Getting Back to Normal

Today was the first "normal" day we've had in since last Thursday.  Friday was the day Chuck and Clare came to visit, and Hog Boy Josh arrived.  We also stayed up late that night to go see turtles on the beach.  Saturday was a busy day - running the beaches with friends, and exploring new places on the island.  It was a fun filled day, but it most definitely wore us out.  Sunday Kate ran the beaches alone so I could see our guests off, and work on a few things on the list.  Kate also gave me Monday off, though that day did not turn out to be relaxing, as it came with the arrival of Hog Boy Cody.  Yesterday we were both tired all day, probably from all the stresses of the days before.  Today we are starting to feel like ourselves again.  The day wasn't perfectly normal, as our routine was interrupted a few times by our new roommates, but it was close, and we're starting to adjust to the changes.

We got up at the regular time, had a regular breakfast, and headed out on patrol in the regular style.  Kate took the north end and I went south.  She had 3 nests today, I only had a false crawl.  The turtles have seemed to slow in the past two days, but I'm sure they'll pick up again soon.  I wish I had more to write about them, but it really is the same stories we've told before.  My false crawl today looked like a nest but wasn't - requiring a lot of time digging while the gnats ate me up.  Kate's stuff was pretty standard.  One thing we can report is that our oldest nest (NB1) is 46 today.  In 4 more days, we'll take the small screen off and prepare for hatchlings.  We're very excited for this, and will have plenty of new things to write about when it happens.

I was done pretty early today, so I went down the the causeway to try a little fishing.  I hooked another big red drum, but it managed to wrap the line around something as I was working it in.  Eventually the line snapped and I lost it.  At least I'm feeling pretty confident catching them now.  They're rather tasty, and I'll have to try top get another soon.  Kate found me at the little dock there when she was finished, and we spent some time sitting there together.  Before we left, we pulled up the crab traps we set a few days ago and took home 8 crabs for lunch.

We cooked lunch and setup on the couch to eat it over a TV show, but we were interrupted by the Hog Boys.  When they left again, and after our meal, we laid down for a nap, which was ended about an hour later by the ringing phone.  It was Mark, our boss, calling to discuss how we ended up with two roomies instead of one.  He feels pretty bad this was forced on us, but there's nothing that can be done.  The conversation was difficult, as Josh came home, and privacy was lost.  When he left we finished up with Mark.  He gave us some good news - we're getting supplies tomorrow.

Some time last week, we ran our of the plastic screens we use to protect the nest.  In their place, we have been using welded wire fencing material.  The metal screens are a little harder to transport and work with, don't hold up well to the elements, and most importantly, may impact the baby turtles geographical location imprinting.  Turtles return to the same beaches they were born on to nest - some 30 years later.  Somehow, the location is imprinted into the turtles brain.  It may happen while they are still in the eggs, or it may happen when they hatch and walk to the ocean.  The science on this isn't complete, but however it happens, it has something to do with the electromagnetic field of the earth.  It is thought that the metal screens could have an impact on this process because they are magnetic.  In any case, when the plastic arrives tomorrow, we'll be replacing the metal ones we put out.

We are hoping that if the grant money for the screens came through, it could mean there is money for a replacement Mule.  We would love to have two (as we were supposed to, until one died our first week here).  We'll have to pry some information out of Adam when he comes tomorrow to deliver our screens.

By this point in the afternoon, a storm had built up, bringing some rain.  It rained a little yesterday too, but we haven't had any serious rain since May 25th, when we got caught out in a storm and couldn't run the beaches until after the Rain Delay.  Since we were stuck in the house now, we decided to do a puzzle.  It was a nice way to pass the time.  Kate also enjoyed some coffee, which made her all giddy for a little while, but then she became faint, dizzy, and nauseous.  We figured it was probably because she hadn't eaten much, so dinner came next.  Still, even after plenty of spaghetti, she wasn't right, so she went to bed.  I plan to follow her shortly, so I can get plenty of sleep, which will help tomorrow to get us back into our normal routine.

Roommates

The past few days have been a veritable shit storm of change.  All of it rather unexpected, and none of it wonderful for us.  As previously reported, we were informed about, and shortly thereafter greeted with, a new roommate on Friday.  Yesterday, we learned that we would be receiving yet another roommate just a few hours before it happened.  Both are here for the summer as our hog management interns.

Kate and I were not excited for the change.  We had been promised that such a thing would not happen and that at most, we would have one more person living with us.  Now we have two.  We've been forced to move all of our things around to accommodate the hunters.  We've also been put out in several ways.  The largest, and most disturbing to us, is that we now do not have any room at the house for guests.  We've been told we can still have guests, if we plan it far enough in advance to utilize the other house.  Spontaneous weekend visits from friends however, is out...

Now don't get us wrong, we have nothing against our new roomies, Josh and Cody.  Both are real nice guys and they seem willing and able to work together with us to maintain a happy home.  Still, Kate and I have most definitely lost much of the enthusiasm we had about being here.  We were really happy in our routine of working all morning, coming home to relax, working again all afternoon, and then finally resting at night.  In the past couple days, when we've come home to relax, we've been interrupted by the ongoings of others.  I guess we don't really like change.  There is a constant stress now about sharing common supplies, like ice, laundry soap, the living room, bathrooms, etc.  Really there are no big problems, but the added mental and emotional effort that must be applied to all kinds of little things that previously needed no attention at all has already started to wear us down.

I'm even disappointed in the fact that I'm writing this entry, as most of our blogs have been very upbeat.  Unfortunately, things have taken a serious down turn.  The situation we've unexpectedly been put in, has had us both stressing, trying to find a non-existent solution.  We've been at each other a bit, since we have no one else to direct our frustration with.  Once again, we're angry that our marriage has been used against us (This house had two bedrooms allocated for turtle people, but since we're a couple, the powers that be have taken our other room away).

I'm hoping that there is just an adjustment period we must pass through, and that afterward, things will be well again.  I guess it all depends on Josh and Cody, and whether we can co-exist well together.

Ossabaw - The Abridged Experience

Yesterday we tried to pack in as much Ossabaw adventure as we could for Clare and Charlie.  They had already been out on the beach at night with us to encounter not one, but two nesting turtles in the same area.  It was late when we went back home and to bed, so we decided to sleep in just a little longer than usual.  Still we we up and about around 6:00 or 6:30.  We started the day off Kate and Steve style, with a big breakfast.  Having just shopped, it was easy to put out a big spread.  After we were fueled up for the day ahead, we packed the turtle gear, and some beach stuff into the truck and headed off.  Kate took the Mule to the south end, and Chuck, Clare and I went North.

On Bradley we encountered a false crawl below the high tide line that I quickly logged, before arriving at the spot where we watched two turtles nest last night.  They were both in poor locations and needed to be relocated.  I showed our visitors what we do out here everyday: locating the eggs, logging the data, collecting the sample, marking and screening off the nest, etc.  It didn't take long for them to catch on and soon they were helping me get the work done quickly.  We found 5 nests on Bradley, with two false crawls.  Most of the nests were easy to work, and we on the north end, headed back south by around 10:00am.  Chuck drove the truck, while I sat on the bench in the back with a pair of binoculars.  I was able to scan most of the nests this way without having to run up to each nest.  It saved a bunch of time, and labor, and I wish we could do it like that all the time.  During our nest checking, we stopped near nest #31 to see a nesting plover.

When we arrived at the tidal creek to North Middle, everyone was a already getting hot.  Kate had radioed from the south saying she was still working, but would be up to meet us soon.  We parked the truck and Chuck and Clare went for a swim while I went across to the bike, to ride North Middle on patrol.  I didn't find a single crawl over there, which is pretty typical.  When I got back, I finished logging all my data/times, and quickly jumped in the water too.

The tide was moving fast out of the tidal creek, and I saw a bunch of mud minnows swimming around.  So we got out the cast nest and threw it around for awhile.  I managed to catch a good number of the bait fish.  Kate showed up and took over and caught a bunch more.  It was noon now, and we were all ready for a break from the sun and some lunch, so we put the minnows in a bucket, and headed home.  Chuck drove the little Mule, and I think he agreed, it has its advantages over the truck.  Along the way home, we stopped at the causeway to check on the two crab traps we had baited on the ride to the beach this morning.  There were already three or four crabs.  I tied the minnow keeper off to the dock, and we went home.

We all had lunch while Kate entered the days data into the computer.  Then we lounged around in the living room for awhile just shooting the breeze.  It really is necessary to take a break and recharge after turtle patrol and I could see our guests were feeling that.  It didn't take us too long though, and soon we were headed back out.  Kate drove while Charlie, Clare and I all sat in the back of the truck on two of the benches Jim uses for his Foundation tours.  It was really great to experience the island this way.  The views are just better, unobstructed by glass, and higher than most of the brush.

Kate drove us to Middle Place where we explored for a couple hours.  We walked through the old stables, converted to dorm rooms and admired all the cool old stuff.  With a little help from our friends, we soon found some places there we hadn't been.  A small house, in really good shape, was uncovered near the creek.  We checked out the sweat lodge for the first time, and discovered that it is an active vulture nesting site.  We even saw two young buzzards waiting around for mom and dad to bring food.  Walking around a little more, we found the kiln that the people from the Genesis Project must have used for pottery, glass, and possibly brick making.  We also came upon their outdoor kitchen, now just a pile of wood laying on a couple ice chests and some ovens.  Nearby was a makeshift chicken coupe that was still intact.

When we were done at Middle Place, Kate drove us to the causeway.  Chuck setup the umbrella and beach chair.  Clare lounged in the chair while Kate tried for crabs.  I tried a bit of fishing and after a while, landed two nice red drum.  Charlie tried his hand at crabbing and pulled us up a few.  Combined with the ones in the trap we had enough for a meal.  We packed it all up around 5:30 or so, and headed back to the house.  Paul Mitchell was there to greet us, and Clare and Charlie got a chance to feed him.  Everyone got fresh showers, while I did most of the cooking.  Soon we had a ton of food on the table, including fresh island fish and crabs.  We had meant to get some midden mussels too, but we just ran out of time.  We really tried, but I guess you can't squeeze all the island's treasures into a single day.  After dinner we all enjoyed cold beers and each other's company.  By 10:30 we were all beat.  A long day of Ossabaw fun had drained us of energy, but filled us with memories.

A Visit With Good Friends

To recap:  Thursday was typical, and our planned trip to shore was postponed.  We did some chores since we were expecting a full house Friday afternoon.

Thursday night proved to be an above average nesting night and on Friday morning, we added five nests to the count, four on Bradley Beach alone.  I arrived home a couple hours after Steve, and immediately had to change mind frames as we had the looming trip to shore.  Since we only go once every one-two weeks, Steve and I rarely have the opportunity to buy very specific items.  We gathered the tupperwares and cooler for food transport and compiled a list of different things we needed to purchase.  One of us might have written that the washer and dryer were reported broken to us, but that the washer only needed a hose to work, a cheap and easy fix.  We bought a hose on our last trip, and then shortly after found the missing hose at the other spare house.  So now that the washer works, we were on a mission to replace the missing belt for the dryer.  Steve called a few repair shops and one told him of Fox Appliance Parts and they had several in stock.  Today our trip of significance took us to northwest Savannah and we bought the belt for $10.  After that stop, we purchased some translucent red tape for the flashlights and headlights for our nighttime sea turtle patrol.

Having time to spare before shopping, Steve and I met Charlie and Clare for a celebratory margarita.  Then we shopped like crazy before returning to the dock.  We unloaded all our stores, as well as our visitors' and new roommate's gear to the boat.  Just as we were pushing off, the rain started and we all got pelted for a bit.  After about 15 minutes, we were at Torrey Landing.  We all arrived to the house, with a little bit of chaos as there were three new people in the house and groceries to unpack.  Soon, Charlie, Clare, Steve and I were catching up, waiting for nightfall and sea turtles to arrive on the beach.

Steve and I loaded up the truck with some supplies, and borrowed a bench for the boys to ride in the back.  When we arrived at the beach, Steve covered the padiddle headlight with the red tape and then we headed north in search of a turtle.  We passed a false crawl in the myrtles.  Not too much further, we encountered a single crawl.  Steve led the way and we quickly spotted her digging an egg chamber.  While we were watching her work, Steve spotted another turtle just coming out of the water only 100 feet south.  I snuck around the back of the truck and watched her from a distance, not wanting to be responsible for a false crawl.  I saw and heard her crawl into the eroded trees and roots.  She was adamant about continuing up the beach and kept working that spot for a couple minutes.  Next she crawled along the tree debris until she could find dry sand.  Ultimately, she walked 15 feet until she stopped in an area previously dug up in search of eggs.  The coordinates are probably the same.  Knowing she still had a lot of work until the egg laying, I joined the others at the other actively nesting female.  Before Steve and I had a chance to get her measurements, she started covering the eggs.  I marked the nest with a stick and we watched her cover the nest and body pit.  Soon she was on her way out to sea, and we stood closely by admiring her strength.  Once she disappeared into the water, we revisited the second turtle.  Steve took measurements and scanned for PIT tags, none found.  Since she still had some time left, we decided to head home, and get some sleep before a busy day Saturday.

Conjoined Eggs

Today was rather slow, only one nest on North Beach.  Steve said the body pit was extra long and after working on it for a while, he didn't find any eggs.  He left to patrol the rest of the beach, and after finding nothing, returned with fresh eyes.  He probed another spot on her exit crawl, between a tree and sea wrack and there it was.  It wasn't the suspected place by any means, so it just goes to show that perseverance pays off.

On South Middle this morning, I found several alligator tracks.  More activity than I've ever noticed before.  One huge track came from the ocean and across the dune, over our ATV road, and back into the marsh.  It's fun to see all the different animal tracks on the beach every morning.  There's so much activity overnight.  After I finished patrolling, I walked south from the ATV road to check on some possible bird nesting activity for Tim.  He noticed some Least Terns hanging out just south of an Oystercatcher nest (see picture) and wanted to know if they're still there.  I saw them a few days ago, before I knew what was going on, and thought I'd check on them again.  The terns were flying about, not like I saw them before.  It was later in the day when I saw them laying in the dune, so we'll have to check back at a later time.  

After taking it easy until after lunch, we headed outside for some chores.  We painted stakes, cleaned up some old bottles we've collected, finished cleaning "junk" from our shed cleaning day, and reviewed our sea turtle supplies.  We cut up the last of the plastic hardware cloth roll and assembled them to the remaining plastic screens.  Only 14 sets left, so yesterday, Adam brought us some old metal screens from Sapelo to hold us off until our order shows up from Canada.  Around 11:30, two guys from GADNR Coastal Resources came to test our beaches' water quality.  We won't know the results for a bit, but if the water here isn't safe, then nowhere is safe.  I hope they had fun on their Ossabaw adventure today.

With nothing else today to share, I wanted to write about the interesting find I had yesterday.  In nest NB68, I found several odd eggs.  Some were larger than normal, a few were chicken egg shaped, and a pair were conjoined.  One is smaller than the other, so I wonder if one is a spacer egg.  I've seen pictures and read about conjoined sea turtle hatchlings, so we'll have to wait and see.  You can see a picture here and read about a story here.

Redfish (a.k.a. Red Drum)

Even with an early bedtime last night, we were still tired and groggy when we pulled ourselves out of bed this morning.  I really thought by this time we'd be used to getting up at dawn, but I guess we're naturally just night people and we'll never enjoy rising before the sun.  Still, we managed through it, had an easy breakfast, packed up the gear, including some fishing poles, and headed off on turtle patrol.

It was an easy day for me.  I started by traveling south in the truck, enjoying NPR news and air conditioning.  When I got to the double kayak the smoke from the nearby brush fire was thicker than usual (if we haven't mentioned this before, there's been a smoldering ground fire caused by a lightning strike burning there for about a week now - hopefully it won't spread to, and consume, the nearby pavilion).  I untied the kayak from the palm tree used to keep it safe from storm runoff, put my turtle kit in the back, bungee-ed it down and drug the water laden boat down to the creek.  Setting it into the water and grabbing the paddle, I winced as I sat down - another morning starting off early with a wet ass that I'd enjoy the rest of the day.  After paddling up and around the creek, I arrived at the ATV, un-bungee-ed the orange turtle box from the kayak, re-bungee-ed it to the ATV, and winced again, as I sat down on another wet seat.  It's nice to get wet when it's hot and you jump in the ocean, but when it's 6:30am, a wet butt just isn't any fun.

I didn't find a single crawl on South Middle patrol.  I checked on our nests, and on a few plover chicks that are getting bigger everyday, and headed back.  After getting back to the truck, I decided to hike into the woods a bit to see if I could find the exact location of the fire.  I couldn't.  I did manage to find a few spider webs as I walked right into them, having to peel away the silky threads from my face and resist the heebie-jeebies each time.  When I got back to the truck I realized I'd found something else: 50 or more tiny ticks were all over my legs.  Too small to pick off, I sprayed myself down with 40% DEET attempting to kill them.  Instead, they just climbed higher.  With them now on my thighs, and threatening my more sensitive parts, I had to take action.  I stripped down and jumped into the creek, drowning the little nymph ticks and avoiding Lyme's disease for another day.

Half an hour of adventure turned torture later, I was back to work.  I patrolled South Beach, and located my one and only crawl for the day.  It was a relocation, with 102 eggs.  Kate called then to inform me she would be wrapping things up on her end of the island in about an hour, then head down to me.  We'd planned on trying some more fishing, this time at the south creek - we'd even packed a lunch.  Unfourtuanatly, we didn't pack the beach umbrella, and as I waited for Kate's arrival, I began to roast in the mid-90 degree (heat index around 110), as I attempted to fish.  After almost an hour without a bite, I decided to call it quits.  Since I couldn't get a signal on our phones, I just drove north, hoping to find Kate heading south.

We did meet up on the road, and agreed to head home, after a stop at the causeway to check on crabs, and try a few casts to see what was biting.  When we checked our trap, we found seven blue crabs, the most we've ever caught at once.  I guess the patch job on the trap did the trick.  Kate gave the hand line another shot, but the crabs weren't biting as much as before.  I think she did get one or two though.  I tried a little fishing with the minnows we caught yesterday and much to my surprise, landed a nice red drum.  They're a real fighting fish, and it took awhile to tire him out and bring him in.  Kate got the net and soon he was in hand.  We stayed a little while longer, just long enough for me to catch a second red.  As I was working it on the line, Jim arrived with a group.  We needed to move our truck and Mule for Jim to get past.  I couldn't put the rod down with the fish still pulling, but he was nice enough to wait.  His entire group of kids watched as Kate and I pulled up the second fish.

While I have caught a few fish out here, these two are the first big enough for an actual meal.  Gutted and cleaned, they are now quietly marinating in the fridge.  Tonight we will have two fillets from the first fish, along with our eight or so blue crabs.  Tomorrow we'll have the other one.  Yum.

Summer Solstice, Day 50, and Nest 100!

Today is a day for celebration.  Today, the Summer Solstice, is the longest day of the year, a major pagan holiday, also known as the first day of summer.  Today is Joe & Liz's anniversary.  Today is our 50th day on Ossabaw.  And today, we had our 100th nest (well, actually more, but it's a milestone!).

We awoke tired but were able to hit the dirt road to be on the beach for sunrise.  I was on South Beach and quickly found my first nest, egg in hand by 6:45.  I found several more false crawls, most ending in trees and eroded dunes.  One of our nests, SB1, had hog rooting around and a little under the screening.  I was so nervous to approach it, but we were lucky.  They stopped just shy of the egg cavity.  I filled it all in and re-screened the nest.  Steve called me very early, as I was working on a false crawl where the tracks disappeared completely in the dry sand.  His words: "Sunshine Turtle!"  A Sunshine, or Sunrise Turtle, is a sea turtle that nests so late in the night that she is seen at dawn.  She was already making her way to the water when Steve found her, but fortunately he had enough time to take lots of great pictures.  Her nest, NB61, is officially nest #100.


I was quickly done South Beach, and then found nothing on South Middle Beach so I headed north to meet Steve.  I hit the beach and didn't see any truck tracks that led toward the kayak so I assumed he was still on North Beach.  I began the trip north and immediately started seeing crawl after crawl.  I could see some had posts, marking a nest, and then another nest...and it continued the entire trip.  At first I was keeping track but soon lost count.  I found Steve north of the myrtles, on Sea Turtle Row, relocating a nest.  He told me he was on his sixth nest so far.  I saw a huge track just north of us, that apparently he hadn't noticed yet.  We finished the nest he was working on and started the next.  It was a little tricky, including an abandoned nest cavity.  The second body pit was more of a large, elongated disturbed area.  I was hoping it was more than a false crawl, so Steve could break his one-day record of six nests.  Soon, he found the eggs, and now he had his seventh nest of the morning.  We screened it off and continued north, still more beach to patrol.  We only found one more false crawl.  As we headed back, I checked out a crawl that didn't appear to have been marked off by Steve.  I flagged him down as he was checking our nests and he realized he passed it during his last relocation, as he was so focused on getting the eggs back into the ground.  I left him to it and started checking more nests.  He couldn't find anything, and we agreed to send him to North Middle while I checked the rest of the nests.  Soon we met back up, all work done, with a grand total of 8 nests and 8 false crawls.  Our biggest day yet, and instead of hitting 100, we rolled right past it.  We've surpassed last year's total of 104 as we now stand at 106! (We're the northern orange dot, only the 2nd island to have over 100.)


We spent the next while throwing the cast net, catching bait fish and tiny white shrimp.  We then tried fishing in the surf since the tide was low and the creek was only a foot deep.  After trying valiantly for over an hour, we called it quits.  Steve did have some bites, and often found half of his bait missing.  We think it was sharks, but never reeled anything in.  Neither of us has any desire to hook a shark, so I'm glad they got away with some free lunch.  Our backup plan was to hit the causeway and pick up some blue crabs.  On the drive over we saw a pair of fawns.  No mom, just babies.  Too cute.  Soon we were at the culvert.  Steve checked on the trap and found three crabs.  Not too bad.  We set up our hand line traps, hoping to have the luck I had the other day.  It didn't turn out that way.  We didn't see any crabs around, or at least any large crabs.  Steve braved the marsh and walked around looking for them.  I tried the opposite side and only found more small crabs.  After 45 minutes or so, with thunderstorms looming in the west, we decided to give up and head home.  As Steve was baiting the crab pot, he saw only one crab.  We lost two crabs during the time we were there.  Hrm.  We've learned that there was a space in the trap where the crabs could escape, which meant that nobody had been stealing our crabs.  Steve cable-tied it shut so no more escape and tossed some dead bait fish in.  We'll have to figure out when the crabs are around, whether it be time of day or tide related.


Steve and I arrived home around 4 PM, almost 10.5 hours since we left the house.  We unpacked the Mule and truck.  Steve went in for some much needed food and I continued the clean up.  Later I completed the extra long data entry as Steve cooked dinner.  We are both glad that we're getting back out on adventure more, but we're both much more tired for it.  A small sacrifice for the great experiences.  And just so everyone knows, I'm very jealous of Steve's sunrise turtle.  

Work Chores Relax Explore Play

Happy Father's Day Dads.

Neither of us got much sleep last night.  The cause was a combination of late afternoon napping yesterday, and mice making noises in the kitchen most of the night.  I ended up setting out all four of our mouse traps.  We caught and released two, one trap wasn't touched, and the last trap had the bait stolen and the lid off - whoever was inside must have figured out how to escape.  So it was a struggle to get out of bed this morning, and I really thought it be a lazy tired day.  Instead, we hit a good stride on the beaches, and continued it all day.

Kate ran the north beaches, finding five false crawls and two nests, all of which were easy cases.  It appears the lull we've been having is coming to an end.  Maybe tonight those false crawling turtles will be back to nest.  I took the south beaches, finding a nest on South Middle which was easy even though it had to be relocated, and a false crawl I had to dig on for awhile.  On South Beach, I found another easy nest, that I moved quickly just 10 feet up the dune.  We were done our surveys by 9:45.  We hit 98 nests today, tomorrow we expect to find Nest #100!

When we got home, we decided to keep busy and do a few chores around the house.  I started by fixing the vacuum cleaner, by installing the new belt Adam brought when he came to visit.  It's funny how many things out here are "broken", but really only need a little something.  The washer and dryer that we were told needed to replace are a great example.  The washer works fine now with a new hose I installed, and the dryer just needs a drum belt, which we can get for around ten dollars.

With the vacuum fixed, I did the carpets and Kate mopped the floors.  When we were done cleaning, we fixed up our extra room a bit.  All the bi-fold closet doors in the house had been removed when we arrived.  We'd fixed the ones in our bedroom, but these needed new hardware which conveniently, I found still in the packages out in the shed.  I guess someone had planned on fixing them, but never got around to it.  I don't blame them, bi-fold doors are a pain in the butt.  While I was re-installing them, Kate cut up a bed sheet and hung them as curtains.  Hey, we've got to make due with what we have out here...

With the house all cleaned up, the bird feeders topped off, the dishes done and lunch made, we took a TV break.  Then, around 3 o'clock, we packed up the truck with some fishing/crabbing gear and headed off on an exploratory mission.  We drove toward North Beach, but turned south at Willow's Field, past the Shorter Shelter and continued down that road (Map of the Island).  We were looking for the remains of an old Coast Guard house that used to be there when the beach actually came up to that road.  Now there is a large marsh, and a maritime forest, between that road and the beach.

We drove a long way down the road, and onto another secondary road, until we finally ran out of road - the remainder being too grown over to pass.  We turned around and went back slowly, stopping at a few places to look around.  Finally, we stopped at the right place and found the remains of the house.  All that was there was a few bricks, and a couple of pipes sticking out of the ground.  We took a few pictures and headed off.

Afterward, we went out to Bradley beach and baited two raccoon traps with cat food.  Then we went for a swim in the ocean.  The water is very warm, in fact I think it was warmer than the air by the time we got off, but it may have just felt that way due to the strong wind.  We drove home, passing our empty crab trap on the causeway.  Someone had taken our crabs yet again, unless something else is happening, like they are escaping, or eating each other, shells and all.  But I doubt that.

Home again, I think we'll try to get to sleep early, and close the bedroom door to keep out the sounds of the mice banging the cabinet doors.

Stranded Truck and Stranded Turtle

Yesterday started as a day off for Steve.  It didn't end that way...

I started the morning with a bagel at the computer when I noticed lightening to the north.  A bad sign, so I checked out the local radar and it showed a growing storm northeast of Ossabaw.  I decided not to get stuck in a storm with the Mule, so I moved all the gear to the truck.  Soon I was heading south toward the marsh to cut west to the beach.  After half an hour of NPR news, I arrived at the beach, dark clouds nearing.  I patrolled North Beach and didn't find a single crawl.  Where are the turtles?  I returned south to check the nests and by the time I finished realized how long it took me to do nothing.  I hit the tidal creek at low tide and decided to cross the inch of water to patrol North Middle.  Typically this beach takes no time, but as my luck would have it, there were two nests, both needed relocation.  The first was a normal nest, just too low.  The second nest, I soon found, was depredated by a hog.  It was 3 meters from the nest Steve found depredated a few days ago.  We now officially have a nuisance hog that needs to be taken care of for fear of what it will continue to do.  Digging through the mess I found 51 intact eggs, and an estimated 49 eggs lost, though that number is sure to be lower than the actual amount.  It took a while to dig through the sand to find all the egg shells and relocate the eggs.  By the time I returned to the tidal creek, it was 2 hours after low tide and the creek was too deep.  I felt bad calling Steve on his day off, but I was stranded.  He left the house in the Mule and I began unloading all the gear and took the truck to the old road to hide it in the woods for safe keeping.  Soon, Steve and I met up, loaded the stuff onto the Mule, and went south.

I patrolled South Middle, and found a nest.  The turtle did an excellent job hiding the eggs under lots of sand and dead brush, which kept me guessing for a while as I probed into ghost crabs holes and soft sand.  I knew they were there and kept at it, and eventually had an egg in my hand and the nest screened off.  I finished the beach and headed back to Steve, over an hour later.  I found Steve sleeping on the Mule - he must have been waiting for a long time.  As I loaded my tools onto the bed, I was startled as I saw a dead sea turtle in a bucket.  Steve didn't have any nests down there, but he did have a stranded juvenile Kemp's Ridley.  I decided to wait to look at it until we got home.

We arrived home, unpacked the Mule, and started working up the turtle.  It was very emaciated, the worst we've ever seen, and also the smallest turtle we've ever seen.  It's measurements: Straight length (notch - tip): 27.9cm, Straight width: 26.2cm.  Steve stored it in the spare shed freezer and we'll do a necropsy at our next Mark/Adam visit to possibly learn more about its cause of death.  Since it's notably thin (email us if you'd like to see more pictures), the contents in the GI tract, or lack thereof, can shed some light on its diet.  We'll also collect its left humerus and a biopsy sample for research.

Yesterday afternoon we learned that our boss, Mark, will be headed back to the Gulf for more turtle research and recovery.  The team of sea turtle researchers are trying to locate turtles in the convergence zones where seaweed collects and turtles live.  It's also the place where the oil accumulates.  One of the cleanup methods is to burn this oil, and therefore the turtles are killed.  One L.A. Times article has finally surfaced, with pictures.

Last night Steve and I had homemade pizza dinner with a group of people with the UGA Marine Extension Teacher Workshop.  We learned that the teachers spent two weeks on Skidaway Island doing coastal research that culminated with a 2 day trip to Ossabaw.  After dinner we watched a presentation from David Nadeau about various fish research protects he completed in the Florida Keys and the Bahamas.  Needless to say, but our interest was sparked in possible work-related research jobs we should be looking for.  Scientists always want people to do the data collection, and with our SCUBA and Coast Guard Certs, we think we could give it a shot.  

Today was a slow day.  We recovered the truck with the super low tide and were home before lunch.  Only one nest and a few false crawls.  Our hunters went searching for the predator hog on North Middle.  We were told that there's a huge hog on the south end but no shots could be fired.   We did have a strange false crawl on North Beach.  The turtle walked all around the dunes, in circles, this way and that, for a long time and long distance.  I don't know why she never nested because the entire area she crawled was perfect.  I bet she was exhausted by the time she made it back to the water.  Another moment to mention was that I saw 30-40 wood storks in a small salt pond on North Middle.  So many wood storks in such a small pond all feeding.  I could hear their beaks snatch food as they moved through the water.  They made the bike ride worth it.  The rest of our day was lazy, and we took naps for the first time in a while.  Right now we're eagerly anticipating a storm.  It hasn't rained here in a long time and we want the beaches erased from all the tire, human and animal tracks.  For some reason the storms never make it here, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Happy Birthday to Me

I could not have asked for a better place to spend my birthday.
Ossabaw is amazingly beautiful, it truly is "peace preserved".


I might have taken the day off for my birthday, relaxing alone at home and making Kate do all the work.  We could have worked the beaches together, taking all day but enjoying each other's company.  Or the third option, which we chose, was to split up and get things done quickly, so we could play together in the afternoon.  And so, Kate took the truck to the south end, and I went north in the Mule.

It turned out to be a very easy day.  I hit the beach at just the right time in the tide cycle to drive North Middle, saving me some time and effort.  The tides are in a down cycle, making spotting crawls today rather easy.  There was about a five foot difference between yesterday's high tide line, and this mornings.  If a turtle were to come up, it's track would be preserved within that area.  The past week, as the tide was increasing and many crawls were mostly erased, making them much more difficult to spot.  I'm glad to be back in the down cycle, but it won't last long, as the full moon approaches.  To top things off, there was a nice breeze, and some cloud cover - finally a break from the heat that had been wiping us these past few days.

I checked the raccoon traps on North Middle, but didn't have any, nor did I have any crawls.  Turning around, I was back on Bradley (North) in no time and began my patrol.  The first thing I came upon on Bradley was a big dead hog in the sand.  I had seen it yesterday too with Adam.  This is a good thing - it means Eric is out there hunting.  By now there were vultures all over it.  Hopefully it won't stay there too long, since it really stinks.  But, now that the tides are cycling down, being lower each day than the one previous, the hog wont get washed away for some time.  Maybe the buzzards can eat it up quickly.

When I came to my first crawl, my heart sank a little.  As soon as I saw the turtles track I noticed there were other tracks within her track, and going in the same direction - they were raccoon tracks.  I walked up the crawl, looked over the wrack and grass she had crawled through, and was not surprised to see egg shells scattered about.  This raccoon knew what it was doing.  It had either seen the turtle and followed it, or knew how to identify a turtle crawl and used it to locate the nest.  It had eaten 19 eggs.  After counting the broken eggs, I covered the nest back up and screened it off.  I had taken one of the traps from North Middle to fix back at home, but now I needed it, so I broke out the toolbox and got it working on the beach.  I set the trap right in the raccoon's path back into the woods, and hopefully, he'll be in there in the morning.  This one is just too smart to allow near our nests.  And while at first I felt bad about lethally removing the first two raccoons, I'm pretty comfortable with it now that they've gotten at two more of my nests, and taken the three little plover eggs we were so excited about.

I packed everything back up and drove north, stopping on the way to flip a bunch of horseshoe crabs.  Kate called me and gave me her report.  I told her I was almost done, not expecting any more nests as we haven't had any further north than where I was since NB1 (our very first nest).  But, after I hung up with Kate, and drove a few hundred feet north, I found another crawl.  I found the eggs easily, did the work and drove on.  To my surprise, and Kate's delight, I found yet one more nest, which put our total at 90 nests, a mark Kate was excited to hit.  I finished up my patrol and was off the beach by 8:30, leaving plenty of time left in the day to play.

At home I took a nap while Kate prepared for my birthday adventure.  When I woke, we grabbed the cooler she packed and my camera and jumped in the truck.  She was taking me somewhere I hadn't been, and that she discovered a few days ago.  We drove down the main road, Kate looking for the right place to turn.  When she found the little used route, she made a left and drove into into the forest, navigating around stumps and logs.  We came to a large fresh-water pond and she stopped the truck, informing me this was the first stop.  We enjoyed the sights and sounds there for a little while, watching the dragonflies, birds and frogs and taking pictures.

Then it was time to go to our second stop, a very small fresh-water pond that looked like it may have been made by someone digging up the dirt there to fix a road.  When we approached the pond, more frogs that I had ever seen began jumping all around.  They finally settled down when we did.  As we stood there and looked, we began to see more and more frogs.  When one was spotted, I'd notice another near it, and then another.  We took a few pictures of them, and of the ripples made on the surface by the water bugs dancing around.  When I was done with the camera, I made Kate hold it so I could catch a frog.  They're pretty fast for such little things, and boy can they jump.  I finally did catch one, let Kate pet it, and set it free again.

Our next stop was what Kate had been planning.  She had discovered a beautiful little vista, overlooking one of the creeks that run into the marsh.  She brought us here at high tide, the water coming up to an earthen ledge on which she had setup a blanket and all my fishing gear.  In the cooler she had packed some yummy food and a couple of beers.  She had also brought frozen shrimp, which she found at the other house while doing laundry, for bait.  We stayed there for a couple hours, enjoying the tranquility of the island. We didn't catch any fish there though, didn't even get a bite.

We decided to pack it up when the tide shifted.  On the way home we stopped at the causeway to check our crab trap and try casting the rod a few more times.  There was only one crab in the trap.  I baited the rod with some shrimp and cast it out.  Right away Kate could see a crab going after my bait.  She quickly realized she could see lots of crabs, so she got out the little hand crab trap (a small net like thing with a weight and a clip for bait).  We put some shrimp on it, and she tossed it in.  In just a minute or two, she had a crab on the net, and pulled it in.  "It's so easy", she said, "I don't know why we never tried this before."  I continued trying to fish while she kept pulling in crabs.  In the end, she kept 6 big ones, threw back a few small ones, and I caught 4 small croaker to re-bait the larger trap.

Back at the house, we prepared our crab boil, and I fired up the grill and put on one of the rack of ribs I had taken off the hog a few days ago.  While the ribs cooked for an hour or two, I took phone calls from family wishing me happy birthday, and then we enjoyed the crabs with some TV on the couch.  The crabs were excellent - the girls are a little sweeter than the boys.  After we cleaned up the crabs, we brought in the ribs, along with a baked potato.  The ribs were pretty lean, as the hogs don't have any nuts to get fat on in the summer, but they were still very good, and a real treat for me.  Completely stuffed now, we cleaned up the ribs, and Kate brought out some lemon bars she had made in lieu of a cake.  Full in body, mind and soul, I jumped in bed.  The island, and Kate, had treated me with an easy work day, spectacular weather, natural beauty, and a contented spirit.  It was indeed a very happy birthday, and one final gift to boot, I get a day off tomorrow!

No Nests on North Beach!

Steve and I were up extra early this morning expecting Adam to be at the dock by 530.  He called when he close to Ossabaw, so I hopped in the truck to pick him up.  It was still very dark and I was lucky to see a Chuck Will's Widow, a nocturnal ground bird, on the road to the dock.  I waited and watched as the lights from Adam's boat navigated around the shallows just off the island.  He really slowed at the narrow passage coming into Ossabaw, and I worried he might run aground.  Soon enough, he was at our dock and we unloaded new supplies and a long awaited package from my parents.  Steve and Adam soon headed to the North beaches, since Adam wanted to see some nests, of course.  Before I headed out, I gave Paul Mitchell an apple for breakfast.

I started my patrol on South Beach, not expecting much since it's been relatively calm for some time.  The high tide last night also washed up high and its timing could very likely wash over crawls.  We have to be extra careful scanning the beach with these tides.  At the south end I saw a crawl, and as I looked up the beach, knew it was a nest.  Only a couple minutes of work and I located the eggs.  I decided to relocate this nest fearing a washover from a storm event.  Soon the eggs were in their new home (SB11) and I continued down the beach.  Soon, I saw another crawl.  This crawl was on the southern tip, the second nest very south, with SB11 the first.  She climbed high up a steep dune.  Shortly later, I was back in the truck getting word from Steve that he and Adam only had three false crawls on North and were going to walk North Middle.  I continued toward the end of South and a disturbance at the high tide/wrack/grass line caught my eye.  I got out and saw that it was indeed a crawl, not through sand, but through thick, dense, marsh grass.  I followed it into hog rooting.  After probing for a bit, and digging up some rooted areas, I walked away, this one being a false crawl.  I went slow on my return trip in case some other barely noticeable tracks showed up.  There turned out to be none, so I drove to South Middle.

The routine was the same.  I got to the ATV and drove past the sad Wilson's Plover nest - the three eggs are gone.  No broken shells, just some animal tracks.  I was so sad to hear the news from Steve yesterday.  The nest was beautiful and it would have been so neat to watch the chicks from hatching.  I continued to the beach and started the patrol.  As I headed north, I was scanning the beach to my left, randomly glancing ahead for objects in the way (large debris) and started to hear the familiar pips of the plovers calling to their babies.  I looked ahead and there was a tiny chick running right in front in front of me.  I swerved to the right as it ran up the beach, I'm sure getting scolded the entire time by its mother.  Farther up the beach I was treated with an easy nest, and a not so easy false crawl.  All in all, though, it was a treat to have all the nests in the south today.  I just feel bad for Adam as today was the first day in about a month that there were no nests on North  Beach.

After I got home, and after a large lunch, I started putting some things together for Steve's birthday trip.  I hope my lack of planning is okay and he has a good time anyway.  Be sure to wish Steve a happy day tomorrow!

Banana Bread and Broken Truck

The past two days have been Hot, Hot, Hot!  Yesterday I worked the beaches alone while Kate stayed home and did chores.  She did lots of laundry at the other house, and raided it for painting and caulking supplies.  She's working on fixing up the bathroom a bit.  She also painted the white posts we use for marking nests.  We're really going through them fast now, and we have to constantly keep up on making more.  She also used all our old bananas and the secret McKinley Market recipe to make three loaves of banana bread!  Of course we've already eaten one.

Monday morning I woke up around 3:30am, I'm not sure why.  It may have been the noise of yet another trapped mouse who had managed to get inside one of the three traps I had sitting on the counter waiting to be re-baited.  I didn't even set them out on the floor, but we caught one.  Of course it was early, I was groggy, and I accidentally let him out while trying to put him in a jar (they chew and ruin the traps if left in there too long).  With that over, I moved onto breakfast.  I made a monster one, with not one, but two scrambled egg and cheese burritos with red pepper, mushroom and leftover hog meat, along with a bagel and cream cheese. We've been eating huge out here, and we're still losing weight.

Too early to leave the house I watched a show on the computer with my breakfast.  When that was over, I headed out in the pitch dark.  The island is rather spooky in the black of night, but when you get out of the tree canopy and into the marsh or onto the beach, it's beautiful.  I took my time driving to the beach, but was still there too early at 4:45.  I used the extra time to just enjoy the moment, listen to the waves and watch as night became twilight.  Once there was a little light, I was able to start my patrol.  By the time I was done checking North Middle, the sun was just breaking the horizon.  Then I started on North Beach.  I found two nests that day, and several false crawls.  One of those false crawls was very interesting, it looked like a nest, and I even found a nest cavity where the eggs would have been, but inside was only one tiny, non-viable, "spacer" egg, the size of a dime.  Usually if a turtle abandons a nesting attempt after digging the cavity, she just walks away, but this one was covered over and camouflaged.  The eggs just weren't there.

I had taken the truck to do my patrol, and I'm sure glad I did.  The air conditioning was a godsend.  The radio kept reminding me about the heat, saying it was 95 in Savannah, with a heat index of 105-110.  They rated the UV index as "very extreme," which sounds to me like they had to make something up higher than "severe."

After the North beaches I headed off Bradley and down toward the south end.  On the way I hit a rather nasty pothole on the causeway.  Even at less than five miles per hour, everything in the truck, including me, was thrown up in the air, and then back down at double speed.  It really hit hard.  I regrouped and continued south.  It didn't take long for me to start hearing strange noises from under the truck.  It sounded like a branch stuck underneath, which happens a lot.  No problem, just stop and check it out.  It was then I realized, the brakes were out.  Luckily, they weren't completely gone - the peddle traveled an inch from the floor, and then stiffened just enough to stop.  I checked underneath, but nothing was there.

Halfway to the kayak to South Middle, I decided I would keep traveling, driving very slow, and finish my patrols.  When I finally got to the kayak, I checked over the truck some more, but still found nothing stuck underneath.  At this point, I feared the suspension was damaged.  I would have taken a closer look, but it was very hot out, and the truck had been running for hours, and was even hotter underneath.  And so, I parked it, and paddled out to South Middle.

There I ran into Tim, one of the DNR bird guys.  He was out doing a bird survey about Wilson's Plover and Oystercatcher nesting.  We chatted a bit, then he continued up the beach while I took a phone call from Kate.  When it was over, I saw Tim just a hundred feet up the beach standing at the base of a crawl.  I met him there and started my probing, pulling out an egg in a minute or two.  I always feel good when I can quickly locate the eggs in front of an audience.  He went on to finish his survey while I relocated the nest.  I had one other nest to take care of there, and then I needed to go for a swim.  One nice thing about working on the hot beach, is that the water is always right there.

I didn't find anything on South Middle, so I headed home - the truck still making awful sounds.  I stopped along the way to take a few shots of wild flowers.  After our lunch and afternoon break, we dropped the truck off at the shop.  I looked got a good look at it there, and realized the connection between the drive shaft and the hub on the left front tire was loose, and shredded metal was in between.  We went home despondent that we were now down to just the Mule.  I called Mark when we got home, and told him I'm sure I could fix it, I'd just have to take it apart, see what was broken, and then somehow get new parts.  He liked that plan, but then we got a real break.  Eric stopped over the house and when I told him about the truck he said, "Let's go take a look."  I showed him the problem, he jacked the truck up to take a closer look, and then he pulled out a box from under a workbench.  Inside was a brand new hub, exactly what I needed to fix it.

I went home and worked out a schedule with Kate.  I'd work on the truck in the morning, and she'd run the north end.  If I could finish fast enough, I'd run the south end.  This morning, that's exactly what happened.  I had the truck back together by 9am, and got Kate on the phone.  She was working her nests on North.  I took the truck again south, and found two nests during my patrol.

We were both home by 1pm, and enjoyed another large meal and a little down time.  We watered Kate's flowers, which are a real hit with the swallowtail butterflies, and watched the birds.  The birds are crazy.  They love the feeders and are now using the bird bath.  It's such a joy to watch them.  I counted 18 birds in a single moment on the feeders, bath, and clothesline.  We get house finches, cow birds, cardinals (a family of five), ruby-throated hummingbirds, and the ever-gorgeous pained bunting.  The next time we go to the mainland, we'll have to buy a giant bag of food - they can clean out a whole feeder in two days.

Tomorrow Adam is coming to patrol with us.  He's bringing much needed supplies, and sounds excited to see all our nests, calling our numbers "very impressive."  We'll be happy to see him, since we don't get visitors often, and he's a pretty fun guy.  We could use more visitors, and you are all welcome to come, just give us a shout and we'll set it up!  Until tomorrow...

New Roads Travelled

Sunday morning I had the south beaches, and after a fast Mule ride (lately we've been taking the truck south), I patrolled South and found no crawls.  I did find some campers though, with their boats beached and sleepy guys still on their air mattresses.  I didn't say anything, as it's not my position, but sent Andy a message in case he wanted to set them straight.  Not 100 meters away I spotted a dead hog on the beach, though I'm not sure if it was killed the night before or two nights.  Hopefully it wasn't the night before or the campers would have been pretty scared.  I wanted to let them know that camping wasn't permitted, but that more importantly, a lot of hunting takes place on the beaches at night.  Best not to be mistaken for an animal in the dark...

Steve told me this morning at breakfast that he was having second thoughts about a false crawl or South Middle and asked that I recheck for him.  My ride north had no crawls so I had no problem working the disturbed area. The tracks were unreadable, after a day in the hot sun and wind.  I could tell where she had crawled over the dune a few times, but the directions were indistinguishable.  I looked at the mess of sand and saw what resembled a pile she might have made.  There were no other obvious signs.  I marked the body pit with sea wrack, a step Steve and I have been skipping as of late.  After probing didn't reveal anything, I grabbed the little shovel and started removing the soft, dry sand.  Eventually I decided that getting on my knees and using my arms to move the sand would work better.  After a large area was cleared, I grabbed the probing stick and tried again.  This time, I found the nest on the 6th or 7th try.  The eggs turned out to be right in the center of the disturbed area.  The nest was a good candidate for relocation but we're past the 12 hour window.  Instead, I hoped that nature would be gentle and her choice of placement would prove sufficient.  I screened off SM12 and radioed Steve to let him know of my early completion.  He told me he had a lot of work, but it was okay for me to head home.  So I did.

On my way, I decided to go for a small adventure, check out some roads we haven't been down yet.   My ultimate plan, aside from seeing new things, was to scope out a place to take Steve for his birthday, hence the lack of details of my trip.  I think I succeeded and hope that my idea turns into a fun day for Steve.  Stay tuned.

After I arrived home, I knew I had some time before Steve would show up.  I did some chores, tidying up so we could relax together.  Soon I received a call from Steve saying that if he wasn't home in 30 minutes, to go find him - he was almost out of gas.  Watching the clock, I surfed the internet reading news stories when he pulled up.  Good for us.  We unpacked, did some data entry, and ate a big lunch.  The rest of the day seems like a blur, and I'm not sure what else we did.  I know that we were in bed way before the sun went down as Steve anticipated a busy day alone - I had Monday off.  Maybe even Tuesday, if I'm lucky.

All Kinds of Animals

Yesterday evening Kate had a burst of energy when I wanted to call it quits for the day.  She decided we should load up the Mule and the truck with screens, posts, and stakes so they'd be ready to go in the morning.  I'm glad she made me do it - we were able to get out of the house rather quickly today.  After a quick stop at the shop to put air in one of the truck tires, I headed to the south end.  Kate took the Mule ahead to patrol the north.

I arrived at the double kayak and headed across.  The water was pretty slack, and it was an easy paddle.  I tried to be quiet as I walked up to the ATV, but a Willet saw me and started its warning call.  I got out my camera and snuck around the dune hoping to find the mother Wilson's Plover sitting on her nest - she wasn't.  Maybe she was out getting breakfast, or perhaps the Willet had given me away.  Though I couldn't get the shot I wanted, I was able to get a couple of her nest.  It's very pretty, made of small shells and housing 3 eggs.

I finished up quickly so not to upset mama plover if she was watching, and hopped onto the ATV.  Patrolling South Middle I only came across one false crawl.  Having the camera with me though, I took some shots of an American Oystercatcher.  They're rather slick looking, with their bright orange beak and eye and are quickly becoming of my favorite shorebirds.  I hope a few nest on our beach, I'd love to see their chicks.

After I was finished checking on all my nests, I headed back to the truck and down toward South Beach.  On the way, I found one of the large traps that Eric had set up occupied by a hog.  Kate had told me there was one in it yesterday, so I assumed it was the same one.  I know they can escape given enough time, and I had the rifle with me, so I decided to put him down.  While I felt a little bad about dispatching the little raccoons, I had no problem with the hog.  They're nasty monsters and cause so much damage to our beach.

With that done, I continued my drive south.  I came to the beach access we use when the tide is low, but the boneyard there was underwater and I had to continue south to our other beach access.  Along the way I came upon another of Eric's traps.  This one too was occupied, but not by hog.  Two deer were trapped inside, and trying desperately to get out.  They kept charging the side of the trap, which is made up of a rectangular metal fencing.  The gaps in the fence are large enough for the deer to stick their heads through, and they were doing this.  I could see that they were bleeding - they were really messing themselves up.  I know from Kate's experience as a zoo keeper, that a frightened deer can break its own neck charging a fence.  I acted as quickly as I could to dismantle the trap and open it up to release the deer.  Even with it open, they took some coaxing to get the run the right way, and no longer into the fence.  I'm not sure how Kate will manage if she comes across the same situation.  I know she'll want to free them too, but the fence wasn't easy to get down.  This kind of thing is a real downer.  I hate to see the deer scared and in pain, but we need to have the traps to get the hogs.  I guess everything has it's trade-offs.

After reassembling Eric's trap, I continued down the road and out to the beach.  I didn't find any crawls as I patrolled to the south tip.  When I was coming back, checking our nests, I noticed the tide had gotten even higher.  I realized I couldn't get around the lower boneyard and back to my road.  I was stranded on the beach, and the tide was still rising.  Desperate to get the truck off the beach I drove all the way to the south end and looked over the dune, hoping to find a road that I knew must be there, but have never used.  Eventually I found it, way back behind the dune and on a steep incline.  With little other choice, I drove to it.  After navigating through some tall grass I reached the hill, put the truck in four wheel drive and low gear, and gave it a go.  I was able to get up and over without a problem.  The road was actually in pretty good shape once I was off the beach, and eventually, it led me back to my normal route.

Passing the trap with the hog in it, I decided I shouldn't just leave the thing there.  I figured it would only scare away the other hogs, rendering the trap useless.  All I had to do was take the hog out of the trap, put it in the pickup, and haul it off.  Of course the thing must have weighed 150 - 200 pounds.  It took several attempts, but finally I was able to muscle it into the truck.  Then I headed home to get the supplies I would need to butcher it.

I took the hog into the woods and went to work on it.  It turned out to be much less gruesome than I had anticipated - still, I'll spare you the details.  I was also surprised at my ability to actually complete the task.  I've never field dressed and animal before, but I must have learned something in my early years separating chickens, when McKinley Market was still Elkins Park Prime Meats.  Thanks Dad.

Once I got home, I got a call from Kate, who was still on North Beach.  There was a raccoon in one of our traps, and she was having trouble finding the eggs to a nest - so I'd need to get out there.  I changed back into shorts, got back in the truck, and drove to meet her.  When I arrived, I was amazed by how much sand she had moved.  She'd dug up a six foot circle, almost two feet deep.  I thought, "if the eggs were there, she would have found them by now."  We talked about the nest for a little while, then I went to take care of the raccoon.  When I returned, I helped her dig some more, then decided we needed to stop.  She'd put in over an hour of work on it, and the eggs just couldn't be any deeper.  The sun was overhead and blazing down; Kate looked exhausted.  We called it quits and headed home.  I gave her the truck so she could get some A/C, and I took the Mule.

When we got back to the house, we went over to the clubhouse where the teachers had stayed to collect their leftover food.  We made out like bandits, with candy, desserts, and some staples.  We also ran into Jim there, and he told us about the turtle that made the nest Kate was having trouble with.  He had taken the group of teachers onto the beach again last night, and they saw that turtle.  She had already nested, and was on her way back to the water, but acting funny.  Jim said he saw her cloaca dragging behind her with a white object, possibly an egg, partially sticking out.  He also said the turtle did not go directly back into the water, but instead crawled along the waters edge while making strange motions with her head.  Jim has worked with turtles for years, and he said he never saw such a thing.  It could be that Kate's nest in fact held no eggs.  Still, all signs point to it being a nest - they don't obliterate the nest (bury the cavity and camouflage the area), unless they lay eggs.  I suppose I'll work on it some more tomorrow.

After our food raid, we relaxed at home for a couple hours.  When we were rested, Kate went outside to put the flowers we had bought into pots.  They look great around the deck, we just hope the deer don't eat them.  I stayed inside and prepared dinner: pork.  It was nice indeed to have a hot meal of real meat for a change.  We also had asparagus and egg noodles for Kate.  She did try a little hog, though I don't think she really liked it.  Maybe in a couple days when I grill up some ribs.

The Turtles Return

Today we were off to a late start.  I headed south and completed South Middle within an hour.  No nests or crawls.  It's been several days with no activity, which seems weird because it was pretty consistent in the beginning.  I took my time clearing the screens of sand.  At SM1, which has washed over a few times, I piled up wrack around the seaward edges in hope of building up some sand.  When we first relocated this nest, it seem high and dry, but the big tides changed that.  I hope my effort of mimicking the natural growth of sand works and the nest stays a little dryer this new moon.

Next I went to South Beach, taking the back road since the tide was still to high to pass the Boneyard.  I'm not sure if we've written about it yet, but it's a doosy.  Sharp turns, steep hills, trees and brush.  It's a fun drive but it's very hard on the vehicle, not to mention the driver.  It has improved a bit recently as someone cleared some of the close trees to open up some of the hairpin turns.  When I got to the south tip, I saw in the distance two small boats ashore in the marsh.  There were a couple guys walking around the dune, so I was suspicious of their activity.  As soon as they saw my green truck, they got back in their boats and left.  I like that I can appear to have some sort of authority out here, especially when just my presence puts people on edge.  Most visitors are fine, but there's always the group that pushes the "No Trespassing" boundaries.  As I headed north, I tried calling Steve to let him know I was finished and could help him, but as I was awaiting his call back, I came upon a crawl.  At first I thought it was a false crawl as she came up to a steep escarpment, but then I noticed tracks above it.  The turtle pulled herself up a two foot wall of sand.  She laid her nest in a very safe spot, and soon I was ready to drive north to help Steve.

Steve told me over the phone that he had a lot of nests and crawls, so I was excited to get there.  By the time I found him, I only saw one nest and one false crawl.  Where was all the activity?  I didn't make it too far before I found Steve digging an area in the myrtles with two sets of tracks.  He had already relocated one nest and was just starting to look for a possible second.  The two turtles, perhaps at the same time, nested within 6 feet of each other.  Just after Steve updated me on his work, he found the next set of eggs.  This nest, which would also be relocated, made 6 for North Beach today.  Since Steve still had some work left, I biked North Middle for him.  No activity there, so I quickly made it back.  We both arrived at the tidal creek at the same time.  Steve took a dip in the water to cool off after his workout this morning, which was extra hot without a breeze.  I'm  happy for Steve to have worked so many nests, though I feel bad 5 out of 6 were relocated.  He's tough though.

On the way home we stopped at the crab trap, and found that someone had just baited it.  Since we had crabs waiting to be recovered, we took the 5 that were in there and will let the person have what comes next. We keep running into this odd problem where someone takes our crabs, and baits it for more.  You'd think that if the trap were in the water with crabs in it, then someone was obviously using it, right?  Oh, well.

The rest of the day we relaxed.  We started to watch Lost again.  We like the island theme.  At 5:30 we went to the clubhouse for dinner with the visiting teachers.  Steve was able to tell them that the nest they watched last night had to be relocated, and had 156 eggs.  One of our highest clutches yet.  We'll be sure to let them know when their nest hatches.  This has been another great opportunity to share stories with people who are also really interested in sea turtles.  Thanks for the company!

Tonight, after we entered the data, we wondered if our busy day related to the busy day we had a while ago. It turns out that 13, 14, and 15 days ago were all very active.  We expect the next couple days to bring good numbers.  We're excited to note that today we hit 70 nests!

I'd like to share a blog from the New England Aquarium Marine Animal Rescue Team.  They have sent a team to Louisiana to help rescue and rehabilitate sea turtles impacted by the oil spill.

Trip Ashore and Turtle Lore

We were eating egg and cheeses on English muffins by 6am this morning.  Still, I was just dead beat.  We packed up the gear and headed off to our separate beaches, with a brief stop at the shop to top off a sinking tire on the Mule, and to release yet another mouse.  We've had several mice since last mention: Maxwell, Marvin & Oscar (released at the dump), and possibly a fourth.  Today's I will name right now as Ruth-Ann.  I just don't know if we'll be able to continue to keep track of them all.  The balloon count is suffering the same dilemma.  While we continue to pick them up from the beach, it is not with the dedication we began with.  On North beach, we have to stop over 30 times to check on nests, on South Middle there are no brakes on the ATV with which to stop quickly - these things hinder our balloon collecting efforts...

Dead beat as I mentioned, I arrived at the kayak to South Middle at 6:45am.  Don't tell Kate, but I let the engine run, with the ice cool A/C on, and slept in the truck until 7:15.  Once I woke up for real, I packed the kayak and paddled out.  I drove past the plover nest, eggs still intact, and out to the beach.  I ran my patrol as usual, and didn't find a single crawl, not one!  I checked on all my nest, got back to the kayak, back to the truck and then onto South Beach.  Once again, not a single crawl!  I couldn't believe it - I had absolutely no work to do.

Feeling guilty that I could be home within two hours of leaving the house, I decided to run up to the north end to help Kate out.  When I got there, I found her just finishing up on North Middle.  I assumed she had found nothing on her beaches too and we could go home.  But, she informed me that she started with North Middle, and hadn't done North.  She found 2 nests and 2 false crawl on N.M., along with a dead raccoon that Eric must have hunted the night before.  Still ready to help her, I waited for her to cross back and together we would run Bradley (North).

I took the truck ahead fast looking for crawls, ready to radio her back with the number of screens she would need to pick up at our stash.  I found one false crawl, then another, and finally a nest.  I jumped out of the truck at the nest, and gave it one, two, three, four probes.  Eggs located, I marked it with some sea wrack, drew an arrow for Kate, and headed north.  At the north tip, I found two raccoon traps that we had set empty.  It appeared that ghost crabs had stolen the bait.  I also found, sadly, the Spotted Eagle Ray from yesterday.  Despite my efforts, it had died.  Kate's right, shrimping sucks.

I started checking nests, and headed south to meet up with Kate.  Once we were reunited, we worked together to relocate the last nest we found.  Kate picked up the rest of the nests south, checking on them as I headed home.  She arrived at our back porch only a few minutes after me.  

We got cleaned up and ready for a ride with Andy to shore at noon.  We wanted to finally know for sure if our package was lost, or if he had just missed it.  It was lost - we couldn't find it anywhere.  We left the dock house and went to town for a few supplies at the hardware store and the grocery store.  Then we went out to lunch/dinner at a local Mexican place.  We met Andy back on the dock at 4:00, but had to wait until almost 5:30 for his wife Amanda, before we could leave.

At home, we put away our supplies, and found a note from our neighbor Jim about some teachers that were staying at the boarding house.  They were interested in sea turtle stuff, and we were encouraged to go visit them.  They offered us dinner, which we declined having just eaten, but we stayed for a couple of hours telling them all our stories and answering their questions.  They plan to run the beach tonight and see a nesting mama.  I wish them luck.  Tomorrow, we may engage them again for more sea turtle fun.  Tonight however, we'll be relaxing while they are out there in the dark.

Shrimp Trawling Sucks.

Steve and I left a little earlier than normal, really only 10 minutes, but it changes our perspective in the morning.  I had the south end, and lately have been patrolling South Beach first.  Since it was high tide at 6AM, the Boneyard would be impassable by truck.  Instead, I hopped in the kayak and began the short trip to South Middle.  The sunrise was absolutely beautiful this morning.  A huge, bright red sun slowly lifted over the horizon as I made my way through the marsh.  While the island offers many splendors, it's the little things that make us smile.

My patrol had no crawls, so instead I picked up trash as I checked on our nests.  I made a special effort to remove trash around the nest sites so I don't have to see it every day.  The stuff that washed up with the tide looks like household items, which immediately makes me blame the shrimp trawlers.  The season just opened yesterday, so now there are lots of boats close to shore.  Really close to shore.  When I first saw them yesterday, my heart sank.  There were at least 9 it one spot.  You can hear them, see guys walking on deck.  I know there are some that are responsible, but, I know that there are some that don't care if a bottle of water falls over the side.  We'll see if it continues.  On the way back, I accidentally ran over a ghost crab with the ATV.  A lot of them run up the beach when they see us coming and run right in front of us.  Rather than swerve, I usually hope they make it through.  Today, he wasn't so lucky and would later become blue crab bait.  Then I found an egg shell of some shore bird.  Brown and speckled but too big to be a Wilson's Plover. Willet maybe?

South Beach was easy, just two false crawls.  Just as I was getting the coordinates of my last one, Steve called to tell me he found a stranded Spotted Eagle Ray.  We decided that he should call Mark, since we believed it to be the result of the shrimp trawlers.  Mark said the same, and that it was probably stranded for a reason.  He told Steve that he boarded some trawlers yesterday and one pulled up a Manta Ray.  Steve told me later that he was able to move the ray to the water, which was no easy feat.  The ray was about 5 feet wide.  He hung out with it in the water for about 15 minutes and let it go.  We're not too optimistic, and I hope I don't see it stranded tomorrow morning.  Another tragedy of the trawling.

Shrimp trawling has the highest rate of incidental catch of non-target species.  Basically, the two nets go to the bottom and scoop up anything it their path, on the bottom and through the water column.  Anything that's not shrimp is discarded, often dying or dead.  Sea turtles drown, even though there are Turtle Excluder Devices at the back of the nets.  Often the TEDs aren't in position and therefore don't work correctly.  We've heard stories of the shrimpers killing the sea turtles that they bring up so they don't catch them again.  It's horrific.  The scary part for us is that our adult sea turtle population is nearshore, waiting to lay eggs.  Any female lost right now is detrimental.  Seeing the trawlers has reminded me of why I stopped eating shrimp a long time ago.  I forgot for a while, but now I see the harm.  Please think before you decide to eat shrimp again.  To learn how harmful the shrimp industry really is, check out ShrimpSuck.org.