A very beautiful post for nest #2 by Kym Davidson

Hi Everyone,

Below is a blog that Nest #2 Mama, Kym Davidson posted on WHQR blog site.  I am so happy she shared it with me so that I could post it here.  Kym's excitement really comes through in the post and it is contagious!!!!!  (Nest #2 was found several weeks ago---sorry that I am late in posting)

Turtling

Posted on July 14, 2011 by insidewhqr

Kym Davidson, Underwriting Representative:

After four summers of walking Wrightsville Beach every Sunday morning, enjoying the sunrises and abhorring the trash,  I was actually greeted with turtle tracks leading to a nest!  Last Sunday in the early morning hours, and in the light of a nearly full moon, a mama turtle decided to lay her eggs in the very zone I walk, on the very day I walk it!  With five zones being monitored and maintained seven days a week with very little turtle activity, this was a remarkable discovery!  Of course this nest is shared with many eager Wrightsville Beach Sea Turtle Project volunteers which now partners with Keep It Clean – working to make WB a safe and beautiful beach for all its visitors, especially the sea turtles.  So far to date, over 35 of our volunteers have collected over 300 bags of garbage this turtle nesting season, trash that would otherwise be in our waters.  Toward the end of the summer, we hope to witness these eggs hatch, as baby turtles will begin their journey to grow and flourish and hopefully return to our beaches to repeat the cycle.  In the meantime, we will keep attempting to ‘keep it clean’ and safe for them. Right now I am enjoying the excitement of being a sea turtle nest-mama!

http://turtles.wrightsville-beach.info/

http://www.wbkeepitclean.blogspot.com

week 12--John Marcucci finds a nest in zone 4!!!!!

On Sunday night, I asked John if he would please walk the zone in the morning (7/18) without me, explaining that I felt exhausted and thought I needed some sleep.  He kindly agreed.

At 4:30AM, I woke up and asked him the time.  I made a mental note that he would need to get up soon to go to the beach.  I was worried and did not sleep well because Foxy, our indoor/outdoor cat and early morning alarm had decided to sleep outdoors and I was worried John would oversleep without her (our alarm clock broke and we currently do not use one).  So, again at 5:30, I was wide awake and nudged John telling him to get up so he could go walk the beach.

I still laid awake as I heard him getting ready and I thought, "I should really get up and go with him, I'm already awake".  But I decided to not go thinking I would get some much needed rest while he was gone---wrong!  I kept waking up and finally was worried that he was not back.

I found my phone (it was on silent) and saw every indicator was lit up.  I thought, "no way, he did not find tracks without me."  As I clicked on the messages, I saw a picture of very beautiful sea turtle tracks. Before I could listen to the messages John had left, Nancy was calling.  I answered and told her that I was getting dressed and was on my way.  She said she was on her way to the beach as well and would see me there.  She was very excited.  I was excited too, but I was still processing my self-frustration at missing this opportunity.  I could not believe it!!!!


Okay, so I was asked this week by a dear friend and fellow volunteer, Kathleen Britton, how I really felt about my husband finding the nest on the one day that I decided to stay in bed.  My response was:  "I feel 3 ways":

1. I am happy for John.  He always supports me, forwards my emails to friends and gives me way too much credit without taking any himself.  This time, he has to take all the credit, and he deserves it, which makes me very happy for him!

2.  I am really sad that we did not get to share the experience together.  I think it would have been really fun to find the tracks together and feed off of each other's excitement.  It may be a once in a lifetime opportunity and I regret we did not share all of it.

3. I am so frustrated at myself and it will never happen again.  I can't believe the one time I miss walking the zone,  I miss finding tracks!!!  where is the justice???   :)   (I say all of this with a laugh b/c I am ecstatic we have a nest and I am so happy for John)

So, on John's walk, he found the following trash (3 bags)
1 plastic bag
1 plastic bottle
2 unmatched socks
1 hat
1 pair of sandals
1 pair of flowered sunglasses
6 toys
2 balloons with strings
15 Bud Light cans
4 straws
31 bottle caps

IN ADDITION TO:
ONE set of tracks that led to 129 beautiful sea turtle eggs!!!  Thank you Mamma Turtle!!!!

As I was helping Nancy at the nest sight, I found two pieces of beautiful sea glass (emerald green and aqua marine blue)---I never find sea glass....   I like to think this was also a gift.

I want to thank Nancy for all of her patience, guidance, kindness and excitement in teaching me about relocating this nest.  I will never forget it!!!

"The Nest That Needed a Beach" by Nancy Fahey (6/14/11)

Good Evening WB Turtlers,

A mid-day phone call from Matthew revealed some of the strangest turtle news, ever:  A gentleman from Southport had called to report that he saw a huge loggerhead sea turtle nesting on the bank of the Cape Fear River near his home last night.  At first, the man thought it was a deer thrashing around in the brush, but a closer look for the source of the noise brought him face to face with a tired loggerhead turtle emerging from the sea grass and slowing making her way back to the water's edge.

Say what?  My thoughts:  this must have been the work of one humongous snapping turtle!  Matthew, however, went on to say that another sea turtle nest had been found a little over two weeks ago near the very same area on the river.  Hmmmm.....very interesting!  Next, he asked if I would be interested in going down to relocate the nest to a more sea turtle friendly environment.  Really?  No kidding?  You bet ya....I've got just the place for some beautiful sea turtle eggs!!

A quick call to Kathleen and Morgan Britton elicited a similar response of, "Heck yea.....we would love to go help relocate a nest!"  And we were off!

Once reaching the river, I could hardly believe my eyes!  Sure enough, the faintly imprinted tracks of a sea turtle had been left behind on the sand.  This turtle had drug herself up the bank of the river through debris of all kinds: rocks, trash, construction materials, you name it.

 How could a nesting mother turtle choose such a place for her precious clutch?  However, in the grass at the top of the bank were the distinct signs of a successful nesting site; buried grass, broken roots, and piles of displaced sand.

For reasons we may never understand, this turtle appeared to have nested in this less than desirable place, after all.  One thing was immediately clear: left in this place, the hatchlings would be doomed.  We had to find that clutch!

Finding the eggs was no easy task, but after a few hours of digging, find them we did!!  There nestled in the sand was the lone gleaming egg that would lead us to the others.  Wha-hoo!!

 Quickly, but carefully, we placed the soft eggs one by one into the bucket.  One hundred and two eggs later, we were ready to head back to Wrightsville Beach.

Thinking of our One-derful Nest Number One of a few years ago, we decided on the perfect spot for the
safe keeping of our booty.

Nestled on the north end between Wrightsville Dunes and Shell Island Resort, you will find one very special nest for Wrightsville Beach; our first adopted nest ever.  A nest that needed a beach for a beach that needed a nest.  I just love happy endings! :)

Congratulations and many thanks to the nest parents, Kathleen and Morgan Britton.  I really do not know what I would have done without your help, unwavering dedication, and enthusiasm for the great nest relocation effort today.  You are both more than awesome, and the turtles are ever so lucky to have you on their side!

Hope you enjoy the beautiful pictures courtesy of Kathleen and Morgan.

Happy Turtling!

Nancy