The Diamondback Terrapins of Great Bay Blvd--6/28

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To drive to the inlet at Tuckerton this time of year, you have to participate in The Great Great Bay Blvd Terrapin Slalom Event, the object of which is to swerve around the dozens of Diamondback Terrapins crossing the road, while at the same time avoiding a head-on collision with on-coming vehicles that are attempting to also avoid squishing the terrapins.

I thought about counting the number of terrapins I saw but that quickly became untenable. They were darting out of the greenery on the sides of the road at a pace I've never seen before. At one point, while I was walking on the road, I counted 10 up ahead of me either on the road or digging in the sandy cutouts along the road. I encountered them at every spot I stopped--on the beaches, on the trails, on the road, on the bridges (which I hate because they are most vulnerable there), and seemingly under every bush. While I walked from the inlet up to the first wooden bridge, I thought, for a lark to take a photo of each one I came across, but again, that became untenable--I stopped at 20. So I would conservatively say I saw 50 terrapins, in the 4 hours I was there but the actual numbers of terrapins coming out of the marshes to lay their eggs on a day like today--sunny and hot--is likely in the hundreds.

I moved quite a few off the road and especially off the wooden bridges but despite their ungainliness, they can move pretty fast when instinct tells them to, one of the reasons I couldn't photograph each one--a shadow moves them.

I originally didn't plan to go to Tuckerton today because the tides were against me--I prefer low tide which isn't until late this afternoon--but the forecast for Assunpink was rain and thunderstorms, so this was my best alternative. I'm wondering now if the high tide pushes the terrapins out of the water--gives them sort of a boost onto land--or if it is more temperature related.

When I started it was cool and breezy, so I was thinking that my walk would be comfortable as those conditions keep the greenies down, but by the time I made it to the southern end of the road the sun had come out and although there was still a decent wind, anytime I got to a spot where the reeds and bushes were higher than my ankles, the flies came out for a greet and eat.

I did see birds there today--nothing special but there was enough variety to keep me interested and motivated to keep looking despite swatting the flies. (Repellent? Someone described that as "salad dressing for flies.")Noisy Willets are still everywhere, but I did see one each of American Oystercatcher, Greater Yellowlegs, and Semipalmated Sandpiper. I was looking for interesting terns and didn't find any. The only night-heron I saw was black-crowned.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Common Yellowthroat

36 species
Mallard 7
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Great Egret 25
Snowy Egret 20
Tricolored Heron 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron 5
Glossy Ibis 3
Osprey 15
Bald Eagle 2 Two imm on nest
Clapper Rail 2 Heard
American Oystercatcher 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1 Inlet
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Willet 30
Laughing Gull 100
Herring Gull 25
Great Black-backed Gull 4
Least Tern 1
Common Tern 1
Forster's Tern 7
Black Skimmer 2
Mourning Dove 3
Willow Flycatcher 1
Tree Swallow 10
Bank Swallow 3
Barn Swallow 40
House Wren 1 Heard
American Robin 1
Gray Catbird 3
Northern Mockingbird 1

Common Yellowthroat 4
Saltmarsh Sparrow 1
Seaside Sparrow 15
Song Sparrow 6
Red-winged Blackbird 100
Boat-tailed Grackle 50