Friday was an unseasonably cool and drizzly day and probably not the nicest weather to wind our way through the Wollongong Botanic Garden. But even though it didn’t feel like Spring, the animals sure knew what season it was. There were plenty of birds, ducks and white-headed pigeons making, ahem, more birds and eastern water dragons lounging around, soaking up any warmth they could find. One dragon, in its first blush of breeding colour, rushed boldly out of the foliage as we passed and down towards the water’s edge. And that’s when we noticed it, a very special sighting of a very special event: an eastern long-necked turtle in the process of laying a clutch of eggs.

These smallish (the shell gets to around 25cm) turtles are common and you may have spotted one attempting to cross the road. If you’ve ever tried to help them to safety, you might also know what they smell like. They have defensive scent glands above their legs and don’t mind squirting the pungent, almost onion-like liquid out as needed! 

Eastern long-necked turtles lay their eggs in November and December and this lady was well into the process by the time we spotted her. She was nestled, angled down into the hole she had already dug out. We watched as she braced against the damp earth, her front legs pushing her up, neck fully extended, her expression fixed and focused as she occasionally repositioned. 

We couldn’t see the eggs being laid, the nest itself luckily covered by her hard carapace. Turns out we weren’t the only ones watching. A raven flew over a few times, cawing as it circled, eventually landing right beside her. It certainly knew what was going on, but the turtle had no choice but to continue laying her precious eggs. I’ll admit I shook the foliage I was hiding behind, and yelled and carried on a bit, before noisy miners and a very belligerent masked lapwing sent the raven on its way.

Her eggs all laid (clutches contain between 4 and 20 eggs), she stretched her back legs out behind her, her clawed, webbed feet scooping the mulch back into the nest.

All up, we had watched her for about an hour and I suspect she must have been digging for half an hour before we spotted her. Eventually, after she rendered the nest invisible, she turned and left it, returning back to the water, only a couple of metres away. 

Hopefully, within a few months, we’ll see the results of her hard work and the hatchlings will emerge and tumble towards the water as well. 

Sea turtles are also laying eggs right now. Read how you can help them.