Moving forward

Tropical Storm Lee had me pretty bummed out when I saw how our remaining sea turtle nests were being battered by high surf and buried deeper with sand.  I didn't know how many would be left.

Yesterday was the first day we resumed patrols at Ft. Pickens after the road reopened and I was anxious to see how it looked. 

I was sad to see the nest I discovered on July 17th was marked 'LOST'.  

I even (accidentally) sacrificed my beloved Droid for this nest in the torrential downpour that morning when the pocket where I had it stashed filled with water.  Come to think of it, I think our bio-tech, Toby Stapleton fried his phone the same way that morning in another area.

This in situ nest (natural/not relocated) was a reasonable way from the water when it was laid, but is quite close now. 

Luckily, the mama loggerhead had climbed a fairly steep berm to nest, so this site escaped the worst of the waves.  Unfortunately, you can see that it ended up with about two feet of extra sand on top of it and these little fellows will need some help digging out.

Six unhatched sea turtle nests  remained at Ft. Pickens when Tropical Storm Lee shut us down.  Of those, two were lost.  We are hopeful the other four will hatch with little or no ill effects. 

This nest with the extreme sand accretion, FP 7281, was discovered by Volunteer Connie Mickle and appears to be the last next one for this season at Ft. Pickens.

FP 7251, a relocated nest, holds 84 loggerhead eggs, and escaped no worse for wear.  The number of eggs is slightly lower than usual.  Many of our nests contain 100 or more eggs.  

A photo of Ft. Pickens Road on the way out of the park.  Sand was piled over head-high on each side of the road.   Not surprising since it was reported that sand was 2 ft. to 4 ft. deep over certain areas of the road.

I feel more upbeat after a couple of days patrol.  Tomorrow morning I'll be patroling at Santa Rosa and I'm anxious to see it for myself as well.  I was very grateful to hear from our Bio-Tech Toby Stapleton that my Green nest made it through!  Expect photos tomorrow!!!

The lumbering loon

[You may double-click on the video above to watch it full screen and prevent the cut-off on the right. Afterward, click ESC on your keyboard to go back to normal viewing]

I've had a few calls and e-mails in the past month from people concerned about injured birds on the beach. So far, without exception, I've learned that the bird in question has been a common loon which came ashore to rest.

Yesterday I finally managed to capture a bit of video showing a Common Loon stumbling and lumbering its way back toward the water. Once you watch this you will understand why folks would think the loon has a leg or wing injury, when actually their legs are set back so far on their body that they can only manage to wobble about on land.

In the water, loons are very strong swimmers and divers. They also have four basic calls, which you may listen to by clicking HERE.   Mostly what I hear from the Common Loons on the beach are the beautiful 'Wail' and the 'Tremolo', the Wail being my favorite.

Gulf Islands National Seashore

How blessed we are to live in such a beautiful part of the country.   Pensacola Beach is flanked on both sides by the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

Sunrise at Navarre Beach

"We can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in the darkness."

~~ Author Unknown

The Great Blue Heron and the ray

Sometimes when I get busy, I forget about photos or video I've taken during patrol and wanted to share with you. This short video clip shows the Great Blue Heron I posted about on Sunday, walking around with just a bit too much breakfast to handle.

The biting flies have been out recently.  That generally happens when the wind blows out of the north, so when you see the picture jerk up and down and make a weird noise, it's because the flies were biting my ankles as I crawled nearer to the heron on my elbows and knees. I was trying to scrape/shrug them off of me!

The way I see it, even the Garden of Eden had a snake, so pests are to be expected in our little paradise, too.

Snowy Plover chicks

Gulf Islands National Seashore is full of these adorable Snowy Plover chicks.  Right out of their nests, they could probably outrun the average person!

Black Skimmer with chicks

This photo was taken on June 1 within the Santa Rosa area of Gulf Islands National Seashore.  If you click to enlarge the photo, you may be able to see the tiny beak and eyes peering out from under mama Skimmer's wing (to your right).

Just three days later I captured photos of the same nest with the chicks venturing out.  The daddy Skimmer guards his family and warns other birds to stay clear.

Black Skimmer chicks almost look cartoonish when they start toddling around.  Their body looks a little out of proportion to their head.

But they are such beautiful, graceful birds as adults, especially when you observe them feeding along the water's edge.

Those Tootling Terns

Needless to say, I love watching the tiny Least Tern chicks run around the beach and this is the music I hear in my head as they go tootling along.

Baby, baby!!!

I barely had time to get my camera out and capture a few frames of video before this little Least Tern chick outran me. Isn't it adorable?

This is a wondrous time of the year within Gulf Islands National Seashore with all the nests, chicks and fledglings.  And I'll be sharing as much as possible of the special discoveries on my patrol with my blog followers!

Ghost crabs

As a sea turtler patroler, click HERE to read why I'm not fond of ghost crabs, even though they may be cute as they skitter across the sand and are an important part of a beach ecosystem. 

The only part of my patrols I dislike is when I discover a ghost crab has burrowed into a nest and we must carefully dig down, remove them, and fill in their tunnel.  Otherwise these predators will eat the sea turtle eggs or hatchlings, if they have emerged and are working their way up toward the surface.

Mermaid's Purse

I discovered a Mermaid's Purse washed up on shore during sea turtle patrol.  These strange looking clumps are egg casings of (I believe) the Clearnose Skate, Raja eglanteria. 

To learn a bit more, you may Click Here to watch another YouTube video in which "North Carolina Sea Grant marine education specialist Terri Kirby Hathaway tells us more about this beachcombing find and unveils the secret to its animal identity."

A quiet sunrise

A quiet sunrise looked over the horizon at me - soft, silent, and unhurried. Nothing can rush it. Nothing can slow it down. It is perfection.

A Second Look

Sometimes we have to stop...


allow ourselves to get a wee bit closer...


and take a second look...

to see someone's or something's true beauty.

Sunrise

"Next time a sunrise steals your breath or a meadow of flowers leave you speechless, remain that way. Say nothing, and listen as heaven whispers, "Do you like it? I did it just for you."

~~ Max Lucado

The Egret

Egrets are very shy and it is difficult to get photos of them, much less a video clip. I saw this fellow looking for breakfast at Ft. Pickens this weekend.

Fins!

I captured a short video clip of this fella feeding on bait fish while patrolling at Ft. Pickens this morning. Perhaps someone can identify the type of shark by the dorsal fin and give us a length estimate.



Can't you feel 'em circlin' honey?
Can't you feel 'em swimmin' around?
You got fins to the left, fins to the right,
and you're the only bait in town.

~~ Jimmy Buffet, "Fins"

The Observation Tower

The World War II Observation Tower at Battery 234 in Ft. Pickens is silhouetted at daybreak.

I've noticed there are still a couple of Full Moon Walks at Langdon Beach (which is located with Ft. Pickens Area -Gulf Islands National Seashore) scheduled this fall:

Full Moon Walks (Ft. Pickens) at Gulf Islands National Seashore

Dates: 9/22/2010, 10/22/2010

Time: 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Location: Langdon Beach gulfside

Details: Full Moon Walks Wednesday, September 22, 6:30 p.m. and Friday, October 22 6:00 p.m. Enjoy the full moon on the beach while learning about the importance of dark skies to the park`s endangered sea turtles. Meet at Langdon Beach, gulf side. (1 hour)

Fees: $8.00

Contact: Steamer Lawhead
850-934-2629

Sunday at Pensacola Pass

It is great to see boats, fishermen, and lots of sea and shorebirds at the western tip of the island at Ft. Pickens and Pensacola Pass again.

The gold of the dawn

Night's darkness is the bag that bursts with the gold of the dawn.”

~~ Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)

June Grass

It was startling to see huge mats of June grass (Cladophora) which washed ashore around Langdon Beach this morning. As you can see in this and the following photo, there was also a sheen on the water.


I have no way of knowing if the sheen is related to oil or algae, but I will share one link about June Grass/Cladophora which you may find interesting: Definition of Cladophora.


Under the heading of "You can't teach common sense", I made a note of two swimmers splashing around and having a grand time just 50 ft. or so from this mess. Onlookers just shook their heads.

YIKES! It looks like 'gators or rows of alien creatures crawling ashore!

Bizarre, isn't it?!