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::

Day Three...

We saw so many live Lightning Whelks last night! It's amazing how excited I got to see them!

 The one on the left has the actual Lightning Whelk 'snail' in it, the one on the right has a hermit crab...

There were so many....these are just a very few!

Sand Dollars were everywhere too....in the tidal pool and on the beach....all Live!

Also a lot of King's Crown....so many more now than there used to be in this area....Cheri said there were so many Huge ones in the tidal pools too..

There was some sea creatures (dead) here too....  I have no idea what this guy is....(behind the sea squirts) looked up eel, sea snake, fish etc....

Here's another one of the same....

this poor crab didn't make it, but look at the beautiful colors!

I loved seeing birds! These are the first Pelicans I've seen this trip!

and a Snowy Egret!

The water seemed worse to me, dark, smelly....and there were a few fish on the beach, though the main part of the beach was in pretty good shape...

 The beach had obviously been cleaned up....

It was low tide, so the fish were being deposited as the water went out...

Don't worry....still wearing my scuba boots! Cheri wore her shoes too, saved her feet at least once!

Another interesting find was Tarpon Scales!....We picked up 4 or 5 of them...they make BEAUTIFUL Roses.....on the lookout for more of these!

Gotta make Lemonade out of Lemons, right?! Saw this......a Junonia....

 piece....! ;)

Cheri found the Operculum from a Shark's eye....love these!

and of course, Minis....always looking for minis! Especially Wentletraps!

And I hit a hotspot for Baby's ears! There were many more broken ones! I love these!

The Sunset was Beautiful....I love being on the water for both Sunrise and Sunset....

Look closely, I caught the sun on the horizon, under the pier! see it?

I always gotta snap a shot of the lighthouse.....

I will keep trying to remain positive but informative...these posts have been kinda tough this time! 

We had an amazing thunderstorm last night around midnight....i tried to catch the lightning on film....I didn't do so well, but Cheri caught an amazing shot!

Enjoy, and Stay tuned!!

::Shelllady Hugs::