It’s not every day at the end of November you can put on your shorts and stroll down to the beach at 6am. The sun was up and the wading birds were standing in a line along the shore enjoying the pickings of the incoming tide.

I headed in the direction of the channel that ran from the hills into the sea as I knew there would be loads of fish jumping high out of the water and a good variety of wildlife there to catch them on the way down.

Even at this time in the morning the sun was roasting and I knew it was going to be a long hot day.

As I walked along the riverbank I could see countless little turtle heads popping up out of the water, take a breath of air and slip silently back down below and disappear out of sight. Not only had they travelled from the sea to feast on the shoal of fish but the fresh water also had a second purpose, it removed the barnacles from their skin and shell.

At first it was difficult to determine whether the ripple was made by a cormorant, a fish or a turtle but after sitting and studying the nature of the plops, it was easier to discriminate.

The light wasn’t perfect so I made the decision to walk across the swing bridge to try to get the sun coming from the other direction. As I sat a while on the other bank watching the turtles as they swam upstream I got the most wonderful surprise, two beautiful species of kingfishers came out from the bank and undeterred by my presence, began to dive for minnows right in front of me, changing their perch from the branches of the tree to the handrail of the bridge.

The smaller one had emerald green plumage on its back and a fluorescent red breast and the other much larger with feathers that glittered green and silver with a much larger sturdier pointed beak. They caught fish after fish until their wee bellies were bulging.

Time to head back for breakfast, there were 16 turtle patients in the clinic with a lot needing I/v fluids and tube feeding and if I had to get finished in time for lunch I’d have to start pretty quick.

I secured my binoculars, camera bag and camera over my head before heading back across the swaying bridge as I needed both hands to keep me upright.

As I walk, I’m constantly scanning the landscape, river and ocean for any sign of movement and sound. From the corner of my eye I saw something swimming in the far end of the river. I thought at first it was cormorants but the movement was quite different. Instead of sharp dives, the motion was more controlled and less noisy. I knew this movement and to confirm my suspicion I looked through binoculars – yip, a pair of otters and huge ones at that – much larger than the European species. They were far too far away for a decent photo so I just watched them fish for such a long time until they turned and headed back upstream and out of sight. Such an amazing encounter!

Oh dear, time had escaped me and I was now dreadfully late for breakfast. Nothing else for it, I scurried across the wobbly swing bridge and ran as fast as I could over the now hot sand with my bare feet, up the stairs, dumped my gear onto my bunk bed, went into the kitchen, put the kettle on and made my roll and banana as I waited for the water to boil to make a well deserved cup of tea – phew!!!

Now off to the clinic to check on the patients. A quick check of the 16 Green turtles, some in water tanks, some in plastic containers and then there was poor wee Segway, the Black backed Gull, but at least he was still alive.

The variety of treatments were done efficiently and ky0kpp hullo ppl pleffectively incorporating training some of the volunteers in the technique of administering fluids intravenously.

The afternoon and morning was very much the same; treat the patients, record their weight and measuring the temperature of their tanks. It was very important to keep the water between 14 & 30oC but this was sometimes very difficult in the heat of the day. It always involved shuffling these huge vats into the shade.

Not all the turtles could go into the tubs because they were too weak to even lift their heads out of the water. These animals had to be put into plastic containers, kept wet and in the shade. It didn’t look very accommodating but there was nothing else to be done. Hopefully it wouldn’t be long before they were transferred into water and be able to swim a little.

Nite 😘