turtles turtles!

 Each spring and early summer The Nancy Place hosts lots of visiting turtles. They likely have been journeying to the forests and blueberry field around their wetland home (now our home too) for an endlessly stretching amount of time (according to turtle experts, female turtles return to their place of birth to lay their eggs).

We didn't have as many snappers in our yard this year-- it was a hard winter and perhaps their oxygen supply wasn't quite enough-- we were sad to miss them this year. They typically arrive like clockwork, mid-June, during a rainy spell. This year mid-June rains came and only one tired looking snapper, who didn't stay long, showed up (Usually we have three gals in our yard).

There have been lots of painted turtles on the blueberry field this year, and one in our yard. The hatchlings must have overwintered in their nest since we are finding them (2 now) in our gardens. This little one got itself stuck in a little plastic pond and couldn't get itself out.

 

Here's last year's snapper laying her eggs in my garden: