June 8, 2007 - Lovers Key - 2

This was a day for the unusual.  Barb and I get to have breakfast with this little marsh rabbit on a regular basis and today Barb decided it needed its portrait taken.  Bunny wasn't so sure about all that, and even though Barb stayed inside the coach, Bunny left as soon as it sensed Barb was there.  Pretty good shot anyway, all things considered.

And then I caught my first sting ray as the tide was turning (a really funny looking fish).  Very small one, but sure did have me confused as I was bringing it in.  Since I'd never caught one before, I was totally unprepared for it, because it fought like nothing I'd ever caught before.  A period of strong runs where I thought I was going to loose all my line, then periods when I thought I'd lost whatever it was and had snagged a stick or bunch of sea grass or something else inanimate, followed by another strong run.  Great fun for me and probably less fun for the poor ray.  Hook came out easily, and it swam away hopefully none the worse for wear.  I was extra cautious about staying away from its tail, you betcha!

A couple days before Barry (5/31), the first named tropical storm for the season was coming, we also had an exceptionally low tide, and Barb talked me into trudging half way to Mexico (Ranger Robert's comment) to join her waaaaay out on the sandbar that only bares itself at a minus tide at the south end of the park.  Barb figured it was going to be a while before I ventured out there with her again, so she dutifully took my picture.  Naturally, I picked up some shells for her on the way, and had my metal detector in my backpack to boot.  I don't normally look like that when I walk.

The morning after Barry got here (6/2), we were scheduled for a very high tide, and with the onshore wind blowing pretty good, we were looking forward to our turtle watch in the morning because the tide was supposed to crest about then as well.  I'd stashed everything that could fly away in our little cargo trailer, dropped the sunshades, and rolled the awnings up just in case the predicted winds of 35 mph with gusts up to 50 (conservative) hit.  Turned out it wasn't as bad as all that, but still gave us the "thrill of the day" for that whole weekend!

These are shots taken from our North Gate area on Saturday just after daybreak, about 6:45 AM.  We had a pretty short turtle search as the entire north beach was gone--under water, with the breakers hitting the sea oats (way out of the normal range).  Pretty exciting for us and a bit worrisome for Mark (part-time ranger) who had the turtle watch with us this morning.  We're not "official" for the sea turtle watch, so some ranger has to be with us or we could get in serious trouble messing with a potential nest, and that's why we're with some ranger whenever we spot a crawl.

Because there are few volunteers available to pick garbage off the beach, and so far no turtle nests, we pick up garbage as we follow behind the ranger who's responsible for the morning turtle watch.  We took these pictures of the high tide/storm surge as much for our own benefit for looking at later.  Many of these shots won't mean much to those of you unfamiliar with the park.

YAHOO!!  A call from Mark, telling us he'd found what looked like a false crawl, but wasn't sure, on the south beach!  So, because the wind had picked up and spray was flying, we donned our nylon windbreaker stuff and took off to find Mark.  Not much garbage anyway, because there wasn't much beach!

Mark is trying to write down the GPS coordinates I'm giving him, but between fighting the flying paperwork and the noise of the surf and wind in our ears, it was difficult at best.  But we got the job done anyway.

Mark "let" me do the measuring as my glasses weren't as fogged as his, then we're off again.  To see what the tide is doing as much as pick up garbage.  And the tide was doing plenty!  We've never seen water this far up before and, in spite of the fact that Barb wanted some pictures, I'm leaving and she'd better hop on board!

Took a shot of those two little grassy knolls because they're sort of landmarks on the beach (high on the beach!) and they were being tickled by the tide.

Right after Barb took this shot of the footbridge to the mid-beach point (note the water to the left of the bridge) and climbed back into the EZ-GO, it started to really rain hard, and we turned around and headed home.  We were both soaked to the skin by the time we got there, laughing like a couple of crazy kids, dripping all over the place.

We got home about 8 AM, and by 10:30 the sun was out again, and we took these shots of the canal behind the coach.  Looked to me like we had another couple of feet to go before any "emergency" would arise, but we'd never seen the canal up this high before..

As the hat and its securing string will attest, the wind was still blowing a bit, but we were ready to venture out again to see what the beaches looked like.  Good shot of Barb's poison ivy patch on her ankle--which had improved a bunch since she first got it!  Silly girl forgets to watch where she's walking.  Worries me that sometime she's going to step on a ray while shelling, and get a fat foot for her trouble!

Another foot or so, and the tram road will close for the day too.  But this was about as high as it got.  Darn shame the poor condition of the Carl E. Johnson bridge caused it to be closed.  Would have been fun to get some pictures of the water peeking through the flooring.

Some people had planned a Saturday at the beach, and just because the beach had been reduced by 80% was no reason to stay away!  Ranger Robert is checking out the conditions, worried as we are about how many bird nests we lost.  We're standing on the Gazebo and signs of where the water came in over the dunes are visible.

Hey, Elmer!  Looks like our "patches" for the parking lot that was being washed away held for this storm, anyway.

Barb's on the bench at #3 where the fishermen like to sit, and just beyond her toes is the line where the water had been.  Close call for this bench!  Poor little island in the canal is almost gone, too.  And Elmer, these last two shots are of that shelter at the picnic area on the Black Island trail.  In the left photo, the bench is to the right, and then I went around to the other side, and the bench then of course is on the left.  Again, our "patches" seem to be holding up pretty well.  Of course, as I write this it's storming like crazy, so time will tell.  Barb thinks the rainy season has finally arrived, but I reminded her it's only the second storm in a week, not one every afternoon.  Yet.

Goody-goody!!  Another crawl!  Maybe there's a nest in this one!  This happened on Sunday AM.

Robert and I are pawing through the soft sand (kicked up by the turtle) hoping to find a spot of soft sand below the surface that would indicate a nest.  In the meantime, we've noticed her tracks go really far past the sea oat dune, toward the mangroves.

While Barb was wandering around taking pictures of this extensive crawl, she was being "bombed" by this Least Tern which made us all happy.  That meant that there was a nest nearby, so not all of them had been destroyed by the storm surge.

I've got my GPS in hand, and am tracking what turned out to be over 700 feet of crawling by this turtle.  Amazing feat.  The pattern of loops and back-tracking indicates that it's a "disoriented adult" for the paperwork.  Man, the older I get the more fun I have and the less I know about what I'm having fun doing!

After that "thrill of the day" (no nest, but at least it was a major crawl!), we finally caught a ghost crab far enough away from its hole so Barb could grab its picture.  Little guys are really speedy.  Ranger Mike tells about the times they looked like they were about to be run over by the ATVs he used on the East Coast, and they'd just scoot aside just before the tire got them.  I could believe it, too, as I've tried to get pictures of them before.  If I stand on their hole, they just jet off in another direction so fast I can't get them in focus.

Barb and I met on June 4, 1970, so this June 4th we went to dinner at a nice place called Charley's Boathouse & Grill, and this was our view.  The great egret was in full breeding plumage for us because it's a special day for us I'm sure.

Who could pass up "Death By Chocolate" for dessert, eh?  Not us, that's for sure!  I ordered the beef kabob, Barb the short ribs, and we asked the waitress, if possible, could we split that between the two of us.  No problem!  Yup, a nice place indeed.

WHAT??  Another crawl?  How boring!  But wait..... what's that mound kind of thing up there in the sea oats?

Crawled straight up into the sea oats, and then left at an angle.  Must have spent some time up in the sea oats, eh?  Nice big deep tracks, too.

I'm giving Ranger Mike the GPS coordinates, and there's our first nest.  Once again, the "thrill a day" is perking along just fine.

But to verify it's truly a nest, we have to find the eggs.  You can tell by the size of the holes we're digging who's the experienced one here.  And it ain't me! 

Tools of the trade.  Bug spray, colored tape in the tray, the clipboard with all the paperwork inside, the box with its shovel, hammer for the stakes, plastic ground cloth, and rubber gloves if needed.  And then the "cage" that will hopefully keep the raccoons from stealing the eggs.  Sort of in the shape of a cardboard box with its lid wide open.

Man, this is hard on the manicure!  Barb got bored with our inefficient digging and muttering, and naturally headed for the shells.  Harrumph!

TAA DAA!!  Eggs!  Or at least an egg, and it's safe (according to Ranger Mike) to assume there's more of them.  I'm not going to argue with him.  My fingers don't want to do any more digging.  In all fairness to Mike:  When we first saw the nest, he looked at it and stuck his pen in the sand marking where he thought the eggs would be.  He eventually found them about 3 inches from where he'd originally marked!  Of course, he was the "turtle man" at his last duty station on the East Coast.

Then it's time to stake the cage, tape it off, and cover all the "lids" of the cage that have been flipped out, in hopes of keeping the predators away.

Enough fun for one day.

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