Tisn't the Season December 16, 23 and 26th.

Right now, on December 27th, I declare the season officially over. It is below 10°F outside and I'm not stepping foot out there unless it is absolutely necessary.

On Saturday, December 16th, I had an itch that I needed to scratch, so we went over to a local stream. Temps were in the high 20s/ low 30s. I just needed to see something alive. The habitat looked a bit like this.

A few flipped rocks later, we had a couple of Two-lined Salamander larvae and a sub-adult.

The last herps of 2017. But we didn't know that yet.

We weren't on call for beach walking on Christmas weekend, but we went anyway. They weren't expecting much so they didn't schedule people. We didn't want to get out of practice so we took it upon ourselves to walk. We got up early on Saturday, December 23rd and hit the beach on Cape Cod at first light. It was drizzling.


The fog was very thick, too. Seeing turtles would be difficult. Photographing birds would be near impossible.


Then again, when you get shitty photos, sometimes you can put enough filters on to make them interesting. This Crow shot ain't so bad after all.


Through the muck, I could see a Snowy Owl perched on a branch. I couldn't get a shot through the soup, though.


We got way out there, almost to the Point, and saw something we'd never seen before. Earlier in the week, a rare Leatherback had stranded. They are not known to cold-stun but apparently, this one had. They had sent people out to do a necropsy on site. The carcass was still out there.

As much as I hate to put gruesome dead things on this blog, this was fascinating. It will likely be our only chance to inspect one of these animals up close. The flipper alone weighs more and is larger than most of the turtles we see stranded.


Carrying on, we were almost to the Point when Andrea spotted a turtle that had been revealed in the low tide.

This Kemp's Ridley was supple but probably dead. We treated it as if it had a chance and packed it up to bring back.


Andrea at the end of the world...


Right about then, 4 miles out, the rain started to get pretty hard. We tried to hurry in, but Andrea had suggested that she stick to the sandbars in case any other turtles were left out there. We made our way slowly back. I had often said that I didn't think I'd ever seen a live wild Horseshoe Crab. Andrea found one on a sandbar and brought it to me.

It is good to finally see a live one after seeing so many deceased specimens.

It was eerie out there in the fog and pelting rain. We couldn't shake the feeling that someone... something was watching us...


Since we see so much death out there, I tried to respectfully (and hopefully artistically) represent it.


I figured I wouldn't get too many more chances to compare a young Leatherback's flipper to a young Kemp's Ridley flipper so...


We were drenched to the skin. The camera was wet. We rested in the pouring rain.


With about a mile left to go before reaching the car, I saw a small turtle getting thrashed about in the incoming waves. I put the very-dead Kemp's on the sled and brought it in.


We gave the turtles a Corolla ride back to the sanctuary.

We checked them in (both dead, obviously) talked for a bit, then made our way home. (We stopped at a Walmart so I could buy a dry sweatshirt.)

The winds on Christmas Day were going to be huge and they were expecting a final big turtle push. I let them know that I would be off work and thus available for beach walking after the holiday. I got the call for Tuesday the 26th at first light. We even borrowed Andrea's mum's phone should I need it.

I figured there would be multiple Loggerheads piled up since I would be there alone. It was damn cold and still very windy.


My first sight of the beach... no turning back now...

I don't know what the wind-chill was but that wind was whipping off the ocean and cutting right through me. Damn, it sucked. I moved pretty quickly while still making a thorough check for turtles. If any came in, time would be very much of the essence.

I saw an old friend waiting for me...

That was one of three Snowies I saw out there but the only one I photographed before my camera's battery froze.

The Point itself was wonderful, as always. Got my #92 bird of the year (White-winged Scoter) which will likely be my last.

There was also Red-breasted Mergansers, Eiders and a curious seal out there. This was my last photo before the camera died.

The walk back was painful as I had to walk into the wind. Other than seeing a couple more Snowies (one in the same peek-a-boo spot as Saturday) and seeing the first one again, it was uneventful. I made it back to the car and started to thaw out. The camera's battery thawed out in time to capture my lovely wind-burned face.


It turns out no turtles had come in during that wind event, in fact no turtles since our two dead Ridleys on Saturday. They're not calling the season over but it may well be. That said, this might well be the last Hit Me with Your Nature Stick post of the year. Quite an up and down year it has been, too.