Enjoying the Negative Low Tides, No Matter What!

Team Cheri got back on the beaches this morning to take advantage of another day of Negative low tide. The North winds kept the tide out for us this morning and we got to see lots of neat stuff! I took a lot of pictures, cut several out, and still have too many, so I'll keep the wording to a minimum ;) That way you can just look and not have to read too! I know it sounds silly, but it was very windy and chilly this morning, 48 degrees doesn't sound chilly to most of you from the north, but it is to me, so excuse the gloves.... The theme for the day was the many calico crabs we saw, all alive, all just trying to hide from the chill and the wind....here are a few...

Cheri found this "Worm thing" sticking out of the sand, have NO clue what he is...

There were live Scallops....see the many eyes along the shell?

and lots of these guys, I believe they are Sea Cucumbers, in so many different patterns....

and lots of Live Cockles...

the strangest thing we saw was this guy!

We think it was a Snook, see how huge he is? That's my foot down there by his tail....and he was eating a fish called a Sheeps Head! Both were dead and laying on a sand bar...

But lets not forget the reason we were there....shells! There were a wide variety of shells out there today, here are a few!

Buried...look closely!

 A beautiful Juvenile Horse Conch....(didn't see the Wentletrap to the left of his 'tail' in the picture below!!) :(

 Beautiful large colorful Nutmeg...

 Lots of Apple Murex and Double Jewel boxes....

A Nice Kings Crown...

 another pretty Horse Conch...

 Love the Gaudy Nauticas...

 Twin Lace Murex!

You have to look closely....

and believe it or not, a Scotch Bonnet! Not in good shape, but fairly rare in these parts!

Cheri found an area that had these BEAUTIFUL Scallops, these colors are unusual in this area too, so Colorful!

Lots of True Tulip pieces, but I finally found one whole!

Cheri did too! Check out that color!

She had an eye for the Alphabet Cones today....check this out, side by side!

The one on the left wasn't a keeper....This is the one at the top of here shell bag....

Here are my finds in my bucket at home, I'd say it was a good day!!

Stay Tuned!
::Shelllady Hugs::

Happy 2018!

I hope you had a safe and fun New Year's eve, Hubby and I don't usually stay awake until 'the ball drops', tho' I did last night, just barely.  There were huge fireworks displays all around us! We could watch them from our bedroom window!

The other Cheri had plans to go Birding this morning, so I went shelling solo. I got out before the negative low tide....kind of wishing I had gone out a little earlier!....

There was less live stuff out there this time...

A Sea Anemone...

a live Pear Whelk, which I had not seen yet this trip, I actually saw 3 of these guys today...

Of course Live Lightning Whelks....

This Calico Crab seemed much more comfortable than the one we found yesterday....

And I believe a small Brown Spiny sea star...

The tide was nice and low, and the shells were buried in the sand, I love shelling this way, but it is so easy to miss something....see this?  Yep a piece of a Junonia!

I'm surprised that I took a picture first, I usually get too excited....imagine my excitement when this piece turned into this!

It is a bit beat up....a 'beater' we call them, but all I had up until now was small pieces!! So I was VERY pleased! So he went carefully into my bag!!! He was huge! WoooHooo!!! ;D

A couple of steps to the left, and here was this guy!

A perfect Alphabet Cone! I have not had much luck finding these lately, and this one was nice! Okay, so my New Years turned out perfectly, even if I don't find anything else! Ok, .....have to calm down and look thoroughly!!!

Next was a pretty Gaudy Nautica....

 then a Nutmeg....I found several of these today...

A Nice Pear Whelk....prettier then that live one!

A tiny perfect Lace Murex...

and a piece of a Helmet shell...a whole one of these is on my bucket list too!

I found many pieces of true tulips this morning, but finally found a whole tiny one...in a beautiful Orange color...

The sun started to come up, and with it, the tide....

When that happened, the Gulf covered up my shelling spot....I should have gone earlier, it was such fun while it lasted!! I decided to walk along the high tide line and see what surprises were there...
Lots of folks were celebrating 2018 with sand art....

If you look closely that last picture is supposed to say 'Happy' on the bottom side the tide came up just to that point and messed it up! 

I would say this day was a great success!

I had a great New Years Day, what a way to start!! I hope you and yours did also! Stay tuned for more adventures from paradise!

::Shelllady Hugs::