About the Photo of the Month - July 2004


Nature can sometimes surprise you. In this photograph, a Painted Turtle appears to play the role of a surrogate mother to a pair of eggs much too large to be hers. Read more, to see the rest of the photo and learn more about it.

The turtle perched on top of the eggs is sunning herself, high and dry on the Loon's nest on one of the islands in the lake.

The speckled brown eggs have likely been abandoned by the Loons after apparently failing to hatch for some reason. Loon eggs are often targets for gulls or other predators. We'll see how long these eggs remain undisturbed on the island.

Loon eggs are larger than chicken eggs, averaging 8.7cm in length and 5.5cm in width and 125 to 180 grams.





Photo by Jon Okerstrom, c 2004

Posted: Tue - July 6, 2004 at 09:53 PM      

©
Content Copyright 2004-2006, Johnson Lake Property Owners Association, Inc.