Diamondback Terrapins! 8/9/2023

While conducting an International Shorebird Survey on in Marion, Massachusetts, I noticed two turtles sunning just off shore on a rock and another swimming nearby. I often see Painted Turtles and Sliders (and occasionally a Red-bellied Cooter) on rocks or logs while I am out birding and photographing, but it took me a minute to realize that these were in the ocean! They were on the bayside and the tide was quickly rising so I snapped a few photos and looked on my camera and was so happy to see my first Diamondback Terrapins. These marsh-dwelling reptiles (many people think they are amphibians, but they have scales) are considered threatened in Massachusetts, so I was incredibly lucky to see not one, but three. The female of this species are larger with a carapace of nine inches or more, while the males have a smaller carapace of four to five inches. The larger turtle on the rock looked over nine inches so I am guessing that she was a female, and both sexes can live up to forty years. The Diamondback Terrapin population in this area of Marion is apparently making a comeback, and they were wonderful to witness. Any day where I see a lifer is a great day!