Delayed departure: Negative Tide trips

Hubby and I had planned on heading back to Virginia this last weekend, but looking at the tides, we realized that the lows go to -1.1! That is a super low tide and one that is that low doesn't happen very often. Of course I couldn't resist and we decided to stay a few more days...(any excuse to stay in paradise!) 😉 

Liz and I went out on Friday just before sunrise in hopes of finding some treasures....unfortunately there hasn't been very strong winds to bring in the shells as we had hoped, but we didn't do too badly.  Of course it was a beautiful morning and a beautiful walk and sunrise! You know me by now, I love the sunrises....!! 

I didn't take very many pictures this trip.... Sunrise and shells....perfect!! 

Liz did well I think....Lightning Whelks, Huge Sharks eyes, Horse Conchs and a Lace Murex...

I forgot to take a picture until I had already put them in for a bleach bath, I did manage to get 5 Alphabet cones in various condition...and of course, I gotta find those Shark's eyes, a nutmeg (bottom right) and some mini Lighning whelks and gaudy nautica!

The next morning I got up and went solo to the lighthouse, there was absolutely nothing there but live Cockles....strangest thing! I didn't even take a picture and left before sunrise!! It was a beautiful morning and I still had a nice long walk!

The next morning, yesterday, Hubby decided he wanted to go out there and see what he could find! He doesn't go very often, so it is special when he does! It was a beautiful morning, and we got there just as the sun rose....

The tidal pools were out and we slowly shelled them to find treasures....shelling wasn't great ....but it's always fun! Hubby got Apple Murex, a Nice Gaudy Nautica, Huge Sharks eye (his first that size in a very long time) Banded tulips, Lightning Whelks, One of those I believe is an Albino....which is fairly rare, A Florida Cone (center) some Juvenile Fighting Conchs and a couple nutmegs...and at the very bottom a Bubble shell!

My finds.... of course Sharks eyes, a beater cone (we call them that when they're not perfect) aI also got an mini Lightning Whelk,  a couple nutmegs, I also got a small Gaudy Nautica, a Horse Conch, some olives and a handful of colorful coquina pairs!

This morning, Jolene and I decided to head out in the fog to the mudflats....there's always something cool to see there even if you don't fill up your shell bag!!

It was a bit spooky as it was so foggy just as the sun came up....

There were many less shells this time, but much more live things to see! Horseshoe crabs of every size...Here's a video of one of about half dozen that were running around this much larger one....check out the trails!

I found this little one, I believe is just a 'shell'....

Here's one that is a little bit larger....

I googled to see what a group of pelicans is called, I had many choices....so here is a Pod, squadron, pouch or scoop of Pelicans that slowly flew by....

I believe that is a little blue heron between us and them.....

We even got to see 3 Roseate Spoonbills...Bright pink! Unfortunately my camera didn't get the coloring right, but we spent a lot of time watching these guys....I had to use the digital zoom as we didn't want to spook them! (Notice the Mangroves in the background!)

You can see the pink a little bit better in this fuzzy picture I took as one of them flew away...

As we turned around from watching these beautiful birds, there were 2 dolphin swimming by, and they got a little shallow I believe and stirred the water up, of course I didn't catch it on camera....but oh, what fun to see!

There were quite a few live King's crowns like this one, but many had Hermit crabs in them!

                              

There were several Thorny Sea Stars in the Sea grass....

Lots of HUGE live Sand dollars....

A Blue Crab....

Jolene went home with this awesome Oyster cluster....

and I saw a crop circle!!!

along with all this other stuff, we did manage to find some empty Kings Crowns....

They're all different....some have big spikes like this one Jolene found....

Each one has a different pattern, wide stripes, different colors....and they take a while to clean properly! But it's usually worth it! As Jolene said today...'it's a process'. To make something that starts out like this....

Look clean and beautiful!!! 😆 I will have to show you an 'after' photo later when we get back!!

Jolene ended up with 20 King's crowns and a few more Rose Tellins!

So we head back to Virginia tomorrow....I will get to see my Grandsons and spend a few days with them while their Mom and Dad and friends go on an adventure of their own. Then I will head home for a quiet Christmas with my Hubby and then our plan is to head back down....to have some more adventures!

I hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas and thanks for stopping by and going along with me on our adventures! We are hoping for many more to come soon! 

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::