tuesday
We went on a new adventure to check out the beaches in Pascagoula.  The Pascagoula beaches are more of a fish friendly kind of shoreline.

We saw a lots of birds at the Port of Pascagoula.  The Yellow Crowned Night Heron and the Willet is my favorite picture of the day.

Riding around, we saw Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks paddling around under a bridge.

We made a stop at Beach Park, where the kids looked like they were really enjoying the splash pad.  We took a walk on the pier across from the park where a few people were enjoying the small swimming area.

We could see River Park as we crossed the bridge on Highway 90. After a little bit of exploring, we made our way there.  It had a nice fishing pier and kayak launch. The lightening in the horizon shortened our stay. It was another rainy afternoon on the coast.

Wednesday
We got ready and was on our way into the  VC today, when we found out we didn't need to work.  Nothing like a spur of the moment change in plans.  We were on a road trip by 9 am.  We wanted to go on Amber, but with 60% chance of thunderstorms, we went in the truck.

Our first stop was the Environmental Studies Center in Mobile, Alabama.  They have a lot of rescue animals that have disabilities that would make it  hard for them to survive in the wild.  It was a very nice habitat, full of all kinds of creatures.

After admiring the animals, we headed towards Dauphin Island for a picnic lunch.  We stopped on the way at Muddy Creek Wildlife Refuge for a 2 1/2 mile hike.  It was a very wooded and secluded trail with slippery footage on the boardwalks due to the damp conditions.  We saw a raccoon, a snake, and plenty of spiders and their webs during this hike.

We ate our picnic lunch at Bay Front Park, watching the numerous shorebirds.  We really enjoyed seeing the Snowy Egret but were unable to get a picture.

We toured the Island then headed home.  We were thinking, we should have road Amber, until about 20 minutes before we got home and got in flooding rain.  We made a wise decision.

Thursday
Pat and I worked in the VC.  Lauren mowed grass at Headquarters.  Another rainy evening, slowed down the bird watching.

We have been seeing a coon in the woods nearby.  This afternoon, being we were inside, he came and ate under the bird feeder.

Friday
Lauren spent the morning of this workday checking out things at Independence Storage Yard and Grand Bay while I manned the VC.

We are seeing more and more Hummingbirds at the feeder.  It is fun watching the Hummingbirds on the limbs of the trees grooming themselves after their nectar feast.

We saw our first male Red Throated Hummingbird drinking nectar today. He was gorgeous.

Saturday
We had a good flow of people today at the VC.  After closing, we decided to head to Crossroads for a few days. 

More pictures here:

6-3-18 - 6-9-18 (Week 14)

Sunday
We were headed out the gate at 6:30 this morning, excited to go on the Crane Whisperer Tour.  We were met with the calling of the cranes as we entered the refuge at Brown's Trail, then saw Sticky Bunz and several others.  Our count was up to 5 in just a few minutes.

Ole Sticky must have partied hard last night, he looked like heck.  He really needs to work on that grooming thing.

We had heard there were a couple of Mississippi Sandhill Cranes frequenting Highway 90.  We went to check it out and found 2 foraging in a field.

On our way to Firetower Road, we were so glad to see the colt with his parents foraging at the edge of the woods on Highway 57.

We had another fantastic day looking for cranes and other birds and enjoying the beauty of the refuge. 

We packed up and were leaving for home, when our new camper neighbors/co volunteers  arrived, Katie and Bruce.  They will be at the Refuge for the next couple months.

A look at the power lines on I 10 on our way home, revealed 2 more cranes.  Our total today is 17.  Not bad for a hot, humid, morning.

Monday
It didn't take Lauren long to get the grass cut at Crossroads.  Most of the grass was dead from the dry weather.  Crossroads has not got the frequent showers that Camp Refuge has.

Anita came over and spent the night.  It goes without saying, we have fun when we are together.

Tuesday
We made it back to Camp Refuge just in time for lunch.  We went to the Tiki Room.  It was very good food, reasonable priced, and a great atmosphere.  The rain this morning cooled the temperatures which allowed us to enjoy sitting outside at a table on the deck overlooking the water.

We put an empty can that had been holding bird feed in the camper compartment when we left, which attracted the critter.  Lauren has a new strategy to try to catch this varmint before he does some major damage. 

The slinky on the bird feeder pole has the squirrels slowed down, but they do make it up it occasionally for their feast.  I guess the birds will have to share.

We managed to get our trail walk in before the rain this afternoon.  We sat outside under the canopy watching the water soaked birds eat from the feeders until the rain ran us in. We had an awesome view of the sunset from the kitchen window.  Not bad for a couch view.

Wednesday
We walked the CL Dees Trail this morning waiting for the Canon camera to arrive and found some new blooms after that rain yesterday. We also found what must be a young Cardinal.  He was a pretty thing, even though he wasn't as vibrate as the adult males.

We loaded up the camera with the big lens and went to the Ocean Springs beach this afternoon.

On our way, we had to check on Baby Sunplex.  He was at the edge of the woods foraging with his parents across from Sunplex.  He has grown a lot in a week.  We sure were glad to see he is still around.

We sat on the beach for a couple of hours.  Lauren took lots of pictures of boats, birds, people, and things. It has been years since we sat on a beach.  Luckily, the beach umbrella was still in good working condition.

It is amazing the things you see on a beach.

We went back to Camp Refuge and enjoyed watching the birds feasting at the feeders.

Thursday
It was supposed to be a big work day at Escatawpa Trail today.  Instead it was Lauren and I.  Bruce worked at headquarters, Charlie is on vacation for a month, and Melissa is off on fire duty in Colorado.

It was a hot, stuffy, trail to work today.  We picked up limbs until we were heat exhausted and physically exhausted.  The bad part is after we were tired, we had to walk 3/4 mile back to the van.

But we are two tough old birds, it wasn't nothing that a shade, a snack, and a Powerade won't cure.

We sat around again this afternoon watching the birds feeding at the feeder.  We have a new pair of birds, a male and female House Finch.  They seem to enjoy sitting on Momma's bird feeder eating their grub.

Friday
This morning I worked on our list of plants for our plant walk tomorrow.  Lauren mowed the grounds at headquarters.  I was surprised when  I realized how many plants we have identified.  We have learned a lot in the last few months.

This wasn't my only surprise of the day.  A walk on the trail at noon, revealed we had more work to do to get the trail ready for tomorrow.  Due to maintenance issues, we had to rearrange a lot of our plant markers.  Nothing like spending the hottest part of the day looking for plants.  After a few hours, we had it plant walk ready.

                                                  chopped all the plants that we had marked

Saturday
We had 5 people on our trail plant walk this morning.  We were pleased anyone showed up, after all it is hot and humid.

A 2 year old in the group had as much fun as anyone.  He was full throttle for about 2/3rds of the trail, then got hot and tired and wanted his water.  His face was as red as his hair by the time he got back to the VC.

After our plant walk, Lauren spent the rest of his morning, working on getting the movie going at the VC.  After much troubleshooting, he finally came up with the solution.

We got off at lunch time and went to eat at Tapatio's. They really have a good taco salad.

This afternoon, we met Judy and Terry at Golden Nugget for her pre birthday celebration.  There is some big money in this fishing tournament. We were very impressed with the yacht with a helicopter and boat sitting on top.  Somebody is rich!!

This fresh water catfish girl was amazed at how big these salt water fish are.  We stayed for about an hour, watching the weigh ins.  We got to see the Billfish winner, 796.9 pound Marlin.

Happy pre Birthday Hatchie!!

More pictures are here:

5-27-18 - 6-2-18 (Week 13)

Memorial Day Weekend
It was a beautiful and fun weekend at the Rez visiting our friends and watching people playing on the lake.  We made it back to Camp Refuge by noon and had a much needed relaxing afternoon.

                                                                    Rez Sunset

It's hard to believe we have been volunteers for Mississippi Sandhill Crane Wildlife Refuge for over 12 weeks.  Time flies when you are having fun!

On a sad note, Clem, the Visitor's Center snake, passed away last week.  R.I.P. Clem.

Tuesday
We shipped off our Canon camera today for repairs.  We will be without it for a few weeks, which means we won't be able to take pictures with the big lens for awhile.

We have had a lot of birds eating from the small bird feeder momma gave us years ago, so we added a tower bird feeder.  The birds circled in the trees, squawked, and looked at the tower feeder.  They are not brave enough to eat from it yet.  Unfortunately, the squirrels are not having a problem with it.

We were so excited to finally see our first colt today.  It was walking along the edge of the woods with his parents on Highway 57.  He or she is approximately a week old.  It's ironic to see the cranes on the side of a very busy highway when they have over 20,000 acres of refuge to roam.  And as luck would have it, our camera with the reach out there and get a good picture lens, was sent in for repairs this morning.  At least, we had our old side kick, Nikon point and shoot.

We walked the CL Dees Trail this afternoon and saw a fox squirrel in a nest and her mate nearby perched on a limb.  We will keep a watch out for their babies.   We are always finding something new to entertain us on this trail.

Wednesday
Only a few birds have been brave enough to eat from the new tower bird feeder.  The squirrels, on the other hand, are climbing the pole and eating from both of the bird feeders.  I sure hope they don't topple it all over.

We had 3 Pileated Woodpeckers come by for a visit this morning.  There must be some good vittles in these trees.

Our stroll on the CL Dees Trail was more exciting than usual this morning.  During our stroll, Lauren grabbed my arm to prevent me from stepping on a King snake.  I started jumping around and squealing when he grabbed me, although I did not see the snake until it slittered away in the deep grass. Needless to say, Lauren was very amused by my theatrics.

This afternoon, Lauren manufactured a squirrel deterrent by rigging up a platter around the pole of the bird feeder.  We will see how this turns out.

Thursday
Lauren's squirrel deterrent kept the squirrels from climbing the pole on the bird feeder but not from jumping from the limbs of the trees to the top of the feeder.   Lauren's new strategy was to move the feeders away from the trees.  This worked for a little while.

By afternoon, the squirrels figured out how to climb on the deterrent to get to their feast. Lauren is gonna have to step up the game if he is going to outsmart these critters.

Friday
Lauren made a special trip to Walmart to buy a slinky which he hung around the pole of the bird feeder.  We sat outside for hours watching, there were no squirrels in sight.

More and more birds are getting use to the tower feeder and are starting to eat from it.  At least today, while the squirrels are away.

Saturday
We wrapped up this slow week at the Visitor's Center.  We were going home today to mow the yard, but decided it would be more fun to go on the Crane Whisperer Tour in the morning.

The pictures are here:

                                                            Hummingbirds too!!!!!