Jill found a crawl leading up to the dunes at 12th Ave S. Quick search, nest is found......because the nest is in the middle of a private beach access, eggs are relocated to 9th Ave S, a darker, quieter section on the beach. On September 24, 61 days later, a hole is discover. Hatchlings have emerged either late the night before or before 7AM that morning. Cold, windy and rainy couple of days.
On Saturday, Sept. 27, Inventory is performed. .
Hole is much larger, starting to cave in upon itself.
Crowd starts to gather
Talk to the crowd and questions are answered
Neal and Marilyn open the egg chamber and start pulling out eggs
Pile of empty shells soon forms
Counting the empty shells
I think we got them all.....
Brooks helps by taking empty and whole eggs around to show the crowd
This guy wanted to feel an egg...gloves are a must
Inventory is finished...only a deep empty hole remains
Inventory Results:
Nest was found on July 25th at 12th Ave S
112 eggs in original nest, 111 eggs moved to 9th Ave S, 1 egg taken for DNA
Hatchlings emerged sometime before 7AM on Sept. 24th, Day 61 of incubation
Inventory on Sat., Sept 27th
106 hatched eggs
5 unhatched or whole eggs, all died in early development
No dead or alive hatchlings found in nest
95.5% hatching success rate
DNA results show that the mother laid two nests on Briarcliffe, then a nest at 12th Ave S and then laid another nest on the northern end of Myrtle Beach. There is a missing two week period, so she may have laid a 5th nest, possibly at 12th Ave N, DNA Results are not in yet for this nest.
Thank you Jill and all of the Segment C Walkers who watched over this nest. Thank you Neal and Marilyn for helping with the inventory. Thank you Paulette for recording the stats.
Thank you Julie and Mary for your pictures
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