Chopper 2021
Checking in with Chopper, a red-eared slider that I’ve been documenting for years. Chopper’s shell was damaged by a prop, but has healed up nicely. Here’s Chopper in 2020, 2018, and 2016.
Bumper Crop
Four red-eared slider turtles (an invasive species) bunch up on a log in Snug Harbour. 2021 is an absolutely epic year for turtles, with more in the lagoons that I have ever seen before.
Slider Damage 2020
Meet Chopper, a red-eared slider that I’ve been following for years. Chopper had an unfortunate run-in with a propeller, but is healing very nicely. Here’s Chopper back in 2018, and 2016. Click image to view larger.
Bumps on a Log III
A bale of ten turtles bask together in the low October light off of Doughnut Island. They’ve broken the unofficial record of six turtles in 2012 and five turtles in 2011.
Slider Damage 2018
A red-eared slider turtle injured by a boat prop, first imaged in 2016, appears to be healing nicely. Click image to view larger.
Fluff Camouflage
Apparently we’re not the only ones cursed with poplar fluff. Even map turtles basking in the Doughnut Island environs are susceptible.
Fluff Season
A toad on Third St. looks unimpressed at having to push its way through large piles of fluff.
Slider Damage
A red-eared slider displays a large gash in its shell, most likely caused by a boat propeller. Experts say that the shell will repair itself in time, and that the turtle otherwise looks healthy. Click image to view larger.
Map Time
2013 was a very good year for map turtles, their numbers have increased significantly. Here a tiny turtle, about four inches long, basks on a log in Snug Harbour.
Hitching a Ride
A young turtle improbably basks on the back of another turtle. The large fellow here is also the largest turtle in this photograph.
Bumps on a Log II
Six turtles take the Log Game up a notch, besting their previous record of five on a log last year.
A Day in the Life
A day in the life of an underwater camera as a young northern pike, muskrat, and painted turtle cruise past in the lagoon’s murky depths.
Hibernation Solidification
A painted turtle basks on a log, still covered in mud and algae from its long winter slumber at the bottom of the lagoon.
Size Differential
Northern map turtles show the size differential between young and old, basking on a log near Doughnut Island. The 2011 season was a great one for map turtles.
Uncommon Eyes
The distinctive eye and beak of a large snapping turtle, seen here surfacing in Blockhouse Bay. I spent a wonderful hour floating over this fellow, watching him (her?) hunt through the late-summer plant life on the bottom of the lagoon.
An Amphibian Gala
A good sign: six northern leopard frogs have their own gala day on a piece of wood near the Eastern Gap.
Gimpy
Another view of this three-legged painted turtle from 2006. What happened to its leg is still a mystery, but subsequent sightings in later years proves that it’s doing just fine.