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::