Island Hopping with Friends!

My time to leave is rapidly approaching, so I am trying to fill every minute with adventures! A couple of days ago, we went and toured the 10,000 islands by kayak! I am not a kayaker...this is only my second time ever, so that is an adventure all by itself...it was a load of fun and I was with some great folks....including the Shellinator himself, Donnie!

From Left: Jodi, Donnie, me and Cindy!

Donnie immediately found this beautiful orange True Tulip and gifted it to Cindy to welcome her home! How sweet is that?

I finally did it!!! I found my Alphabet Cone....Whooop Whoop!....and it's a beauty!!

My day was complete at this point!!! But of course, I couldn't stop looking for treasures!
I saw lots of double Spiny Jewelboxes....

Jodi found this awesome Spiny too....

Donnie picked up this Live 'Freak' Lightning whelk....

and put it back into the water to continue growing!

He found this live Lace Murex...climbing on a mangrove root....

and this HUGE Angel Wing...

Before the day was done...he found a BUNCH of them!

There were shells all over the islands! It was Sensory overload....under logs....like this pretty little Lace Murex....

 It will clean up nicely!

...this Gaudy Nautica sitting there waiting for me!

a pretty Florida Cone....in among the other shells...

and my goodness the Alternate Tellins!!!! so Many I just had to ignore them all!

and pretty Scallops, and Angel wings...

...Olives, this one has Golden Olive tendencies, not sure it is truly a Golden though....

Donnie found this HUGE Apple Murex....

and the tiny Sand dollars! I had to grab a few and got some of them home unbroken...

I'd say it was a pretty good day!

There were huge Jingles too! That's a quarter for size comparison!

I picked up a few other cones....not great, but kept them anyway...and a Salmon colored Fighting Conch...

lots of small False Angel wings, even some pairs!

I can never pass up the colorful Scallops and the Top Shells!

Florida Cones, More jingles and some tiny ones!

...and of course, the Olives...for my Friend Sheila....I call them 'Sheila Shells' there are a couple with some Golden colors....

and I had to bring home 3 of the Big Angel Wings!

This folks are so much fun....I can't wait to come back after Christmas and have some more adventures!

We traveled to the East Coast to try some shelling yesterday!!! Stay tuned for pics from that trip!!!...Maybe later today!

::Shelllady Hugs::

Bird Nerding at Bunche with Shells on the side

Team Cheri decided to hit Bunche Beach in Ft. Myers. Cheri calls herself a 'Bird Nerd', she spends lots of time photographing the many birds at Ding on Sanibel and recently won third place in their photo contest! It was also posted in Today's local paper...The News Press...a half page picture!!!

She also reads leg tags on birds by zooming in with and then is able to follow their migration on line! Really interesting and Cool Stuff! I decided to tag along with her yesterday (and maybe pick up a shell or two!) 

She found a Piping Plover that had been tagged at Virginia Tech!! 

Small world...that is our daughter's Alma Mater and a football team we had seasons tickets for 12 years!! Go Hokies!

She also got pics of a Royal Tern, taking a bath...

a Willet eating a snack...(crab)

and Marbled Godwit...how pretty are these guys?!

It was so interesting...the Bird Nerd certainly knows her stuff!

 and she has good squat muscles!!! ;)

As we were checking out the birds, we were checking out the beaches and tidal pools too!...Bunche never disappoints....lots of live Kings Crowns...

Cheri even found one snacking on a crab!

I found all three types of Angel Wings!

On the left is a False Angel Wing, Center is an Angel Wing and the right is a Fallen Angel Wing....

It is also known as a Mud-Piddock!

Cheri found a beautiful pair of Rose Tellins....

and I believe these are also Rose Tellins....the book says they go from Rosy white....which are these, I believe to bright pink....

Cheri also found a beautiful Kings Crown that was empty....it's beautiful!

And the Morton's Egg Cockles!!!! First I filled up my small jar....

...and like every shelling addict, I couldn't stop there must have been billions of them out there...all different, a perfect pair!....had to get my larger container out! Here's a video of only a 5 foot area!

I managed to find one little Wentletrap in the group!

I also found a couple of empty Kings Crowns, & Sunray Venus.

Cheri did too!

We decided to stay for the sunset...and it did not disappoint!

What a cool adventure....she just might turn me into a Bird Nerd too!!!

My trip is quickly growing to an end....but Stay Tuned, I have a few more days left!!

::Shelllady Hugs::