kkachurina's Favorites

Haven’t seen one of these butterflies in a while, was very glad to see this one fluttering around the goldenrod plants growing in the Roxborough Parkette in the Rosedale neighborhood of the city of Toronto.

This was my first turtle nesting experience as I happened upon this smallish female covering her eggs. According to the turtle protectors of High Park, for this species it will take about 2 hours of egg laying to complete her mission: She will dig a hole about 15 cm deep, lay about 30 eggs, then diligently cover them over. She will then make a beeline back to the water unless obstacles get in her way: unleashed dogs, human traffic, vehicles. etc. Since this is peak season for nesting turtles, the volunteer turtle protectors answer calls of landed turtles, stay with them to ensure their safety, follow them back to the water, and cover the stash of eggs with a special protector made of wood and wire mesh with a small exit hole for the hatchlings. In making her exit, she tried climbing over one of the two turtle protectors already in place, but she took a tumble onto her back. She righted herself very quickly. The last photo shows the nest site after she left Thanks volunteer Meghan for watching over this one.