Turtle Tracking

For the past 3 mornings, hubby and I have been up before 5 am (yup you read that right, 5 am!) to go turtle tracking.  We start about 1/2 hour before sunrise.  Saturday (the 27th), we went out to our barrier island designated as a bird sanctuary - Shell Island or Shell Key as it is known locally.  It is a growing sand barrier island and a new island has also popped up (quite literally) just next door and has been named Outback Key.

In fact these islands have grown so rapidly, that on Google maps we were walking on water! Google cannot keep up!

Our ride; thank you Island Ferry

Our work begins with a boat ride - not a bad way to start the day even if it is early in the morning especially as we saw frolicking dolphins on our journey.  We then walk the sandy beach portion of the island - from the south, across the west and up the north which has recently connected to another barrier island. What about the east side you say?  Well the East  is mainly impassable mangrove swamp - and a great nursery for all types of sea life. More importantly to us, it does not have a sandy beach which is what a turtle needs to make a nest and lay eggs.

Unfortunately, we and the turtles & birds are not alone on Shell Island.  It is the 3 day Memorial Day weekend and we have plenty of campers, boaters and fishermen with whom to contend.

This American Oyster Catcher momma scolded us and then hopped back on her nest; do you see her beautiful eggs?

boaters & campers on the island point

Our 3.1 mile trek involves carrying supplies - not just water, bug spray, sunscreen, snacks, and medical kit for us, but also cages and stakes for marking the nests we may find along the way.  

There are mangroves stretching across Shell Key we have to pass through, but we get to go where others cannot.Mangroves store carbon, filter heavy metals and protect against storm surges, but this stand died after flooding in last year's hurricanes & tropical storms. Watch out for the stumps which are trip hazards!

 

The cages are to protect the nest from predation by coyotes and raccoons, who just love those turtle eggs and baby turtles for a tasty snack.  Sadly it is even harder to protect the turtles from fire ants. No new nests on Saturday, but we have 19 so far and this is early in the season.  Go loggerhead turtles go!

Read the previous post to see tracks and nests.

Treasures of the day

Stormy Weather & Crafty Constructs

using the wind to ride faster?

sand coloured ghost crab

Wind creates great kite flying conditions, brings out the kite surfers and gave this beach biker a not very successful idea (see left). Today (24th May) we are under a Coastal Flood Watch as another low pressure front is expected to roar through. Tide is up and it is so humid our envelopes are now self-sealing - LOL.

Don't you just love these ghost crabs - look closely and you will discover why they have this name, however, they also prey on turtle eggs!

opps! kite surfing is hard work

kite surfer out our window

Flamingo kite

Right kite very patriotic

This turtle ran into beach chairs, but still managed to nest
and crawled 95 m (>300 ft)  back into the sea

The loggerhead sea turtles are going strong . . . although it is a bit harder to see the tracks/nest after a heavy rain! With Sea Turtle Trackers we had our picture taken for the St Pete Times but the article is yet to run.

Storms predicted for today, which is good as we have been very dry (Red Flag warnings for dry conditions with wind = high wildfire risk) and need the rain.

"false crawl" - no nest
happens about 50% of time

marked nest on Madeira Beach

And I have been busy with the sewing and weaving! These along with pillows for the hospital kids and the beginnings of a blouse and ill-fated trousers are my latest projects.

Brightens my beige metal front door!
Hangs using strip magnets inside the back cover

Never fear the C2C afghan was completed this week and next I will be back to  the dahlia quilt!

Strong winds & spring tides with a  new moon brought the foamy surf very close to home!

Bird Mobbing & Turtles Emerging!

We represented the Sea Turtle Trackers at Anona Elementary School Science Extravaganza Thursday evening the 11th May; great to share with the kids and we got to hold a sheep's brain and see a dissected cow's eye.

Female turtles have started emerging from the sea to lay nests on the beach. On the 15th May we were fortunate enough to be in the right place and the right time to get some experience of a nest relocation under the watchful eye of Turtle Joe.  Now this is rare - it must be done under permit and then only when the nest is in imminent danger - in this case of regular flooding as the mama turtle ran into a sea wall in an area already prone to high tides and flooding.

It must also be done very carefully - the eggs are fragile and must be taken out and then replaced in a new location in the same order and orientation as the original nest. We don't post pictures of the relocation, but here's a pic of the original nest and you can see the mama ran into the seawall so couldn't nest higher up the beach. See her tracks?

nesting turtle hit seawall, stopped and laid nest

Not only turtles keep us amused on the beach!

Two black birds chased off a much larger and  loudly protesting Great Blue Heron most mornings this week; the heron has a very distinctive call and it is quite a sight to see.

One day a lady beach goer even tried to come to the heron's aid chasing off the blackbird and then following the heron down the beach - all to little effect I might add.

My point and shoot was challenged to get pictures, but keep reading to see video and hear the heron squawk.

Here's a video of the black birds and the Great Blue Heron - this is called bird mobbing and I wonder if the black birds have a nest nearby? I must say my video is better than anything I found on Google -- be sure to listen to the Heron's warning call --


More wildlife news:  A critically endangered adult sawfish was caught earlier this month (and

from wikipedia

released) off John's Pass - about 8 feet in length. Normally Mad Beach is too far north for this creature - is this global warming? See his 'saw' or rostrum/nose extension in action on YouTube here.


Saturday morning our wildlife has to compete with a few human paddle boarders participating in various Florida SUP Cup races of 1/4 mile gentle run up to 9 mile course.  The wind is up a bit, so it can be tough going! Our Fire/Rescue team are doing a good safety job monitoring the participants from jet skis on the water and a UTV up and down the beach.

Our new pizza parlor, Slyce, finally opened; sitting on Slyce deck here's a picture of Madeira Beach across the water. We live near those two tall blue and white towers.
Drawbridge is on the left.