Sullivan's Nest #5 July 1

We were honored to have Kelly Lambert from the SCDNR Marine Turtle Program along with us today for her first site visit to our Island Turtle Team nesting project. Karen Bartlett and Ginger Colvin once again found not only a false crawl but Nest #5 near Station 26 1/2 this morning. Three of the five SI nests were discovered by them. Seems like at least one of our loggerheads has found a break in the offshore shoal or sandbar to come in and nest in this neighborhood where all but one of this island's nests have been laid this season. The nest contained only 86 eggs and was laid just above the spring tide wrack line and in front of an old scarped dune. We moved them higher onto a nearby dune near halfway point between the paths for 26 and 26 1/2.

Karen and Ginger also found a false crawl just northeast of the Station 24 path. Track size here matched those from Nest #5 above and barely came up to the high tide line before turning around. On our way out to document those tracks, we saw a group of at least six of the little brown rabbits that live on our barrier islands. Since there has been a coyote den at Station 26 1/2 in the past, we were happy to see so many of the little beach bunnies surviving. We also saw some of them on the paths at 26 and 26 1/2 in addition to the large group at 24. Did you know that a group of rabbits is called a "colony" or a "herd?"