and John to finish the inventory of Nest # 4. Karen had started the inventory on Tuesday,
August 7 after she found the nest had emerged on Saturday August 4. We found live
hatchlings and hatched eggs on Tuesday, and then discovered hatchlings still in the
process of hatching so we covered the nest and waited five days. Friday we found
two hatchling tracks leaving a very small hole near the reed-A good sign!! Today,
we found 48 hatched eggs!! No unhatched eggs, no dead hatchlings and no live
hatchlings. A great outcome!!
This nest was plagued by ghost crabs for weeks. 39 eggs were lost to these
ghost crabs with walkers finding empty shells scattered over the nest site
and in the dunes. So the numbers are: 99 eggs laid. 40 unhatched (the 39
listed above and one for DNA research) and 59 hatched. 59.5% hatching success.
Pictures and Post by Paulette
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| Erin and Mario were great today. This nest was deep after all the blown sand since Tuesday |
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| They found a tunnel deep in the nest. Mario found egg shells there!! |
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| Leslie is sorting the eggs. Empty hatched shells are a beautiful sight!! |
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| 48 hatched shells today!! The ghost crabs destroyed many eggs in this nest but we still had 59 babies heading for the open seas!! |
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