Turtle Watching

Though they're not as popular to watch as birds or (probably) butterflies, it's worth checking out the local turtles. Although lakes, ponds, and swamps are certainly acceptable places to look for them, canals are possibly the best place to look for them. Both the Delaware Raritan Canal tow path and the Raritan Water Power Canal (the latter going through Duke Island Park) are chock full of turtles this time of year.

I've described identifying turtles before, though I suspect 80-90% of the ones you'll see basking out in the open are painted turtles, cooters (River and Redbellied), and sliders (Red-eared and Yellow-bellied). Though it's not uncommon to see a bunch of turtles of the same species together, mixed groups are probably more common at a popular basking location. In the picture below it looks like these were all our Painted Turtles.

March 7, 2022 at Duke Island Park
Photo 186581246, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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