In summertime, we like to offer night activities several nights each week. We especially like to take guests to the beach for turtle walks; we look for females laying nests early in summer and for hatchling turtles later in the summer. Usually we get to share a lot of great information about the turtle project and our partnership with the Georgia DNR. It’s not very usual to actually encounter a female turtle on the turtle walks — they have seven miles of beach and an entire night to come up to the shore.

Last night, however, was an exception. Unusually high tides had washed ashore a large amount of wrack; the whole beach is covered in old cordgrass stalks, making it presumably even less desireable for a turtle. Outlining the expedition for the guests, we explained that the barrier may make our chances of seeing any turtles a bit lower than they would usually be, but our guests excitedly joined us nonetheless.

Well, we were wrong. Taking a turn north from the gazebo, the group was barely 100 yards into the journey, and what appeared but a female loggerhead! She was nearly finished with her egg laying, but the guests did get to see her lay a few of the last eggs, cover the nest with sand, and return to the ocean. How amazing!

There were two additional nests last night as well. That brings our total count to 21 nests and 21 false crawls.

A walk along the beach is a little bit more colorful, thanks to blooming Railroad Vine. The vine, in the same family as Morning Glory, has a lovely purplish-pink flower. The vine plays an important role in stabilizing the dunes by keeping sand anchored in place.

You guessed it — Simone is a free turtle! Rescued late in the night on June 30, 2008, she spent nearly a year in rehabilitation, and was deemed sea-worthy this Spring. The great folks at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center (GSTC) planned her release for when the ocean temperature was nice and warm — Saturday, June 13, 2009 was the magical day. Several LSSI staff members, including three of Simone’s rescuers, got to attend the release which was held during Nest Fest, part of the GSTC’s summer activities.

At around 4:00 PM, the beach on Jekyll Island was packed with spectators waiting to cheer on Simone and another turtle, Duffy, that was also released. The area was fenced off, but the GSTC staff made certain to give everyone a look at each turtle as it was transported to the edge of the ocean. The turtles had been given satellite transmitters; they were fixed on the shell with an epoxy. The turtles also have flipper tags for future ID.

When Simone was placed on the ocean edge, she very briefly turned back to the shore, but she almost immediately turned back to the ocean. Once she felt the familiar ocean water, she was off like a shot! Only her wake could be seen as she swam into the depths of the deep blue. Her departure was mostly filled with happy shouts of encouragement, and there were a few teary eyes as well, happy with what had been accomplished. Simone surfaced several times once she was about 100 yards offshore, giving the crowd more opportunities to cheer her on!

Seeing her release gave the staff who saved her a wonderful feeling. The night we found her was completely unforgettable, something that many of us may never repeat. Knowing that the rescue was a success gives it even more meaning…

As of today, we are up to 14 nests, 15 false crawls, and one unknown emergence. Most of the nests are still concentrated on Rainbow Beach, with only one on Sancho Panza and a few on Main Beach. There are also Black Skimmers nesting on North Main Beach!

Summer is right around the corner, and guests are spending more and more time on the beach. There are lots of activities to choose from — everything from swimming, boogie boarding, building sandcastles, flying kites, or kayaking, to beachcombing, birding, and fishing.

Surf fishing is one of the most popular beach activities, and we’re having lots of success out in the waves. Guests have been coming up with lots of small sharks, sting rays, and whiting, and also the occasional redfish and even seatrout.

Another fun beach activity is pulling the seine out in the surf. A wide variety of bait fish wind up in the catch. Menhaden (pogy), baby Pompano, Longnose Killifish, Sardines, Mullet, Whiting, and even baby Tripletail have all been caught in the last couple weeks. A variety of tiny crabs, the occasional baby shark, lots of sea plants, and the odd sea cucmber are also fun to see!

We are up to a total of eight nests, nine false crawls, and one unknown emergence of Loggerhead Sea Turtles for the 2009 season. This is a bit lower than where we were at this time last year, but anything can happen! Most of the nests are on Rainbow Beach; there are two on Main Beach, and one on Sancho Panza Beach. If you want to track the number of nests for the whole state, along with North and South Carolina, you can visit the website www.seaturtle.org. The site follows not only sea turtles, but also many other birds and animals that have satellite transmitters, including Marbled Godwits banded here on LSSI.

In other turtle news, we are thrilled to have just received word that Simone, the loggerhead rescued off of our island in July of 2008, will be released by the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Saturday, June 13, 2009. Simone will also receive a satellite transmitter. She was found with Debilitated Turtle Syndrome, and has been in the care of the GSTC staff for the past eleven months. Visit www.georgiaseaturtlecenter.org for exact release details.

Yesterday morning we took our guests up to the tower at Myrtle Pond for a birding adventure. The tower is one of the best “sit and wait” birding spots; the longer you stay at the tower, the more you see. We immediately spotted a very bright pink Roseate Spoonbill feeding in the closest pond. Soon we saw additional spoonbills, as well as Wood Storks, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and Glossy Ibis. Boat-tailed Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds flew about, calling as they flew around the marsh grasses. Black-necked Stilts waded in the shallow pools feeding busily. Several dozen Mottled Ducks were visible across the far end of the pond. We had an extremely quick view of a buffy brown bird fly up for just a split second and land, obscured by the grasses; it was a Least Bittern. A Great Blue Heron was seen as we watched an American Alligator swim slowly through the water. Another Glossy Ibis landed in a close pool, and drew our attention to three juvenile Common Moorhen chicks, which are paler and smaller than the adults. If we had spent even more time at the pond, we would surely have added even more species to our list, but we certainly enjoyed the beautiful variety of birds that we did see.