Nest #15 😊

July 9 and now we are 15! Not to mention several Possible Nests that may turn out to be nests after all is said and done. A downright busy summer!

After a week of sweltering heat and humidity, the weather was nice - breezy and cooler. Made the patrol a lot more pleasant. 

 

Since today is Day 45 for our first nest, we are taking proactive steps to protect the nest from predators. A cage was placed over this nest and also over Nest 2. While the coyote presence has bee limited this season, we would rather be safe than sorry. Those critters could come back anytime and wreck havoc. 

The lower end of the island was quiet...  On to the upper end: Steve was delivering cages to the two nests to be protected when he saw a crawl. Looking toward to ocean, he was lucky to see the mother turtle just re-entering the water! How cool is that?

The tracks leading into the ocean

The team split up with some continuing the island patrol and some investigating the crawl. It took a bit of time, but the nest was found.

Bingo!

Love that smile (and the visor too!) Egg for DNA sample on the surface

Nest #15!

All the other nests looked good except our new Nest 14 laid two days ago. This one was pretty shallow and the ghost crabs were happy about that. We had to remove one from the egg chamber this morning (a scary job!) and we placed a screen over it to deter any further problems.

Ghost crab in the hole

Hope this screen will keep those crabs out

Thanks to Leslie for sharing her photos!

Barb and Steve