On “day 4” of … on Flickr.

Sure enough, I found my turtle near the pond at 8 a.m. - yesterday, it was 8:30 a.m. - so he or she is, it seems, a creature of habit. Turtles, sadly, are in decline on the East End of Long Island so to have one in my garden is thrilling!

This morning … on day three … on Flickr.

An excerpt from my upcoming column, “From Fourth Neck,” that will appear on Thursday in the Western Edition of The Southampton Press:

“The newest delight in my garden is an Eastern box turtle that can be found in the afternoon quietly resting in the shade of my Kousa dogwood, nestled underneath day lilies and hydrangeas. And, in the early morning, he or she hangs out by the pond with my stone turtle!”