Casing the Beach

 Mondays are for Shellcrafting with the Sanibel Shellcrafters at the Community House. I've been stuck in the terrible traffic of Contractors heading 'on island' quite a few times. It's no fun, and is an awful start of your day. So I found a way around it! Mondays, I head to the island before 7 am, usually around 6 for a 9 o'clock meeting. So guess what I do....walk the beach!! I don't worry about the tides, it's just a much better start to my day! So....this morning I crossed the bridge right at 6, no delay and drove to the beach, it was 3 hours before low tide, but the winds have been right. I know you'll think I'm making this up, but right after I got there, this shell rolled out of the waves, right up to my feet!!! Shazam!! 

A Florida Horse Conch....It's not too big, or too small, just right!! It still has a nice orange color and even a white perfect tip, with a little work, it will be BEAUTIFUL....This is one of my favorites!! LOL, but you all know that! ;)

A few more steps and I found all 3 of these nice Lightning Whelks!

I looked in front of me, and behind me, and I had the entire beach to myself! No one was playing tricks....just at the right place at the right time! I said to myself, I'm sooo glad I got up early to get here this morning!

A little bit further down and I found these Cowries, within a few feet of each other....they are not usually found here, but they are found in the keys and on the east coast, maybe Hurricane Ian moved things around a bit! They're broken, but the familiar "teeth" are in great shape!!

This Huge Old guy (Another Florida Horse Conch) was right along the waterline....he has been around for a LOOOOONNG time! He didn't have a good point, and looked to be in bad shape, though Whole, but I left him for someone else to enjoy!

That's my foot next to him to give you a size reference....

There were also a few Pear Whelks out there that were in good shape...

Slowly the sun began to come up, and light my path....what a gorgeous day!

I had a little company, there are some birds walking there with me....

There were lots of Cockle pairs out there, large and small...most were empty, 

Here's a two for one deal, a twofer!! A lightning Whelk in a Lightning Whelk!

February has always been my favorite month for shelling....The large shells start to come in, the winds blow in from the North, though it's cooler, it brings in the shells....and the egg casings! Remember in my last post, I showed you the True Tulip putting it's egg casings on a pen shell, here's a little closer view....

Tulip egg casings...

They are ruffly, and each one is actually triangular, all put together in one large group....

in each 'triangle' are many many babies, that grow up to be Tulips!!!...I put it up to the sun so you could see them in there through the skin of the casing.

These 'Snaky' looking things, are actually Lightning Whelk Egg casings.

The Whelk lays these disks that are joined by a sort of thick thread on the back side....

This is showing you the individual disks.... there is a small hole in each disk, for the shells to swim out of and into the Gulf.... to grow up!!

once again, I put it up to the sun so you can see the tiny, tiny whelks... you can see how tiny, compared to my thumb nail!

How interesting is that?!

This is actually a Skate or shark case, ...I put it up to the light and it was empty. We fondly call these Mermaid purses....

With the sunrise, my adventure was complete, now time to go and get creative!

Enjoy YOUR day! 

Stay Tuned!

::Shelllady Hugs::

"You Can Never have Too Many Tulips!"

There has not been a lot going on to post about lately....I have managed to slow down and act like I'm retired! My days are crafting, either making stuff out of shells for Sanibel Shellcrafters or painting shells to spread (we call it sprinkling) around Sanibel Island, and Team Cheri has been pretty consistent with our beach 'walk and talks' which is my therapy session! :) 

Oh and we had a little storm pass by!!

We spent a lot of time watching Hurricane Idalia and it's path. It was forecasted to pass to our west and make landfall up North, between Tampa and the big bend. As it passed by we held our breaths that it wouldn't turn, it brought a few bands of heavy rain, but not bad. After it passed we were in what Hubby and I called the  'tail' of the storm, it lasted for at least 2 days, pretty strong winds with stronger gusts, and some rain bands. Unfortunately it gained strength and made landfall near Cedar key. My thoughts and prayers go out to those folks.

So, I've heard that after a storm goes by, the shelling can be tremendous. There was light flooding on Sanibel, Captiva and Fort Myers Beach. Mostly parking lots near the beaches. So I went out each day to the beaches that were open and found little to nothing! The best (low) tide was the day the storm came by so I got out there as soon as I could. Nothing to post about...then a friend messaged me and suggested I try another beach, this time on Fort Myers Beach...I've only driven by once or twice and stopped to shell a couple times in the years we've lived here. It's just as close as Sanibel, just across from it, another direction...so why not? I'll make it an adventure! Fort Myers Beach was hit very hard by Hurricane Ian nearly a year ago and they are still very devastated, they are as bad or worse than Sanibel and are very much in rebuild mode, business, Hotels and homes are all in varying stages of restoration. It's very sad to see, and so hard to imagine what they are going through! While there a man stopped and talked to me and said they were getting better and slowly but surely they would be back to whatever normal is! Such a great attitude!

Sorry, too many words....on to the adventure! 

I got onto the beach at daybreak and immediately could see that this was going to be an adventure! The Gulf was very calm and the visibility was good in the water...

Tons of shells in the water, most were alive, so you have to do a lot of studying and exploring! Heaven!!

One of my favorite shells (I have many) are True Tulips! How about this beauty?!

a few more steps and I saw this pretty Pear Whelk!

There were lots of signs of life here, which, as you know, I love! This Banded Tulip was hanging out on top of the Cockle!

This is a nice sized Horse Conch, I don't usually find these guys this time of year, he was alive and well, so after his photo op, he went back!

His 'body' is the bright orange you see around the dark brown Operculum (door) that offers him protection!

I found several of these big old gnarly Lightning Whelks, they have lived a hard life and it shows!

There were quite a few of these little clusters of live shells, notice the Albino Apple Murex on the left, that's a special find!!! But it is alive so it won't be disturbed!

Another beautiful Pear Whelk, look at that color! It's a pretty good guess with such vivid markings that it could be alive!

and it is!

Back he goes to grow! I found my first complete Calico Clam, some call them Checkerboards....Had to save a set for my collection!! Nice coloring on it, right?!

Score!! Another Beautiful True Tulip!....

Nope...it is alive also!! Back he goes to Live on!

as you see in this picture his Operculum (door) is open!

I really enjoyed this guy....No you don't see him....

Now you do! 

He played peek a boo with me for a while! It's a hermit crab in a Pear Whelk! So fun!

I enjoyed this, I'm calling him Chester, after my Granddog! Press the arrow, I couldn't resist taking a video!

A little ways down the beach I hit the jackpot with the True Tulips, most of these came out of the same place!

So many colorful True Tulips!! With a bonus Nutmeg and another pretty Pear Whelk!

And Another favorite...I know I know, I have SO many favorites! A juvenile Horse Conch! Nice color huh?!

It was time to head back, I have been on this adventure for 3 hours now, it's time to call it a day!! On the way back I found this BEAUTIFUL Lacey Lace Murex...He was alive, but look at all that lace!!! He safely back in the Gulf!

Here's a look in my bucket! I think it was a good day, wouldn't you?

Here they are a little more organized!

At the very top center are broken pieces I save for a friend named Bonnie who paints beautiful things on the broken ones!to the right of them is a Huge piece of Coral I found that was Hollow in the center, I thought it was cool, and may work for another craft piece! Next row is a pair of Sunray Venus, a set of the biggest Cockles I think I've ever seen, then some Shark's eyes. Under the Cockles are a variety of colors of Lighting Whelks! Under that are my collection of True Tulips for the day, the the left are a few Apple murex. In the center are two Horse Conchs, a biz zillion Banded Tulips, and a nice collection of Pear Whelks!

Close up of the Trues...

and the Pears

I might just be going on this adventure again! It was such fun!!

Stay Tuned!

::Shelllady Hugs!::

 

Small Adventures

 It's time for a quick update...Do you remember those large Lightning Whelks I got last week just before Thanksgiving?? That great day when I was laughing out loud on the beach?? Here is that picture again...those 2 large white shell at the top...

Well I scraped off the barnacles and cleaned them up in a bleach bath....now look at them!

Didn't they turn out nice??? The big Horse Conch is taking a little longer, he should be ready to be revealed in the next day or two.

The tides aren't great and the shelling hasn't been very good so I've been on a couple of small adventures, just something different! Jolene and I decided to take a trip to a few of the mudflats around Fort Myers to see what we could find. Plus I need to collect some Sunray Venus to paint, I think they are my favorite to paint.....

The 3 shells on the left are the Sunray Venus and the one on the right is called a Kings Crown....pretty obvious why I would say! These Kings also need cleanup with a bleach bath and then a quick dip in a diluted acid bath and it will really bring out those colors....I'll keep you posted how it turns out.....

another fun find in the mudflats are these beautiful little Rose Tellins.....

Jolene set out to collect these....and I'd say she did pretty well, wouldn't you?!!

She also picked up a few Kings....

Here's her days end finds Coral, Kings Crowns, and a couple Cones!....

I did well at collecting the Sunrays....There are a few Kings and Pear Whelks in my collection....

Jolene and I saw Cheri out there also and she gave us a tip to lookout for some minis to include BIG tusk shells.....I did pretty well with that also! The quarter is there to give you a reference for size....at the top is a dusty cone, some marginella, a dog Whelk(?), Keyhole limpet, tiny lightning Whelk and a Coquina pair!

After a day off to rest, Liz and her Hubby invited me to go to Lover's Key. It's only about 20 minutes or so from my house and I have never been!!! So, Heck yeah....I'm up for another adventure!!!

It started out very cool, as we were headed toward the beach, we crossed a bridge and there was a dolphin right under it...I took several pics into the water and none turned out, but I did manage to catch him as he came out...not a very good pic, but he wasn't posing for us!

The funny part was there was a Great Blue Heron following him, obviously hoping to find some fish! I tried to catch a pic of him.."on the fly" (pardon the pun)

It turns out Lover's key is a really pretty beach, great for walking....we walked from one end to the other!!

The had several 'Shell Trees' there, you make a wish and hang a shell (with a hole in it) on a limb of the tree! Yes I hung a shell of my own!!

The water was crystal clear....it was just beautiful!

I got infatuated with the Worm shells, the were tight little spirals and most ended up in a point....like tiny little Christmas trees!!

I also found a couple of colorful little nutmegs (top Center), of course some Shark's eyes, and a couple of Florida Cones....

and lots of minis! Check out that Sharks eye on that penny at the top!!

I also found a nice sized Baby's ear (with a tiny hole in it)   

And a small piece of a Junonia!!!

Liz found this BEAUTIFUL Albino Olive!! I couldn't believe how bright white it was!!!(Unfortunately, I didn't get a very good picture of it, the focus was off!)
        

Here it is with the rest of the Olives She and her Hubby collected...

She also found quite a few Sand dollars!

We did find several Sea Stars and we both tried to rescue them by putting them back into the Gulf...

and we put this beautiful Sea Urchin back into the Gulf....

The weather was amazing, the beach was beautiful and we walked from one end to the other and had a GREAT time!! Beach Therapy at it's best!! 

My time is growing short, we will be heading back to cold Virginia in the next couple of days, but plan on being back in paradise right after Christmas. I may post again, but in case I don't I hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas!

::Shelllady Hugs::