Nests 52, 53 & 54

WOW!  Another busy morning on the beach with nests 52, 53 and 54!

Deb Wein, Dave Roberts and Norm Powers called first with 2 crawls.  The first was into the myrtles just north of where the horses enter the beach. The second was near boardwalk 4.  The Middletons responded.  Bill started at the myrtles.  After significant probing, he took a break from that site and went to the crawl near boardwalk 4.  There he found Nest 53 and its 87 eggs.  Norm and Eileen Middleton worked together to move it to its new home north of boardwalk 6.

Mimi Montague, Pixie Hider and Lynne Madison reported two crawls on North Beach. Tim Morawski responded.  The first crawl was just beyond the second dog sign meandering into the protected bird area. Tim worked the various potential locations and eventually declared it a false crawl.  
Further down the beach there was another crawl at the bend to the inlet. Judy Morr responded and noted there were broken branches partially buried between the body pits. Probing in that area she found a soft spot and after digging out the broken branches, found the nest with 122 eggs.  Nest 52 was relocated to higher ground about 100 yards north of boardwalk 6. 

Meanwhile. Bill Middleton and Tim Morawski went back to the myrtles.  Tim found Nest 54.  Tim, Judy and Eileen moved the 125 eggs to a new location 20 yards south of Nest 53.

 

Nests 50 & 51

Zone 3 had two crawls that became nests 50 and 51. Judy Morr and Jo & Jim Eisenhauer were the walkers

Nest 50 was south of the vehicle entrance to the beach.  Prober Trainee Gayle Evans, under the supervision of Sandy MacCoss, found the eggs on only her second day of training. Nice start for Gayle. There were 142 eggs plus 2 spacers in the nest. 135 eggs were moved close to boardwalk 6.  Several eggs were impaled on roots inside the nest. 

Nest 51 was near boardwalk 6. The crawl was found by young visitor Hallie Johnson. She and her father walk every morning. Tim Morawski found the 99 eggs. One egg with no yoke was found broken at the top of the nest. 

We are way ahead of last year's pace and on par with 2015, our all time record year.

Nests 46 through 49

North beach was popping this morning with nests 46,47 & 48. Nest 46 was near the first dog sign, 47 was near the second dog sign and 48 was way down near the Kiawah River. All were relocated to higher ground near the first dog sign.

#46 had 90 eggs, #47 had 94 eggs with one broken in the nest and #48 had 94 eggs. The walkers were Pam Salvestrini, Ruby Jenkins and Mary Van Deusen. Judy Morr found nests 46 and 48 and Bill Nelson & Linda Nelson found nest 47. 

Jane Magioncalda, Bob and Vicky Becker and their guests found the crawl of nest #49 just north of the Club. Tim Morawski & Terry Fansler responded with Gayle Evans assisiting. Tim Morawski found the nest of 122 eggs. The nest was very narrow all the way down and 21 eggs were broken in the middle of the nest.

We're way ahead of last year's pace and only a few days behind the pace set in 2015, our record year!.

Nests 43, 44 & 45

It was a busy morning with Nests 43, 44 and 45 plus two false crawls. The mamas must have liked the high tide.

The first call was from Anne Snelgrove, Gayle Evans and Barbara Hanson with a crawl before the old pier.  Bill Greubel walked in to find Nest 44. The 150 eggs were moved to higher ground by the three palms near the pier. The waves were lapping at the old nest as it was being moved.

There was another crawl all the way to the southern end and up Privateer Creek.  Anne Snelgrove was so confident there was a nest she promised to eat her shorts if Bill Greubel couldn't find it. Fortunately for Anne, Bill found the eggs for Nest 45. The mama had to work to lay that nest as the 153 eggs were in various pockets around tree roots.  The nest was relocated next to Nest 44.
Meanwhile, Melanie Jerome, Ruth Ann Henderer and Kathy Francis called with a sure nest in the private walkway between Boardwalks 2 and 3. It was a sure nest as there were egg shells, crab holes and flies all over the area.  Judy Morr responded and amazingly found Nest 43 without even needing to probe.  A raccoon did the work of finding the nest. Unfortunately, 13 eggs were lost to predation. One of the predated eggs was used for the dna sample. The remaining 117 eggs were moved with the other nests near Boardwalk 6.

Further up the beach there were two other crawls into the myrtles. Sandy MacCoss  responded and confirmed both were false crawls.  No flags were left since they were obvious in and outs.

                                                     Good thing we moved the nest

Nests 41 & 42 plus Mermaids

The morning started early when walkers Melanie Jerome, Anne Snelgrove, and Gayle Evans called with a crawl at the last Pelican Nest Villa. Tides were high so Bill and Eileen Middleton responded on foot. Nest 41 with 123 eggs was moved back in the same area. They were joined by Pat & Valerie Luzadder's Grandchildren.

Zone 3 walker Norm Powers then called with two crawls half way between Boardwalks 2 and 3.  Tim Morawski responded and found Nest 42. The 126 eggs were moved to the area near Boardwalk 6.  The second crawl has been marked with a false crawl flag.

Maintenance on nests 1, 8 & 26 was performed by Junior Patrol members Cooper Cranfill & Alexandria, Christopher & Victoria Potter. They pounded in popped pegs and added sand where needed. Terry Fansler oversaw the operation apparently oblivious to child labor laws.The crowd also enjoyed a rare sighting of live mermaids on the beach.