At Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, two young Blanding’s turtles are carrying a community conservation project into its next generation.
When two nine-month-old Blanding’s turtles slipped into a wetland at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, Massachusetts, they marked more than a successful release. They were the first documented offspring at the refuge of a turtle that had once gone through the same headstart program.
The young turtles were released in late June after spending the winter at Stone Zoo as part of Zoo New England’s Headstart Program. The program gives hatchlings extra time and care during their smallest, most vulnerable months. Each turtle weighed about a third of a pound at release, compared with roughly a quarter-sized hatchling in the wild in spring.
Ivy’s long trip home
The family story began in 2010, when a female Blanding’s turtle left a refuge wetland and traveled more than a mile to nest near a Concord office park. One of her 11 hatchlings was a female nicknamed Ivy. Ivy was headstarted at Stone Zoo, released at Great Meadows in 2011, and then disappeared from view for a decade.
Zoo New England field technicians found Ivy during a routine survey in 2023. Staff fitted her with a radio transmitter, and in spring 2025 senior field conservationist Jimmy Welch followed the signal as she searched for a nesting site. Her nest produced seven healthy hatchlings—the conservation milestone that brought the project’s second generation into view.
A release built by many hands
About 40 people came to see the late-June release. The group included representatives of Zoo New England, the Town of Concord, the Concord Land Conservation Trust, and the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, along with field technicians, animal-care specialists, volunteers, interns, retired teachers, and nearby residents.
Grace Bottitta, project leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex, said the turtles showed what can happen when habitat, science, partnerships, and the next generation of conservationists are supported together.
Dr. Bryan Windmiller, who founded Zoo New England’s Blanding’s turtle conservation program at Great Meadows and retired this year, was also there to see the second generation launch. The program’s participatory approach has invited children and adults into local conservation, including classroom headstarting projects.
More than 800 headstarted Blanding’s turtles have been released at Great Meadows and surrounding wetlands since the program began in 2003. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says Blanding’s turtles can live to 80 years or more in a protected landscape, giving the newly released turtles plenty of time to become part of the place their mother returned to.
The release team waded into the water as the sun lowered over the marsh. The turtles swam away, while the people who had helped them get there watched the next chapter begin.
Reporting is based on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s July 7, 2026 story, “Partners release second generation of ‘headstarted’ turtles at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.”