A Big Friday!

Team Cheri headed out to the beach a little later today, after sunrise, hoping it would be a little warmer....and it was! We found a tidal pool that was over my boots, but Cheri was prepared, scuba pants! She walked into the tidal pool, and though she couldn't see due to the stirred up sand, she found something under her foot....a nice Lightning Whelk....

Then she found something else......

she moved over a little bit....and something else! She did that several times, I stood at the edge and took them so she could get more!! 

She found several more large pieces of Horse Conchs, and one more, we left for someone else....total count was 6 Large Horse Conchs and 3 Lightning whelks....all in one area! A lady stopped and talked to us, she found 6 the day before!! We had to go back to the car and drop them off so we could go shelling down the beach! What a great way to start the day! Mixed in among these monsters was this guy....a BEAUTIFUL True Tulip....Her most favorite find of the day! Gorgeous color!

After dropping the Horsies off at the car, we walked on down the beach....there were lots of plain white shells and Broken Quahogs, but not much else...Cheri found this Hermit in this Small Horse Conch....of course, he went back into the water after his photo op....

I saw several live Scallops....I just love these guys...they are so fun to watch!

I found a pen shell with Tulip Egg casings on it....

 I checked it and there were none in there, hopefully they all got out and will grow up!

I did find this little perfect Alphabet cone along the tidal pool edge...

 check out that perfect little tip!

Cheri found 2 in the tidal pool....

The other one she gave to a lady who was shelling and not finding much, She was So Excited when Cheri gave it to her....it was wonderful to see her light up! We saw the Biggest Sunray Venus I have ever seen....half the size of my size 9 boot....(aren't they colorful?!) It was huge...and dare I say a little fat too!!

The beach was just beautiful, not a cloud in the sky!....if you look closely, there is a sailboat on the horizon....just like a picture postcard! How could you not love this place!

Sadly, due to a family emergency, this will be my last post for a while, I have so enjoyed my week here! I will be back to bring some more Adventures with the Cheri Team....Stay tuned and thanks for coming along!

::Shelllady Hugs::

I Spy....

I'm excited to tell you that I'm back home again in paradise, Ft. Myers and Sanibel.  I can never get enough of this place! I have had enough of the cold...though we were lucky enough to miss out on the latest snowfall, I'm happy to say.  Though it was a little bit chilly on the beach this morning, a sweatshirt took care of that, and off I went, just before sunrise.

I hadn't stepped two steps and was greeted by these guys...A Lightning Whelk, and my Dad's favorite, A Shark's eye.  It always makes me feel like he's right there with me. <3 

A few steps later, I found this beauty...Another Lightning Whelk, a little larger and more golden...

"Ok self, it's time to be a little more picky, I don't need to keep picking up lightning whelks, I have more than enough, time to pass them by....at least some of them!"

The sunrise was beautiful this morning...

I couldn't resist sharing this...

As well as Lightning Whelks, It seems that today was a day of Jewel Box pairs...

and Scallop Pairs...

It was apparent that there had recently been some wind, there was a lot of 'stuff' at both tide lines, and there was definitely a step in the sand where it had washed away...

 There were LOTS of Horse Conch egg cases scattered about also...

I ran across an area where there were obviously buried treasures, 

I dug a little bit in the surf in these areas....

Yes, that is an Alphabet Cone, it has seen much better days....but I did find one today!...
There were small tidal pools here and there, my favorite type of shelling....

I spy.....a juvenile Fighting conch...

...a worm shell

...an Oyster Drill...

Another Jewel box pair and mini Lightning Whelk...

Do you see them?  Okay, your turn...What do you Spy among these ark shells?...( you can click on the pic to enlarge it, then click on the 'x' in the top right corner to return)

Did you see these?....3 small Juvenile Fighting Conchs, 4 tiny Bubble shells, and a mini Apple Murex?....I'm sure I missed some other things too!

So much is going on in these tidal pools....This live Millipede Starfish was partially buried...

This live Sand Dollar was doing Donuts!!

This is a Neon Orange Sea Anemone...

This tiny live Sea Urchin was hiding behind these shells...

...and this?! Can you tell what it is?

Yep, it's a Pygmy Octopus, hiding beneath the shells and sand....at the end of this video you'll see a live scallop that had spit some water at me...so much fun!

This Live Banded Tulip climbed up the side of the tidal pool onto the beach....

I was just about to come off of the beach and head for the car, and noticed a dolphin slowly swimming along the beach, and thought I would get a good picture to share....about the time I snapped, this Osprey dove down right in front of me!! 

Lucky shot....I almost missed it on the next few, but just kept snapping the frames in the bright sunlight, hoping I would get something good!

...and the dolphin just casually swam right on by!! 

Have I mentioned that I love this place?? Always an Adventure!! 

Stay tuned!!

::Shelllady Hugs::

Two Adventures, One post!

We are beginning week three, our longest trip down to date. I've been slacking on the posting lately and I am sorry, so will spend the next couple of days, 'Catching you all up!' This has been an amazing trip, Cheri and I have been having a lot of fun on the beaches of beautiful Sanibel!

Friday Cheri had some plans in the morning, so I headed out to see what the latest winds had brought in. I picked up a few things...

A couple of Fighting Conchs, Lightning Whelks and a Banded Tulip

I also found several of these Purple Sea Urchins...These two were dead...

 ...But this guy was alive! I really like these guys!

I hope one day to make my first Sailor's Valentine using my own shells, nothing bought, so I have been collection the sea urchin spines for that. I will need a lot so this was a good find.

After Cheri got there we decided it was time to collect some minis, Cheri has never added a Wentletrap to her collection. We hadn't been there very long when she found her first!!

That was quickly followed by bunches and bunches of minis for us both!

I found lots of colorful Coquina pairs...or 'butterflies' as my Daddy always called them.

It was awesome! We found Bubble shells, Sharks eyes, (the small one just below the shark's eye in the center is an Eastern Dog Whelk(I may have misnamed it in an earlier post), the orangy one to the left is a tiny murex, there are 2 tiny wentletraps in the center, a piece of coral and more coquina pair.

 Cheri and I each found one of these, we thought is was a Ram's Horn which is not normally found here, but with a little bit of research (hitting the books) I believe it is a Waxy Polygra...another first for us!

So many minis...Cheri found Ceriths, Cantharus (top left), a tiny Horse conch, Turbans, Button Snail shells, Fighting Conch, Augers...you name it!

 I found these mini Fighting Conchs, the tiny Nutmeg, center top, and yes that is what you think it is...even a tiny Junonia cob! The tiny shell to the right of the Junonia piece is a tiny Dwarf Olive, we each got two of these tiny guys....Cheri dropped one before we left, I'm sure I'll lose at least one during cleaning since they are so very tiny.

Cheri found this guy, I looked through all my books and with the help of a fellow Sheller have found out it's called a Arrow Dwarf Triton! (Thanks Steve!)

Everything thing we saw at the Lighthouse was tiny, check out this tiny crab!

It was a beautiful day, I can't ever go there without taking a photo of the Lighthouse!

...or the Dolphin!

Thursday 'Team Cheri' participated in a beach cleanup which was a joint effort between the Sanibel Sea School 

and a clothing store called 'Fresh Produce'. The first part of the morning we participated in an activity where we each wrote down our problems on a piece of paper, burned them....

carried the ashes to the beach

Then each of us took a pinch of the ashes walked into the Gulf and let them go. Bruce, our host, (and co-founder of Sanibel Sea School) says this is an activity he does with the kids during camp, and really can make a difference for some of the kids! 

Fresh Produce then stepped in and gave us all bags and gloves and we picked up the local beach that was within walking distance...

Team Cheri (me in the blue, Cheri Hollis in the pink!)

Fresh Produce also provided a nice lunch (from Bailey's General Store) and gave us a small presentation from their founder and gave us a gift. It was a lot of fun, and we feel like we helped in a small way! The took 2 group photos, but we didn't get a copy...if I find them, I'll post!

 The walk to the beach was amazing, we crossed over a bridge that crossed the Sanibel River...and saw beautiful vegetation and Mangroves, another first for me, I have never seen one up close!

I couldn't resist taking some pictures of these crafts done by the kids at Sanibel Sea School!  Check out these crabs made out of handprints...

..or this huge wave made out of seashells!

Stay Tuned!!

::Shelllady Hugs::