Sunday, September 27, 2020 - Nest 15R Lost, and than there are 2

 Today Nest 15R was 70 days old today, we have not seen any sign of hatching or emergence, so Sharon dug both at the DNR pole and in the ghost crab hole that was very close to the nest.  Again. nothing was found. There were 21 eggs buried in this nest on July 19. This nest is considered "Lost".  It was one of our relocated nests, there were 3 relocated nests this year.

The season is winding down, and we have 2 nests left.  Nest #16R, our last relocated nest, which is to the right of the beach access road.  It is 59 days old today.  Our last nest laid is Nest #18, laid right after Hurricane Isasias, it is 53 days old today.  It is located past Marker 3, very close to Marker 4.

We are really counting on these nests to do something - we really need some good news.

Wednesday 9/23/2020 - Nests 13 & 14

 Beautiful picturesque start to the morning over the marsh!

Leslie and I found Nests 13 & 14 on 7/15 which made them 70 days old today.  After Isaias we all used markers, poles and GPS to try and find them the best we could.  Most of the dunes were swept away.

So today we started with #13 and actually dug three different areas.  At the GPS pole, secondary pole and a ghost crab hole between the two.  

 #13 dug really deep, found nothing.

At #14 we went to blog checked out pictures of dunes again. Using GPS and pictures we started at

different ends and dug to the center -  GPS coordinates.  Again we found no signs of nest chamber.

Unfortunately both nests will be recorded as Lost Nests.

Even though we did not have a great outcome, our island  always finds a way to lift our spirits!

  As we were driving back

 

We are all hoping for a different out come with our remaining nests!!

  

Sharon & Leslie

Monday, September 21, 2020 for your viewing enjoyment

 Hi All - just some interesting pictures from this morning, Team Monday, Bill and Flossie Chapman.  Pictures are compliments from Bill.

Well, the ocean takes and ocean gives back.  Bill was able to notify us that our DNR sign for Nest #10 has been returned to us from the ocean.  It looks like it took a beating.

And Bill  has a picture of a nice buck on the beach.

Enjoy - Leslie

Hurricane Isaias took most of our DNR and poles, but the ocean has returned the DNR sign that marked Nest #10 

Saturday, September 19th Latest Update

Well, again I held out hoping for good news to report, but that is not the case.  Its been two weeks since my last update.  This has been a crazy frustrating year. First, we had to deal with COVID-19, and walking without our volunteers and students, (you are missed), than the arrival of Hurricane Isasias, which destroyed the island’s dunes, the loss of most of our nest poles to locate the nests, a fish kill, and this week a King Tide, and nests over-washed.

Since my last update, we had six nests left, we now have five.  Unfortunately, Nest #11 was considered lost.  We were able to know where this nest was located since the secondary pole was still in the dunes after Hurricane Isasias.  We had placed a cage and decorated the cage to deter the digging by the coyotes, but we never saw any indication of hatching or emergence.  The Tuesday Team, Barb and Steve dug this nest up on Day 70.  This is Barb’s narrative about this nest. “Nest 11 was 70 days old and we removed the cage and excavated under the reed. Unfortunately, after much digging, no eggs were found. The sand was hard packed and had mineral layers evident. This nest when originally found was up on a small bluff; my guess is that the hurricane took out the bluff and likely the eggs too.” So, another nest lost.

The next action seen was on September 11th, on Nest #13.  The Friday Team, Paulette and Leslie, Paulette's narrative "found a large Ghost Crab hole and shells about 15 feet directly east of the sign for nest #13. The hole was big and maybe another creature had dug too. There were no prints or marks. Leslie dug as deep as she could laying on her stomach and reaching deep into the sand. We did not find the egg chamber.  In the loose sand we found 5 very white empty shells and 4 ugly unhatched eggs. A dead very premature hatchling was also found".  This nest location was by searching via the GPS coordinates, so where we marked it with a pole, was pretty close to where we found the Ghost Crab hole.  When we found these eggshells Nest #13 was 58 days old.

We have been learning a lot this year, since much we have had to deal with is not the norm.  We continue to hold on to hope for our other nests.

Nest #11 - after extensive digging no eggs were found, comparing the location of previous pictures, it was determined that the dune, along with our nest were swept away by the hurricane.

Nest #13 - another nest "discovered" by a Ghost Grab or some other animal - no tracks 

Pictures from Friday morning, after the King Tide, moved the wrack from the middle of the beach right up to the base of the dunes

Over-wash Nests #13, #14, #15

Other pictures for your viewing pleasure 

Interesting find 

The new Swash

Located above Marker 8

Steve walking up the beach

Monday, September 7, Labor Day

 Hoping you, your family and friends had a wonderful Labor Day weekend.  I was holding out in  updating everyone with some good news, but that did not happen today and did not want to wait any longer to let you know what is happening.

In summary, here is what nests are still active.  We have 6 nests still to hatch/emerge.  We are waiting for Nest #11 to emerge, this nest is 62 days old today, and we are crossing our fingers.  After Nest #11, we have nests #13,#14,#15,#16 and #18.  We have cages on nests #11, #16, and #18 hoping this deters our resident digging canine (Coyote).  Since we lost most of nest markers, it has been a challenge to locate our nests.  At this time, we have DNR poles marking the general vicinity of some of our nests.  We are hoping our Ghost Crabs assist us in locating the nest chamber and hoping the Coyote does not dig up any more of our nests.  

Here's the other stats we have - 3 nests, #1-3 were inventoried with pleasing results. Nine of our nests were lost, several to the tidal surge of Hurricane Isasias, 5 were lost to our canine friend/fiend.  The sad thing about most of these nests that were dug up, the hatchlings had hatched, but did not get the chance to emerge from the nest.  Per SCDNR, the Coyote can hear the hatchlings under the sand, and the nest is than dug up, and the Coyote has a meal.  It has been a very challenging season this year.

On a happier note, I have posted some pictures of the island for your viewing pleasure.

You never know what you are going 

                                                to find on the beach

The dunes - middle of the island                                                          

the sailboat and a Ghost Crab

The "new" saltwater pond, above Marker Post 8, and the Shrimper Rigging made it through the hurrucane
The dunes at the top of the island

Nest #11 and Nest #16 - we decorated the cages with flag garland that waves and makes noise when the wind blows, another Coyote determent

The Jetty took a major hit from the hurricane tidal surge

Bobcat tracks

and the island at Hog Inlet

Good morning . . .