Family Turtle Nest Survey - Lake Bonney, Barmera

It’s turtle nesting season!

Freshwater turtles numbers are in decline, particularly in the Murray-Darling system in South Australia, so we need as much information as we can gather on where they are nesting. Undisturbed turtle nests are very hard to find. When foxes dig up the nests and eat the eggs they leave scattered shells on the surface. While this is an unfortunate end for the eggs, it does mean we can more easily see where the turtles have come out to nest.

Once we have identified nesting hotspots we can work out the best conservation measures to undertake to get more young turtles back into our waterways.

This is a family friendly event suitable for kids around age 5 and up.

Program for the day:

• Arrive 8am – meet at Playground near Public Toilets at Lake Bonney. 
• Welcome and introduction (1 Million Turtles, TurtleSAT, Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board & Helga) – 8:15 – 8:30
• Short drive to nearby survey site around the Lake- may be some driving on unsealed tracks.
• Nest surveying – 8:45 – 10:30
• Refreshments and further turtle talk 10:30-11

We are starting early in case the day is forecast to be hot.

The survey will involve relatively easy walking for around 1.5 hours around the edge of Lake Bonney looking for evidence of turtle nests that have been dug up by foxes. When we find the nests we will record the location using the TurtleSAT app.

If the fire weather forecast is Extreme or Catastrophic we will need to cancel the survey and reschedule the event for a later date. A cancellation will be confirmed via email after 5pm on the day before the event when the up to date rating is broadcast.

NOTE: There are no toilets at the survey site. The closest ones are the public toilets at the meeting point.