Friday, May 12th, 2023

Another beautiful morning on our beloved island. Still no evidence of any nesting activity, however, we were privileged to witness another endangered species enjoying the beach on its migratory journey northward. They presented a different appearance than our resident shorebirds, more plump with a terracotta-red chest. Our resident savant, Jingle, helped us identify them as Red Knots.

Red Knots breed in the central Canadian Arctic and have one of the longest migrations of any bird, more than 9000 miles. They rely heavily on stopping sites to refuel their bodies - nutritious horseshoe crab eggs are the desired food source. 

Red Knots are endangered and threatened by over harvesting of horseshoe crabs, climate change, and coastal development. 

How lucky we were to observe these beauties this morning! 

Photos by Jingle and Kim

May 9th, Tuesday Finds

 No turtle tracks yet, but soon we all hope.

But we did see evidence of lots of animals today - deer tracks all over the beach (both bucks and does) as well as coyote tracks. And of course, the usual ghost crabs we know so well. In addition to the ghost crabs, we also found a live spider crab. It wasn’t too happy about being on show and tell :)

One of our volunteers found a treasure - a vertebrae, maybe from a dolphin or small whale. Very cool!

Last, but not least, a copperhead snake in the roadway near the first gate. We gave that one lots of space…

Buck hoof print

Doe hoof print

Mystery vertebrate 

Spider crab

Snake!

Sunday May 7th, 2023

 It was a cool breezy morning with no turtle activity. All four volunteers walked the entire beach because two volunteers were brand new to the island. 

The low tide allowed the volunteers to spread out while walking and lots of trash was collected, including a penguin!

 

It was crazy to see how high the high tide line is along the beach and how little beach the mama turtles will have to lay undisturbed nests. There were a lot of jellyfish washed up along with a few horseshoe crabs and even a starfish.

 We also came across a bunny hopping down the road on the drive back to the shed. Overall, it was a great morning, and it was a pleasure to be back out on the island! 

Photos and Blog by Erin Dean

Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023

 It was another cool, chilly morning on Waties Island for the volunteers.  No turtle news, but the strong, high winds we have been having have certainly changed the lower portion of the island.  It has pushed the water to the base of the dunes up by the Little River Jetty.

Early Sunrise over the marsh

Unique design from the high winds

Dunes from the high winds

This Tom Turkey was running along Little River Neck Road before running down this lane

 

Monday, May1, 2023

 Nice cool start for the first walk of the season.

No nest, but we found three bags of trash and groups of jellyfish all the way up the beach.

Below are Donna and Jewel happy to be back!!

When we turned to walk back, that’s when we had to deal with the wind, but it was worth it.

Friday, April 28th - Nesting season starts on Monday, May 1st

We had a Meet and Greet meeting yesterday and it was attended by a number of our new, returning, and our veteran volunteers.  Our new volunteers were able to experience the drive to the shed in the daylight vs seeing it for the first time in the dark.  Our sign in process was covered and they got to explore the shed and meet the other new volunteers and LOAs who attended.  Thank you for coming out, and it is nice to meet volunteers in the daylight.  

All of the start up work has been completed - supplies, Log Book, Numbered Markers, and buckets on poles are on the beach.  So everyone knows, the bucket and poles for Marker 5 are located at the base of the dune.  There was not a safe place to locate them by the Marker post.

There are four cages on the beach, they are for a CCU student's research project, they do not need to be checked.  Two are located toward Hog Inlet, and two toward the jetty, all are close to the Beach Access Road.

There is work being done around the shed, trees being removed and cut down.  Your LOA will keep you apprised if we need to change our parking habits. 

You will hear from your LOA shortly about start times, and contact information.

If you wish to order a shirt, hat or visor, please get your order in ASAP.  The cut off date is May 7th.

Monday, April 24th - one week before the 2023 Sea Turtle Nesting season starts in South Carolina

The anticipation and enthusiasm for the new nesting season is fast approaching.  Our volunteers have been assigned to a walking team walking team, supplies have been purchased, and all other things have been completed.

I came across this youtube instructional video about the Loggerhead Sea Turtle and thought it was worth sharing.  This video is produced by Leah who is an Educator and Biologist for the state of South Carolina.  I have been given permission to re-post this very informative video.  I hope you enjoy, this is a great refresher for our veteran volunteers and very informative for our new volunteers.