Another Trip to the Islands

I mentioned in a post last week, that there never seems to be enough time when we go on these trips to other islands....well Liz and I heard about a company that allows much more time, and decided to give it a try yesterday. It started out as a BEAUTIFUL morning and we got there just in time to catch the sunrise!...you know me and the sunrises, gotta take a pic...or two!

and who can resist a Pelican silhouette?

The Lace Murexes are gorgeous out here and there are so many live ones, which is Awesome to see!

and we saw several Huge Live Horse Conchs....the orange color is actually their body, quite a contrast to their brown coated shells....

There were several of these guys out there as we got there at low tide....

right after we got there, I looked down and found this Beauty! A Flat (ZigZag Scallop)! A first for me on these islands....and it's so large! SCoRE!!

Immediately after that, Liz picked up this beautiful Alphabet Cone....it too was Live! That is an unusual find also! After a quick pic, it went back into the Gulf...

There were LOTS of Florida Cones out there also, most were alive....they too have an Orange body!

they too have an orange body!....

These tiny Rose Murex are also a favorite of mine....(I know, I know...they're all my favorite!) One of these is in pretty bad shape, they are few and far between so into my bucket it went!

This one is BEAUTIFUL....!!

...as is this one!

Another unusual find was a Baby's ear....Those have been hard to find at any of the beaches lately....I have never seen one here!! But Liz found one!!....and later ANOTHER!

I found several Live complete Jewel boxes also...love these!

I also love the Periwinkles that collect on the trees and logs out here....they are live land snails and come in lots of different sizes and colors!

These guys look like they were patching a square hole in a tree!!

I did manage to find several Lace Murex that were not live, they are also a favorite, and they seem to be so Lacey out here! This particular one was a pure bright white!

A pretty 'butterfly' (Alternate Tellin)

How about this for creepy?? A LARGE fish Skeleton!

We had a great time out there....and here are most of my finds.... Liz has a bucket full as well!

The Gaudy Nauticas were everywhere....yep, another favorite...check out all the different patterns!

Another pic of my Flat, it should clean up nicely!...and a few Pear Whelks

I'm sorry to say this pic is out of focus...Look at all those lacey Lace Murex! Even those tiny ones at the bottom, that's a quarter there to give you a size reference!

Also a few Florida cones on the bottom left and Horses (Horse conchs) of every color (bottom right).

The Nutmegs here always have wonderful color....

and last, but not Least Rose Murex....aren't they beautiful? The color is amazing on these guys!

It was a long day, but a lot of fun....and I would do it again in a minute! Perfect weather and great shelling quite an adventure!!

My time here is growing short, but hopefully I will have a few more posts before I leave! Stay Tuned!!

::Shelllady Hugs::