By Rachael Grove
Can you name five plants or animals in your backyard without looking? Could you identify them even after checking to look? When I visit a different city or area, I like to observe the natural environment and compare it to my own backyard. While I was recently staying at the beach, I observed dragonflies, black rat snakes, five lined skinks, and familiar birds from back home such as mockingbirds, crows, sparrows and doves. My first morning there, I watched a dove from my balcony gathering dead palm tree fronds and carrying them a couple of hundred feet over to a Sago palm tree by the outdoor swimming pool. I also saw a dove sitting on a nest inside the parking garage. Apparently, they’re used to people.
Several birds that we don’t see in Ohio that are at the beach include terns, pelicans, sandpipers and oystercatchers. Just down the shore where I was staying they have always had a protected breeding area roped off where the Oystercatchers nest. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed the area moving more southerly every year due to beach erosion and I’ve spotted fewer Oystercatchers every year as well.
I was lucky enough to talk to the Wrightsville Beach Ranger who patrols the area every day and told him my concerns about my observations. He informed me that last year they only had one breeding pair with three chicks. One chick was found dead in the nest. The other two were banded and one of those was found eaten by a predator. The third one’s status is unknown. The good news is that he told me I could probably spot some adults further south of the island along with some “fuzz balls.” I did spot two adults but no chicks. I image they are hidden in the dunes, hopefully.
Another protected area at Wrightsville Beach, NC is for the loggerhead sea turtles. I found two roped off areas along the shore where their nests are. The turtles come out of the ocean to lay their eggs on the beach shore just above the high tide line from May-August. The mother digs a hole with her hind feet and deposits around 100 round leathery eggs, covers them back up with sand and swims back to the ocean never to see her hatchlings. The eggs will incubate in 45-70 days before hatching and crawling back into the sea.
The current status of the Loggerhead turtles at Wrightsville Beach is threatened under the US Federal Endangered Species Act. Last year there were three sea turtle nests here and in 2024 there were 15. At home in my yard, we have box turtles and painted turtles. This year I counted 12 in our pond. I found several holes in our yard where a turtle had made a nest. Several were dug up by predators and the egg cases were scattered around the opening. The last one we found we covered with a cage and a cement block on top hoping to save the eggs. So far, so good.
Since this was my fifth year returning to the same resort, I was eager to see the resident five lined skinks like we also have in Southern Ohio. I was happy to find a large one on my first day here hiding under some brush also by the pool. In addition, I also look forward to seeing the beach bunnies, also called marsh rabbits, that stay in the yard next door from the pool. Luckily, they were still there along with a new addition. I’ve talked to several people back home who also mentioned it was good for rabbits in their yards. We even had one build a nest in our raised bed lettuce patch. Pretty smart, I thought.
Common plants at the beach are sea oats, which have deep roots and are planted near sand dunes to cut down on erosion; large leaf pennywort, which is a ground cover plant that has small yellow flower clusters; and several types of palm trees. The sago palm (not a true palm) tends to be short and stout with a big bulbous protrusion on top that is actually a cone that produces seeds. The hairy palm (my favorite) is appropriately named because the trunk is covered in thick, fibrous leaf sheaths giving it a hairy appearance. The pindo palm is popular for landscaping and has edible fruits.
The best part of my trip (besides the food, of course) was finding a Mermaid’s Purse (see photo). I have found a couple in past years but I always thought that it was just some sort of seed pod. When I actually researched it this time, I found out it is an egg pouch that can contain one to seven embryos from a shark or skate, which is similar to a stringray. It is a 2-3 inch black rectangular pod that is sealed on all four edges and has four projections called horns, on each corner. According to Wikipedia, gestation can take anywhere from a few months to a year. After a week or two of development, small slits open on each side of the pouch to aid water flow. The embryo fans its tail constantly to promote exchange with surrounding water. The pouch I found had two small holes underneath one side and sounded like a rattle. The edges were still sealed so I’m assuming the embryos didn’t develop.
Life’s a beach so get outside and see what you can find hidden in plain sight. You might find a surprise.