After the fun of working the Chesser Homestead with all of those visitors on Friday, I spent the last two days roving in the morning and working the VC in the afternoon. There were not near as many visitors as there were on Friday.
Remember when I tried to find a wild turkey to take a picture of on Thanksgiving morning? Not a bird was to be found anywhere.
This morning, there were turkeys around almost every bend! Who said turkeys are dumb? I thought I could hear them chuckling at me as they went about their business.
An uncommon bird on this refuge is the house wren, but I found one that couldn’t help scolding me for passing by.
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As I drove next to the borrow ditch that used to have a bridge that led to Chesser Island, a great blue heron was looking for it’s breakfast. It was in the 30’s when I woke up this morning, so I opted out of taking the open air electric cart for my roving. Call me chicken, but an enclosed vehicle with heat made my morning more comfortable.
As I neared the homestead, two does crossed the road. I was the first one on the wildlife drive this morning, and that usually means better wildlife viewing chances.
Thinking about my bird tour on woodpeckers next Saturday, I was happy to find this red-headed woodpecker once again along the route I’ll take. When I worked the VC this afternoon I found out that Gracie Gooch, the volunteer coordinator, has been notifying local Audubon groups about the tour trying to drum up business for me. I had figured no one would show up for the tour since it’s kind of early in the morning for folks to show up this far off of the beaten path.
I guess it has been some time since birding tours have been offered here, if ever, and it was one of the reasons I was asked to come volunteer. I’m a little more optimistic now that someone might actually come. We even discussed the possibility that two vans may be needed. Personally, I think that’s a pipe dream, but it was fun to talk about.
Tomorrow I work out at the Chesser Homestead all day, so my post will probably be about those pioneers tomorrow. Before I open it up for visitation, my plan is to once again call the Mayo Waycross hospital to try to get a surgery date. I sure hope they finally have a December surgery calendar set up.
Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later, Judy
