February in August . . .

. . . Another glorious sunrise over the Atlantic, in Feb., the coldest month of the year here in NE Florida. And I do mean cold . . . during one beach visit, my feet were so painfully numb I had to cut the time there short. But the sunrises are worth it!

I continued to find interesting calico scallops in Feb. Above, this scallop has acorn barnacles attached. The gray and yellow one below, was an especially unique find . . .

I found my second common nutmeg shell! Don't let the photo fool you, they only reach a max of 1.7" (4.5 cm)

I thought this was a "turkey wing" ark, but it's a red-brown ark. I only have one turkey wing, from the Gulf Coast. I have about 3 of these red-browns, compared to zillions of the incongruous arks. There are actually 10 types of arks found in Florida.

This royal starfish was growing an arm back . . .

I know it's sad to see a dead sea creature, but I was also fascinated to see a puffer fish on the beach. This is a Spiny Box Puffer, or Striped Burrfish.

I found a mostly buried sand dollar . . . and was surprised that it was a whole one!

Ring-billed gulls were hanging out one morning . . .

As were these herring gulls . . . (note pale pink legs) . . . only seen in winter here.

Royal terns are seen year-round, but it's more fun to see their 'do in winter. The "Florida's Living Beaches" ID book actually notes that "Royal terns shun 'the comb-over' " !

The Forster's terns were chillin' too . . . note the black mottled crown above the eye patch ~ in late winter, their heads darken from masks to caps.

This ruddy turnstone's plumage is transitioning from breeding to winter colors. Ruddies winter along most of Florida's coastlines, but they live year-round along the panhandle coast.

Scotch and Nutmeg

Yesterday was amazing, filled with several firsts. Once again I hit the beach just before sunrise, trudging past a few surf fishermen that had planted their rods and themselves not far from the beach access stairs. I moved north first, stopping to admire the red and orange sunrise...

After strolling near the surf, I made my way up to the high tide line once, then twice…the 2nd time I found this gorgeous Scotch bonnet shell!  It's in pristine condition, and I was thrilled silly!

Not long after that, another awesome 1st find…a common nutmeg, which wasn't common for me at all.

Eventually, I headed back south, past the fishermen…and found my first lined sea star...

There were a lot of small thorny starfish as well...

…And one royal starfish, which was alive, so I tossed it back into the surf, though I know it was probably pointless...

This wasn't the first green mussel I'd found…I'd found a single shell once, but it wasn't in as good of shape, plus this is a whole (open, empty) bi-valve. The green mussel is an invasive clam from Asia, unfortunately. According to the U of Florida, "In Florida, green mussels have already caused problems for some coastal industries. These dense assemblages of mussels can be costly problems when they clog seawater intakes, weigh down navigation buoys and foul the hulls and engines of boats. Green mussels can also have serious effects on Florida's native fauna. In Tampa Bay, some native oyster reefs have died off after being smothered by green mussels."

…Later on, at home, I saw my first great crested flycatcher perched on top of the bird feeder pole…they don't eat at feeders, so it was just checking out what all the other birds were up to, and left…before I could get a photo. Ugh. But hey, I was thrilled to see it, a lifer!