Golden Sunrise

This is definitely a favorite sunrise shot so far . . . !  I made it to the beach on Tues., after about 10 days without any beach therapy . . . the sunrise alone was well worth the early rise. But I'm happy that the sunrise time is becoming later in the day!

This was a small, but exciting find . . . just shy of 2 inches long, a whole, channeled whelk . . .
it cleaned up easily.

And this pear whelk, about 1.5 inches long . . .

Not sure why, but I love finding jingle shells . . . this was a large, black one.

Sunrise and Spotted Horsemint

Sunrise on Friday . . . much needed beach therapy after 1 ½ weeks without . . .

. . . This was sunrise last week . . . a lone jogger . . .

. . . The same sunrise from last week, with low tide sandbar and pool . . .

One of the pools held this mullet fingerling . . .

A whole, but battered, whelk shell after I pulled it from the sand . . .

. . . A whelk piece in the shell hash . . . I never tire of finding these.

A large jingle . . . a bi-valve . . . though I've never found a complete one with both shells . . .

I've wanted a photo of this wildflower for some time . . . this is growing by the dunes/roadside along A1A . . . spotted horsemint, a native Florida wildflower ,  I'm happy to say! It doesn't smell like mint, however. It can be used for a "weak" tea, but ingesting the plant itself, is poisonous.

A Pen and a Jingle

I realize I haven't shared bird photos in a bit…mainly because I'm not taking my SLR camera to the beach with me…mainly because there isn't the right light…either it's dark or I'd have to be standing in the ocean and the bird would have to be W of me, cooperating…ha! And then there's the fact that it's heavy when carried on my back…we're having a very hot early summer and I'm hot and sweaty enough as it is, just carrying the backpack and a bottle of water…so for now I just have the pocket camera in my shorts pocket...

…I realized I hadn't actually shared this photo of a willet in summer breeding plumage, which I took about a month or so ago. The significance of this shot, is the fact that it's the first one I've taken of a willet that isn't in winter plumage. This is the first year in the three years I've been here, that I've spent any noteable time at a beach in May (through mid Oct.) due to the heat index. Did I mention, today the heat index was 108?! Yikes. And it's only mid June.

This week, when I landed on the beach just before sunrise, it was already "quite warm", ugh. But I trudged on, my first time trying an abbreviated version of my previous visits…a shorter visit, about two hours, instead of the 3 to 3.5 hours I'd mostly been spending….anywho, the sunrise continues to be deep orange…this one, I captured the peli patrol cruising by...

I found a whole penshell (bi-valve, empty), hadn't seen one in awhile…usually they're in pieces.

For some reason, we get a lot of black scallop shells…you can barely see the original white with red markings below the black. I've mentioned it before ~ the black is caused by the shell being buried in sediment for a long time.

This is a good-sized jingle shell, about 2", in gold.  :)

…I usually find at least one shark's eye shell each time I go to the beach…Thurs. I found four; this was the largest one…

A mottled purse crab, deceased…it's fairly common to find a few crab carcasses each beach visit, but seeing them always makes me a little sad...