High Winds Yield High Nest Numbers

After yesterday, when we only had one nest and one false crawl, we started thinking maybe the nesting season had peeked and things were slowing down.  But today was another example of how turtles are unpredictable.  Just when you think you've got them figured out, they surprise you.  Today turned out to be our busiest day ever - we had 10 nests, and 9 false crawls!

The morning greeted us with rain and a cool wind blowing at 25mph.  It looked like it would be one stormy day. We made sure to pack our rain gear as we headed out toward the beaches.  I made a brief stop at the minnow hole to pick up some bait and visit the tiny baby alligators that live there.  Then I drove tot he south end pavilion, released yet another captured house mouse, and then drove through to South Beach.  As soon as I turned off the road and onto the beach I spotted a crawl, the first ever in this area.  It turned out to be a non-nesting emergence (false crawl), but it was a good sign of things to come.

Further down the beach I found another crawl.  It was extremely hard to read.  The rain and high winds made the track look three days old, but I knew it was today's.  You can barely make out the tracks in this picture.  The crawl went over an escarpment and then into an old hog rooting hole.  There was barely any way to tell what happened, if it was a nest or not, and if so, where it might be.  I probed around for awhile but found nothing.  It was raining and the wind was blowing hard.  I couldn't find anything, so I went back toward the water to examine the track closer.  It turned out I had the in-track and out-track reversed.  With this new information I went back to the disturbed area, and found the nest in just a few more probes.  I still think this one was mostly luck.

I found another nest at the southern tip of the island.  It was an obvious one and I found the eggs quickly.  The only difficulty was that the turtle had dug up and thrown some very prickly vegetation around that stuck my hands and feet several times as I dug up an egg.  Soon it was screened off and I was on my way to South Middle.

The paddle out to the ATV was strenuous, with both the wind and the tide working against me.  At one point I tried to take a break from paddling, but I just ended up going backward, so I had to press on.  Once I finally got to the ATV and onto the beach I was surprised by how strong the wind was.  Sand was blowing all over, completely obliterating any view of the beach.  Luckily it wasn't constant, and in the lulls I could make out the wet sand and find the crawls.  I found two nests there, relocating one.  When I was all finished, the kayak trip back was easy, as now the wind was pushing me along.

I drove to the causeway to wait for Kate and use up some of the bait I collected in the morning.  I managed to catch another nice red drum before she arrived.  When she did I learned that she too had a busy morning, and it started just like mine.  The minute she turned onto the beach she spotted a crawl, and then another, and another.  Kate ended up with 6 nests, making our daily total 10, and bringing our overall total to 150!

After we got home, at lunch and took naps, we spend some time cutting up the new screening material Adam had delivered.  We now have enough new screen for 50 more nests.  I would love to hit 200 nests for the season.  We have been thinking the possibility of that is slim to none, and it may still be, but after a day like today there is some hope.

The winds are expected to keep up all night and tomorrow.  It's going to be tough spotting and decoding the crawls tomorrow.  Still there are some good things about it.  One, the beach gets erased, and it's always nice to look at a clean beach over one with tire tracks everywhere.  And two, it's nice and cool out, much nicer than working in the blazing heat with feet scalding on the white sand.