Normal Went Out the Window.

Things are crazy on the island... again.  Everyone is off the island except for the Hog Boys.  Kate and I are once again watching all the animals.  This includes: Jim's 2 dogs and fish tank; Eric's 6 dogs, 4 pigs, and dozen+ chickens; Andy's 2 cats & 2 birds; and Mrs West's 3 horses, 3 pigs, 1 goose and one pea hen.  It's a surprising amount of work.  Eric's house also includes watering a garden.  What do we get out of it all?  Well besides brownie points, we get free garden veggies, and chicken eggs from Eric.  Andy's house provides us with a temple of solace.  He has a big TV and a whole lot of movies.  We can get away from the Hog Boys there, have some food, and love on some kittens.

In turtle news, Kate has found a depression in a nest, NB4.  This means it could hatch at any time.  We were a little surprised, given that it isn't the earliest nest, and wasn't even on our list to remove the small screening on for a few more days.  We suppose it's just in a warmer spot, and the eggs have "cooked" faster (meaning they've incubated faster).

Yesterday, we had nest 100 on North Beach.  Another interesting thing that I failed to report was the rescue of 4 little birds.  I was kayaking from the pavilion on the south point to the ATV on South Middle when I found 4 small chicks stranded on a ledge off the marsh.  It appeared a section of the marsh had collapsed and the chicks were stranded by the water.  I was particularly worried because I had seen a small alligator there the day before.  With a bit of urging, and the physical moving of one bird, I got all the chicks back up into the marsh.  After talking with Tim, the DNR bird guy, it appears the birds were Clapper Rails.

Birds have been on our mind more and more lately.  We have a population of Least Terns nesting on South Middle.  Today I found a nest that they laid.  It only had one egg in it, but it's the first we've seen, and likely the first nest they've laid.  They're an endangered species here in Georgia.  We're so happy to have them.  We've even made some homemade signs for this area to discourage people from disturbing the birds.  Right near the Terns there is a pair of American Oystercatchers sitting on a nest of 2 eggs.  We are waiting for their eggs to hatch, and hopefully in the next few days we'll have little Oystercatcher hatchlings running around.

So, in nature news, things are going well.  We are busy with turtles, birds and the island animals.  In domestic news, things are not going as well.  Cobey, the hunter is great, but Hog Boy Josh is not, and we've been having some serious battle with him.  I don't know what will happen, but I do think we've reached a tipping point.  It may come down to him or us...