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I Smell Fall – At Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive

Posted Sunday, September 29, 2019Sunday, September 29, 2019 Jess Yarnell2 CommentsPosted in Lake Apopka

It starts in late August. The color of the sunset begins to change. A cool breath of fresh air starts to come from the north. Even though it’s still sweltering hot in Florida, I whisper to Rich, “it smells like fall.”

Rich proceeds to tell me that I’m crazy. He’s probably right.

But on this sunny morning in late September, fall was definitely in the air at the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. The warblers are back! The first thing I heard as I pulled onto Lust Road was their familiar chip-chip calls. I spent some time at the Crazy U watching the flitting movements in the treetops. I spotted several Yellow Warblers, a male and female Common Yellowthroat, and several Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.

As I drove along, I came across a small flock of Fulvous Whistling-ducks. They dabbled in the water, diving underneath to look for breakfast and them coming up to bicker with their friends. If you’ve never heard the happy calls of whistling ducks, turn up the volume to listen to the video below. They are such fun to listen to!

The Belted Kingfishers are back too. I spotted several of them perched high, watching the water below. The wetlands echoed with their calls as they dove for fish and came up with an empty beak.

Near the sod fields, a small flock of Red-winged Blackbirds was roosting in the bushes. Mixed with their calls was an alternate call that I couldn’t quite place. I looked a little closer and found some Bobolinks mixed in with the red-wings. The Bobolinks are migrating through Florida on their way south for the winter. They were a great find and a nice way to end the morning. :)

Last Turtle Walk of 2019

Posted Friday, September 20, 2019Friday, September 20, 2019 Jess Yarnell2 CommentsPosted in Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge

Our late August turtle walk turned out to be our last of 2019. A week later, Hurricane Dorian thankfully spared Florida from the worst of its Category 5 winds, although the storm surge washed away a number of turtle nests. The UCF Marine Turtle Research group reported that 21% of the Loggerhead nests and 44% of the Green turtle nests were destroyed along the Archie Carr refuge. But on this beautiful morning before Dorian, the beach was empty and we enjoyed a sunrise walk.

This turtle track photo is a little different than the ones I’ve been posting all summer. It features not just one track, but many. Look closely at the foreground and you’ll see the tiny tracks made by dozens of turtle hatchlings who followed the same path as the adult turtle. The beach was full of hatchling tracks that morning.

Turtle Tracks at Sunrise - Adult and Hatchling — Turtle Tracks at Sunrise – Adult and Hatchling

We didn’t see an adult turtle that morning. Rich spotted one Loggerhead hatchling who made the furious crawl down to the water’s edge. I finally achieved my goal of photographing the tiny hatchling and the track he left in the sand. The waves grabbed him and drew him home as Rich and I looked on with smiles. We can’t wait for April and the start of the next turtle nesting season!

Tagged Green Sea Turtle

Posted Wednesday, September 4, 2019Tuesday, September 3, 2019 Jess Yarnell2 CommentsPosted in Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge

In early August, Rich and I returned to Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge in search of sea turtles. Loggerhead turtle nesting was starting to wind down, but the Green sea turtles are having a high count year and will continue nesting during the month of August. August is also the beginning of Green hatchling season. I have yet to photograph a wild Green hatchling, so I was hopeful that maybe I’d get to see one on this visit. We didn’t – but we did see a tagged green sea turtle nesting on the beach.

As usual, we spotted the turtle when we noticed large quantities of sand being tossed around in the dunes. We followed the sand tosses to zero in on the nesting turtle.

After she finished throwing sand at us, she began the slow crawl back to the ocean.

The sun was just rising as the turtle made her way down to the waves. In the photo below, you can see the track she made hours earlier as she first crawled onto the beach. The straight ATV tracks closer to the water are made by the UCF Turtle Patrol that monitors turtle nesting every morning in the summertime.

The tide was going out, and the photo ops were much more attractive as the turtle reached the smooth sand near the water’s edge. The waves welcomed her home as she greeted the sunrise.

Here are some videos from that morning. The first part shows the turtle as she body-surfs down the sand dunes (right into the nest of another turtle, out of which the poor tired turtle had to crawl!) – and then as she made her way to the water.

Turtle on the Move!

I always enjoy photographing the tracks left by the turtles at sunrise. It’s amazing how quickly the water washes away the tracks.

As we watched this turtle crawl, Rich realized that her flipper was tagged. He got a picture of the tag number and reported it to the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research. They responded almost immediately:

This green turtle was originally tagged after laying her eggs on 13 Aug 2000. Since then, we saw this animal on 3 September 2000, 6 September 2007, and 6 September 2011. Great to know she’s still around.
Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research

If you’re curious, here’s what a turtle tag looks like. Remember to stay behind the turtle if you’re trying to read the tag.