Nest 26 and/or 27(?) Inventory 9-22-2022

Well, it was yet again another crazy morning on Waties Island. We had a small group due to no students, but Erin brought guests and former walkers Mario and Rickey to help out with the inventory. We all drove up to the nest and checked PN7 and Nest 23 along the way. Unfortunately, there is still no sign of them hatching any time soon. Because we knew about how bad the mosquitoes would be on the back side of the dune, most of us wore head nets, long sleeves and pants, and a LOT of bug spray. We all climbed over the dune and Mario quickly started digging where the hole that was found on Monday was. 

Mario & Kim starting the digging process. 

Realizing how deep the hole actually is, and that we didn't think we were digging in the right spot.

We all were prepared to find a nest quickly and had buckets for the eggshells so we could sort and count them on the beach side of the dune. It wasn't long before a dead hatchling was found in the hole. Rickey and Mario continued to dig where the hatchling was, hoping to find eggshells soon. Unfortunately, after all efforts had been made to find the cavity, including using shovels and demolishing that part of the dune, no other hatchlings or eggshells were found. 

Using a shovel to break the wall of the dune, hoping to find signs of a nest. 

Rickey and Leslie coming to the conclusion that the nest is nowhere to be found. 

One last check!

Determined guests, Mario (left) & Rickey (Right) with all the sand they dug.

While waiting for the group to find something. Kim decided to walk around the back side of the dune looking for any signs of hatchlings or eggshells. She found a single eggshell on the sand about 25' from where we originally were digging. Out of curiosity, she decided to dig there and about 8" down, she found more eggshells, a dead hatchling and an entire nest cavity. Oddly, there was no sign of there being a nest there, so no one thought to dig there. The nest was inventoried, and the results were as follows: 101 hatched, 7 unhatched and 1 dead hatchling; a 935% hatch rate and 92.5 emergence. 

Finally finding eggs, just not where we thought they'd be.

Lorna counting every eggshell we found.

Final results of nest 27(?)

The dead hatchlings from each area were used in separate DNA Vials created by Erin and that is the only way we will determine if there are two nests or one, and we just misjudged where it was located. In all it was a long morning and were very thankful for our two guests that were very hands-on and determined to find a nest!

Our Halloween Hatchling

Narrative by Erin and Kim, photos by Erin, Leslie & Kim.