From the Nest #07 Parents:
Nest 7 UPDATE!
We noticed our initial depression on Tuesday so we began sitting on day 54 in hopes of our babies being in a rush like the Springfield babies. By Friday we were all wondering what was going on, until a second sink hole opened just west of the first depression! Saturday the sink hole grew, and we all had our hopes up that we’d have a turtle show while the ocean was calm like a lake. No such luck!
We arrived Sunday, day 59, hoping that the turtles would stay in because of the storms. Well those little boogers had a different idea. At 713pm, right after Elaine had just finished telling a visitor how unusual a daylight hatch was, Jeanette said “OH it’s moving!!”… Terry B. got all excited and got Elaine’s attention, and suddenly insanity broke loose. Those babies weren’t waiting! The first turtle popped out while we quickly found someone to count – or so we thought. Turns out our assigned counter was too excited, so visitor Kay counted the babies and they filed out of the nest. 60 little loggers marched single file straight to the ocean. Video and photos were being taken left and right, since it was daylight! The 60th little logger slid down the escarpment just as number 61 came out and said “Where’d everyone go???”, so he made the march all alone. In 20 minutes, we had 61 little loggers in the water. As if the hatch was a signal to the clouds, it suddenly began to monsoon but none of us cared. We were celebrating!
Nesters and visitors slowly headed home as the night went on, but Kenny & I decided to stay until 11pm. At 1044pm, just as we were packing up, I suddenly needed Kenny to check the nest. That’s right, number 62 was giving us a private little show and he had the runway all to himself. Kenny ran to grab Raina from the motel across the street, and the three of us + Ivy escorted number 62 to the water. We ended up leaving around 1115pm with a smooth runway and great hopes for tomorrow.
We would like to thank everyone who has had a hand in helping with our nest, especially those of you who were brave enough to deal with the buckets of rain. We couldn’t have done it without you all! Lets hope the storms hold off tomorrow, and we get some more little loggers out into the water. ? ?
Good luck to nests 6, 8, and 9 that are all due right at the same time as ours. ?
Elaine, Kenny, & Ivy