Taking in the Sunrays!

 I'm still in paradise! It's hot down here in sunny Florida, but it's August! It's summertime and it's no hotter here than up in Virginia! I love it! Before Susan and Katie left to go back to Virginia, we decided to hit a couple of beaches during a lower tide, we were unsuccessful with shelling but did get a slow dramatic show of dolphins! I didn't get great pics, but you can see them pretty well!

The water is pretty and the beach is clean....

a little too clean this day, not even any shells! ;)

We left Gulfside beach (mid island) and went on up to Blind Pass, my first time seeing it since Hurricane Ian rocked these beautiful Islands!

The beach is still beautiful, but you can definitely see the loss of foliage....not to mention the view of everything else is still obvious, they are working hard to get back to whatever the new normal will be, but it is a slow tedious process! No resorts are open, well one is...with limited rooms, on Sanibel and it will still be months, maybe years before it's fully open again! Restaurants and business are making great progress, it seems like every week someplace new has finished restoration and will open.

Time to change the subject....

On Friday, Team Cheri got back together for a little walk and talk, birding and shelling, the tide was nice and low so we headed to the mud flats. Boy were the Sunrays out...Suns rays AND Sunray Venus Shells in pairs!! 

Cheri had a small 2-1/2 gallon bucket that she filled, I had a shell bag and both pockets of my backpack full before we finally decided we had enough!

We use them as 'canvases'...we paint them and put them out around the island for folks to find...like the rocks! Heres just an example of what we do with them.... the long slender ones (crow, cat, Jelly fish)bottom right are sunray venus....they are some of my favorite shells to paint!

We had so many and our bags/buckets got heavy so we headed back to the car to lighten up and grab some water! Then back out!

There were a few birds out, Cheri is an amazing photographer and was very pleased to see many Avocets, 

according to Bird-nerd Cheri they migrate through here and only stay for a short time. 

They're very cool looking birds with their slightly curved beaks and long legs...Cheri has the camera for a much better shot of them....

and she can stay in this position for a long time!!! I can't even get into that position, much less hold it steady for a period of time!! My highlight for the day in the bird world was a Roseate Spoonbill! He was there all alone, and was so colorful!!

I found this nice Lightning Whelk rolling in the surf! It was covered in moss and yuck, but I believe with a little work it will clean-up nicely!

We also found quite a few empty Kings Crowns...

...and a few white and Rose Tellins.  Here's my final tally for the day....check out those Sunrays!!!

On the left are Kings Crowns, up to Sunrays, (four columns on there back and One group at there base showing the outside) in the center are white and rose tellins, (all the white are still in pairs), below them to the left are a few Alphabet cones and to the right are 3 nice Pear Whelks.

Kings crowns

That ugly whelk, a little bit better!

The whelk and Kings crown aren't completely done in the cleaning process, I will post pics of the 'after' when they're done!

It was a great day, and I had a lot of fun! The tides are pretty low the next few days so hopefully I'll have some more adventures to post! 

Stay Tuned!

Thanks for coming Along!

::Shelllady Hugs::

Last nights sunset from my driveway! How beautiful is that??

Finding Treasures during the Super Moon!

We arrived back in paradise today! Since it was a Super Moon, and my friends from Virginia were down here, I couldn't wait to get out there on the beach!! The lowest tide during this Super Moon Wednesday was supposed to be around 9, and it would be dark, so we were going to stay until the last bit of light! (It is currently Turtle nesting season, so you should not do any night shelling as it can add confusion for the turtles) 

When we got to the beach, it was very nice, just a slight breeze....

see that little bit of a black cloud in the upper left corner?? That cloud decided to start sprinkling...then harder and harder....we headed back toward the car, and we all got pretty wet! No lightning or thunder, just a soaking rain....of course, you guessed it....when we got there it quit! So being the die hard shellers that we are, we went back out there, and we are all glad we did!! Susan, Katie (and her friend Mary) and I all found some treasures! I was too busy shelling to take very many pictures but here's a few!

It started with Susan finding this nice Florida Cone....(sorry it's a bit out of focus)

  Then I found this mini Lightning Whelk!

and right after that an Alphabet Cone! Score! Not perfect, but it's coming home with me anyway!

Then I found this pretty Juvenile Horse Conch....

and a nice Shark's eye! 

Susan's Daughter Katie, caught up with us, and she already had a nice bag full of treasures!

Susan found a NICE Alphabet cone...

Apple Murex....

another Apple Murex, and Banded Tulip and ANOTHER Alphabet Cone! Triple Score!!

then I scored ANOTHER Alphie!

And Susan found this nice Lightning Whelk!!

Katie reached down and snagged this nice Shark's eye also....

It was getting darker and darker, and harder to see....so We had to finally quit, but had a great short trip that brought us a lot of fun and some treasures!

Katie's friend Mary waited for us up on the beach....check out that beautiful sky behind her!!

It just don't get no better than this!! 

Stay tuned....many more adventures to follow!

::Shelllady Hugs::

New Moon Tides: The Last Week and a Few updates!

 As normal for me lately, I've gotten too 'busy' having fun to update this blog. I'll just say I'll try to do better and leave it at that! As of yesterday We have left the tropical 80 degree sunny weather of Fort Myers and are currently in the 40-50 degree rainy days of spring in Virginia. Boy do I miss it already! 

I spent a lot of my time in Florida working at the Sanibel Community House, continuing to clean/organize the shells that had gotten messed up during Hurricane Ian, we got a lot done and are currently organizing and making plans for the Shell Festival next fall. Unfortunately we have lost a lot of Shellcrafters who are experts at shell crafting, so this will be a large learning curve for many of us! But we are up to the task! The Community House has gotten new sheetrock and the rebuild is well underway, and Sanibel Island improves every day! Periodically beaches/beach parking is opening, restaurants are slowly opening, the lack of resorts and places for folks to stay is the most obvious, hopefully the progress will continue, Sanibel Strong!!

First an update....remember this Horse Conch I found from a previous post??

                            Before:

Here it is after a long bleach soak and work with some dental picks and tools....

                                    After:

The work is worth it, right?! How nice is this??

I finally filled up my Alphabet Cone Cylinder! It's about 14" tall, and it takes a lot of Cones to fill! I guess I'm going to have to find another way to store them! :)

    

 

A couple weeks ago,  I learned quickly that due to the resorts along the beach being damaged by the Hurricane (no lights), and the changed landscape, night shelling can be pretty scary these days. I walked too far one night and talked myself into a panic trying to get back to the car!! So the new moon again brought evening low tides so I decided to take advantage of my last week in paradise and going for evening strolls! This time, planning on being back before dark! Besides Turtle season has now started so only red lights on the beach after dark!!

The first night I stumbled on 'bubbling water'....obviously there was something there stirring up the water....

stepping a little closer I noticed lots and lots of fish!! I knew what this meant, somewhere out there would soon be a dolphin or shark coming for an evening snack!

Luckily it was a dolphin this time, actually a couple of them....it was difficult to catch them, but I finally did. They were circling them and then would 'cut through the center, probably getting a mouthful of fish in the process! 

I didn't find many shells this trip but, enjoyed the show, and of course the sunset over the island!

Although the island looks hurt badly there seems to be something every day that reminds you that things are improving, whether it be a truck heading on island with palm trees or plants or truckloads of sod. On the beach, everything seems the same until you look toward the buildings, slowly that is all improving but it will take a long time, but it's happening! 

On the beach I saw lots of signs of new life....Live Horse Conchs, (my most favorite size)

Live Banded Tulips galore...

Live True Tulips....

I even found a metal rod that had become a home for some arks....

I did manage to find a few treasures to take home.....

Look at the color of this beauty!!! (sorry for the bad focus!)

Another one...a little bit bigger...

and another, bigger yet!!! (This one is for my neighbor, he likes putting them in his garden!!)

I found quite a few Nutmegs, check out how big this one is, and the color is beautiful!

Here is all the treasures I found last week, they need a bit more cleaning, but I'd say it was a pretty good haul! Look how bright that first Horse Conch is!! I just love them, it might be my favorite....or one of them any way! ;)

The Highlight for me this week was that my friend Lynne took me to the Lighthouse. To me the Lighthouse is what I think of when I think of Sanibel. They lit the light again on February 28th after it was damaged from Hurricane Ian, they repaired a leg, and it lost all of the buildings that surrounded it. It's still standing strong, and it meant so much to me to see it in all it's glory, even damaged, still strong!

There were all kinds of life in the gulf at her base to include this glorious Lightning Whelk...check out her pink "tail"....

and we found lots of Live Kings Crowns....here's just one!

These were carefully placed into the water after their photo shoots!

I was there 2 months this time, I could easily make this permanent! I feel like I helped, both working and with the economy, and though it is so sad to see, and to hear the stories from my friends, I still feel like part of the community. I hope to return soon! They're working hard to come back, give them a hand if you get the chance! Stay tuned!

::Shelllady Hugs::