Wednesday, July 1, 2020

A Few Photos

  It’s been a while so I thought I’d put up a few photos so you know I’m still around.  As we live in one of the states with the soaring number of Covid cases, we don’t get out much beyond a walk in the neighborhood or, once in awhile, a very early one on the beach where it’s turtle nesting time.  I’ve shown their nests before but recently we came upon something called a “false crawl”.  
 

  That’s where a female turtle comes up out of the ocean at night and heads up the beach toward the dunes, looking for a place above the tide line to lay her eggs.

  If not interrupted, she will dig a hole and deposit about 120 eggs, cover them, and make her way back to the water.  The eggs will incubate in the hot sand and then 55-60 days later, they will hatch.  The babies will dig their way out of the sand and follow each other in a long line down to the water, to begin their lives in the sea.

  However, if something interrupts the mother at nest building, if she hears a dog bark, sees the flashlight or camera flash of someone walking the beach, or a yard light or even interior light from a house, she will abandon her efforts.

  In the photo above you can see her path toward the dunes and below, the nest she began to dig.  


  This nest was not finished, abandoned early in her attempt.




  And here, her return path to the sea.  The outer marks are her legs and feet and the line down the middle, her tail.  It takes an enormous effort for a sea turtle to move this far on land and any attempt that is abandoned reduces her chances of making a successful nest for the season.  Sea turtles are endangered so every successful nest is precious.  They are protected animals and it’s illegal to have any lights on the beach at night during turtle nesting time, May - October.  But, people don’t always obey the law.  
   🐢   🐢   🐢

A few more photos ...
Great blue heron with his eye on the fishing pole to the right
He will snatch the bait if given half a chance!  


  Anhinga drying his wings on a rice gate structure
Unlike most water birds, anhingas don’t have oil glands.  Their feathers get soaked with water and the weight helps them submerge to fish, swimming along with only their heads above the water.  Then in order to fly they have to dry their wings.  Their nickname is “snakebird” and I’m sure you can see why.

  The Writer giving his nightly concert from the sunroom
  A gift of Covid, sheltering-in has provided us both with extra time to pursue things somewhat neglected when we could travel — music for him, art for me.  The music brings me back to the times when we lived in the Appalachian Mountains without electricity and I would often fall asleep to the sweet sounds of him singing and playing the folk songs we both loved.  

And last, a photo of Mason to make you smile, 
a happy dog-and-boy reunion after a day apart.  

15 comments:

  1. Cute boy and dog reunion. That is a serious matter to disturb a female sea turtle so she abandons her egg laying. Do rangers patrol the beach to protect them?

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    1. No, the beaches aren’t really patrolled regularly for the turtles. South Carolina alone has 2900 miles of coastline, much of it habitat for turtle nesting.

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  2. aww Mason has a best friend! So cute. I figured you are still in a hotspot for Covid 19. I am not sure all this will ever end but we keep moving on...what are the options? We are so glad it is summer and we can be outside for a long time as the four walls get boring even with a numerous amount of projects. Yeah for new hobbies:) Stay safe!

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  3. As I type this Dan is practicing guitar in our bedroom. Between that and studying Spanish he has kept busy.
    Too bad for the turtle. Hopefully she tried again another night.

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  4. Such a shame for the turtle, hope all was well in the end. A wonderful photo of Mason and the dogs reunion, adorable. It is so nice that hobbies are making a comeback.

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  5. How sad for the turtles. Wish everyone would obey the rules. Your pictures are beautiful. And, I love what you said about falling asleep to the sweet sounds of the folk songs. The picture of Mason and the dog is so sweet. What a long dog he is. :) Oh, Cynthia, I enjoyed the post on the old bottles. That is so interesting.

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  6. Sea turtles are very majestic animals. I've only seen them twice. Here we don't have turtles at all let alone sea turtles.

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  7. A pity that the poor old turtle was disturbed, there are always some ignorant people who can't live by simple rules. We'll all be accomplished musicians and artists if this goes on much longer.

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  8. That is sad the turtle mother was interrupted. Hope she can leave her eggs another time. The boy and the dog look both very happy, and I would love to hear your hubby playing and singing....

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  9. What a tragedy that the turtles are unable to successfully lay their eggs. I wonder how many more ways we can dream up to interfere with nature and thwart other creatures to satisfy our own selfishness. The picture of Mason with his dog was just the bright note needed to end your post. Thanks for that!

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  10. Pleased to see a post and know you are ok...thank goodness.
    Goodness that's sad she didn't get to lay her eggs, do hope she does and it goes well - nature is amazing really.
    Nice photos of everyone.
    Take care.

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  11. That’s so sad that the turtle wasn’t able to accomplish her goal. I’m glad you’re all having this peaceful time together.

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  12. Sorry you couldn't see my sidebar. I've had problems with it loading. Eventually it does. This started when the new blogger took effect. Don't know how to fix it.

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  13. The last photo is so cute. Its good you both have something to fill your days. The TV news about US is so sad. I think of all my American blog friends and hope they are okay. We were doing so well until the state of Victoria have had another outbreak due to lax supervision of returned Aussies from overseas quarantine hotels. Now Melbourne where my grandchildren and family live has gone back into lockdown and home schooling. Here in QLD we are still free from any new cases. But we are all worried about the virus sneaking back in now our borders are open except for Victorians.
    Our turtles do the same thing. It's quite amazing to watch. Our beaches are closed during the nesting season.

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  14. I know that feeling 'it's been a while blogging', I've been rather sporadic too. It's good to know all is well. The Gift of Covid has your right given us time and appreciation. Love the cute dog with your Grandson. Our Crazy Poodle just loves the covid life with the family home working, and they have loved having him to take for a walk.
    Hugs
    Wren x

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