Turtlesinger, Inc.


is a Federal 501(c)3 Public Charity - New Jersey Charities Registration # CH2998200
Mission Statement: To educate and entertain the public about turtles with original songs and/or live turtles.



December 31, 2025



Ivy's Hatchlings



Turn up your volume to count Ivy's hatchlings with Charlie. Our 27th nester’s nest was our 24th one to hatch! I discovered 7 hatchlings at the exact time Charlie discovered hatchlings in nest #20! Neat fact: Ivy laid her eggs the day before the full moon and these hatchlings were found the day after the full moon! This was our first rainy day release but the just lowering tide was perfect and it was warm before it turned much cooler the next day, and the hatchlings didn't seem to mind the rain, making fairly quick trips into the water! We excavated Ivy’s nest early due to a weekend storm and found 2 more hatchlings. These two were tiny and about 4 inches down, with dents that resembled shell deformities--but they smoothed out overnight!


For the 29th—and final terrapin to produce hatchlings this year, SCROLL DOWN…



December 31, 2025



Our 29th Terrapin: We named her “Victoria”



"Victoria" was named for victory in surpassing last year's 28 total number of nests! We watched her for maybe an hour and a half or more and then lost her and went to the "check every 10 minutes" method of looking for her, and on one of these checks I spotted her on our next-door neighbor’s property not far from the road near the end of our driveway. She had just started digging and Charlie ran out and got her and put her on our pile because we're still not sure what our neighbors are going to do as they develop their property and whether eggs laid there might be destroyed. She nested on the third try, once again with a common theme this year: right next to another existing exclosure! She made her way back toward the same place she had entered but then went back down our turtle ramp (most terrapins who nest on our property often seem to prefer going down our ramp—maybe because it’s closer to where they nested).


To see Victoria’s hatchlings, SCROLL DOWN…



December 31, 2025



Victoria’s Hatchlings



Turn up your volume to hear about Victoria's hatchlings. Our 29th terrapin laid our 21st nest to hatch! I discovered two hatchlings who were completely out of the nest hole and left for later the one we saw still in the nest hole. Three more hatchlings were hiding in the grass outside of and above the nest hole the next day. A total of 5 eggs is a small number of eggs for a terrapin to lay and it may be because Victoria was a smaller and younger terrapin than our number 9 nester, Cinco, who laid 13 eggs!


For more about the remaining terrapins whose nests have not yet hatched, SCROLL DOWN…



December 31, 2025



Nest #25: We named her “Eowyn”



"Eowyn" was named for her courageous spirit on July 1st in crossing our heavily trafficked boulevard and almost gave me a heart attack when passing cars straddled her before I could get to her with Charlie's skillful driving. I was going to put her in our neighbor’s yard but saw new wood chips there and wasn't sure if they use chemicals, so I put Eowyn on our sand pile. It only took 2 tries but she laid VERY low right on the latest new moon/nor'easter high tide line: again, risky/courageous! I felt bad that she didn't find any sand with shade at the time because it was wicked hot. The spot Eowyn chose had very moist sand and maybe it helped cool her off. At first she had her mouth open while digging the nest and I was afraid she was overheating (again, courageous girl)! There was a strong wind when Eowyn was nesting so maybe it helped her cool off. She made her way to the turtle ramp with a nice exit!


To hear about nest #26, SCROLL DOWN…



December 31, 2025



Nest #26: We named her “Faith”



"Faith" was named for restoring my faith that there would still be more terrapins laying this season after we hadn't had one nest since July 1st! She was also smart to lay AFTER the whole 4th of July week and weekend chock full of traffic. That being said, she never attempted to cross the road but came onto our property at one location at 8:45 and went down a different way using our turtle ramp. We also wondered on Monday if we would get more turtles with the full Buck moon coming on Thursday. She found our sand pile all by herself and we discovered her after seeing fresh turtle tracks on the marsh. She gave us a scare going all the way to the road but then turning south by our garbage cans: whew! We’re grateful she did not lay in the dirt but chose our sand pile.


You’ve already read about nests #27 and #29, Ivy and Victoria, so the last nester to tell you about is #28. To read about her, SCROLL DOWN…



December 31, 2025



Nest #28: We named her “Shawn”



"Shawn" was named for our friend Shawn who was speaking to us on a zoom call when I spotted her! In this footage you'll see her entire journey, including the time she takes thinking carefully about whether to go up the ramp and risk her life to lay those eggs! We show you handheld camera video, surveillance camera video and photographs of the same process from different angles.


For a few final thoughts about our 2025 season, SCROLL DOWN...



December 31, 2025



Not the Last Hatchlings?



Our hope is that these Honorable Mentions terrapin's eggs will still hatch in the spring like they sometimes do! There were at least 9 other nests in our yard that we had not known about (and there could still be more) and that we did not cover but discovered by other means like turtle tracks, turtle holes, and predation. We discovered 245 eggshells in our sand pile and think 236 hatchlings could have emerged there. We’re positive 195 hatchlings made it to the water, because we released them. Again, the number of 2025 terrapin hatchlings could still grow in the spring of 2026.


Thanks so much for celebrating the turtles that nested and whose eggs were hatched in our yard! It has been a pleasure reliving these 2025 terrapin experiences with you. Happy New Year to all of you and looking forward to more turtle and terrapin adventures in 2026!





Contact Us:



turtlesinger@hotmail.com | Phone: (609) 205-9248