March in November . . .

I'm recently back from a four-week trip to my hometown in No. Calif.; I managed to be gone from NE Florida before, during, and after Hurricane Matthew tore through here! Our county was one of the hardest hit in Florida, but since we live west of I-95, our home (and my hubby) stood strong in the Category 3 winds, and the only damage was the loss of two smaller trees in our backyard and a fairly new microwave (and the power for 4-5 days). . .

So, here I sit, almost a week back home and aching to see "my" beach after both a long absence and after the storm tore up much of the coastline in the area . . . I do believe my beach fared well, considering . . . I'll get there this week, but in the meantime will continue my attempt of "catch up" with my photos from March . . .

This lovely knobbed whelk was buried in "muck" (sand submerged in shallow water) near the spot where I placed it after pulling it out and rinsing it off . . .

A wentletrap! I now have two of these gastropod shells . . . this is the larger of the two at 7/8". Yep, not even an inch long! They only reach 1" max., too.

From what I've seen on Facebook, in groups for seashell / beach lovers, finding and collecting heart shapes is kind of a thing . . . I have very few; they aren't easy to find! This one looks nearly perfect, made from an oyster shell.

Sunrise over the Atlantic . . . cannot wait to see one again!

Speaking of oyster shells... here's a cluster of striped acorn barnacles on an oyster shell . . .

Another small beauty, the thick-lipped drill. . . a not-so-pretty name. They reach 1.5" max. This pinkish tone is their natural color.

Another baby's ear . . .

And another lettered olive . . .

An angelwing . . .

. . . A small lightning whelk . . .

And a very nicely "carved" whelk piece.

Sunrise and Scallops

I've continued to stroll the beach at sunrise this past week, arriving a few minutes before the sun breaks above the horizon. Each sunrise I've witnessed, since starting my weekly beach-combing, has been unique and breath-taking. Getting up so early and driving for about 30 minutes would be worth it if I didn't find a single sea treasure on the shore, just to see the sunrises. Fortunately, most times there are nifty things to find as well…

…Other shellers don't seem to care for the curly partial whelk shells, but I think they have their own artistic beauty…

…I found a whole lightning whelk, it needs a good cleaning...

…I continue to find a few scallops on each sandy stroll...

…and cockles, which come in sizes very small to quite big…

…and white baby's ears, this one decorated with seaweed lace...

…I found my 2nd turtle carapace bone...

…this was actually 30 or more minutes after sunrise…a lone black-bellied plover, with non-breeding plumage, contemplates the liquid gold panorama.

July in May

The weather has been humid and a little hot, more like June or July than May, here in NE Florida…I've taken to getting up before 6 a.m. to get to the beach just before sunrise, to beat the heat…and the other shell seekers. I've also spent three hours on the beach the past couple visits…amazing how time flies when you're having fun…

…You can see the humid haze in the sunrise yesterday… (and a lone ruddy turnstone…)

…the white baby's ears are fairly common at "my" beach; I always find a few...

…I also find a few scallops and several slippersnails…

…But this was the first lightning whelk egg casing I've come across so far…there are actually tiny lightning whelks inside! 

…Speaking of whelks, I found this slightly roughed up, but whole knobbed whelk last week...

…This tiny striped porcelain crab was perched on a large horseshoe crab carcus recently...

…This is the horseshoe crab, with the water bottle for size reference…the crabs reach up to 24" and I'd say this one was almost that, from the tip of its tail to the top...quite large...

…Another scallop…most scallops I find on "my" beach are black, which means they were buried for a long time in sediment…lately I've been finding white ones...

…The lettered olive shells are fairly common too…I usually find 1-3 of them.

The beaches of St. John and Flagler Co. are known for their coquina limestone sand and coquina clam shells, but I normally see single shell halves…I recently came across a large pile of live coquinas that had washed ashore, included the pretty striped ones, which usually are pretty scarce to me.

… ? ? ?  It appears that a shorebird…seagull…? Landed here, contemplated the little shell wrack, then flew off again…I found this pair of lone footprints in the sand, no other prints around them.

…I'm enjoying seeing the Wilson's plovers; don't know how I missed them the past 3 years…they summer here in NE Florida, but are found year-round in S. Florida.

…Also, on closer inspection of grainy photos, I realized these were not the commonly seen sanderlings (which have dark legs) I thought they were…they're least sandpipers, which have yellowish legs. They should be heading on north soon...

Imagine my surprise and delight at finding another lovely royal starfish, posing beautifully on top of a pile of shell hash….hmm did I even share my first time finding one of these? Doesn't look like it…oops! Quite the stunning surprise, needless to say!

Twice I've seen this Nanday (or black-faced) parakeet duo perched on a wire along Hwy. A1A by a line of beach homes….the parakeets are native to S. America and, like the monk parakeets seen in S. Florida, are escaped exotic pets. These are the first exotic escapees I've seen here.