Turtle Day

Yesterday, May 23rd, was World Turtle Day, a day for celebrating turtles and tortoises, to raise awareness of them, and to help protect their disappearing habitats. I am reposting photos from all the blogs I've written about turtles. This one is an Eastern box turtle from New Jersey. Click here to read my blog about it. Or just click to enlarge. 

This common snapping turtle was sunning on the shore of the Reservoir in Central Park in Manhattan.  Click here for the blog. 

I saw this lovely painted turtle in Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in  Vernon, New Jersey. Click here to read about the refuge and other interesting animals you can see there. 

These red-eared slider turtles were sunning on rocks in Central Park in Manhattan, a great place to raise your turtle awareness. There are lots of red-eared sliders and quite a few other nice turtles to see there. Click here to read the original blog about a nature walk I led there last year. That blog also mentions the pair of eastern spiny softshell turtles pictured below. 

Chinese softshell turtles. Note the turtle necks. 

The big turtle on the left in this photo is a red-eared slider. The little one of the right is a yellow-bellied slider.  They are sharing a log in Central Park. Click here to read more.   

World Turtle Day. May 23rd. My awareness was raised enough to notice this guy holding up a lamp in front of my bank.

A turtle haiku from Kobayashi Issa, 1825

"short summer night --
in the field turtles
cavort"