A Semele Sunrise

Looks like I'm only getting beach therapy one day this week . . .

Another red sunrise on Tuesday . . .

Some shells, esp. some bivalves, are hard to ID but I'm pretty sure this is a (not-so)-White Atlantic Semele.  It just happens to have some discoloration due to being buried.

This tiny almost-whole gastropod shell is a thick-lipped drill. Their max. size is 1.5 in.

Another nice shark's eye was found, sitting in some shell hash . . .

And I found a good-sized Atlantic calico scallop, along with a few smaller ones.

Seeing Red

It wasn't my best couple hours of beach therapy this morning, but nice all the same, and full of reds . . .

. . . Like the sunrise . . . in an otherwise dark horizon . . . it didn't seem this sinister in real life!

I found another calico scallop with an acorn barnacle attached . . .

On the Intracoastal Waterway side, this reddish egret flew in and landed out in the shallows . . . This is the first reddish egret I've seen since living in NE Florida 3 years . . . too bad I didn't have my SLR camera with me . . .

Another shapely piece of a whelk shell . . . even though I'd prefer to find a whole whelk, the curly pieces definitely have their own unique beauty.

Willets, Whorls and a Wentletrap

Another two days of beach therapy this week . . . sunrise on Thurs. was simple but lovely . . .

…One of two whelk whorls found Thurs.; the other is white . . .
(The spiral end of the gastropod shells are called whorls)

I found this wentletrap on my way back up the beach, where many people had already passed by . . . my first wentletrap! The shell only reaches 1" long, the length of this one.

…Short razor clam shells (stout tagelus) aren't common and when I find them they're usually broken...

Both visits to the beach this week had me finding a lot of whelk "bones" . . .

The partridge pea, a dune plant, is in bloom now.

Coral and a Touch of Cobalt

I enjoyed a couple more trips to the beach this week…good thing I go in the morning, because the 3 pm summer showers are hitting like clockwork these days…

I'm starting to find several disc dosinia shells each visit…but so far this is the only rusty colored one I've found…the rust color is from prolonged exposure to the air...

The sunrise on Mon. wasn't overly "fancy" but they're still always impressive to see…

This is the largest piece of coral I've found so far…it's approx. 1 1/2" wide, and it's Northern cup coral.

A heart from nature…a well worn piece of shell...

Cobalt blue sea glass is supposed to be "rare" (red, orange, and yellow are "very rare")…

this piece is small (½" wide), but I was thrilled all the same!

I find a few whelk "bones" -- as I call them -- usually, but only 1-2 have a more lovely, graceful shape overall...

…On the inlet side of the beach, a lone snowy egret seemed to be meditating…

While nearby, this large, battered knobbed whelk "bone" silently rested its weary soul.

A Changing Sunrise and Other Treasures

Another pleasant beach therapy session was procured on Tues. I arrived a bit earlier than usual, and it was a little too dark to see what was under foot very well…at first. But then, I was on a mission to reach the shell "hot spots" before anyone else did. It's summer now, and the tourists are showing up at the condos just north of my favorite beach-combing beach. I was first in line this day, however . . .

The pre-sunrise skyline was awe-inspiring, as usual . . .

I actually didn't find hardly anything on my way down the beach along the water's edge,

but on my way back, I walked the high tide line and found this lightning venus shell (a first!)

I've found several favored tellin shells, but not like this beige-ringed one.

Normally they're white. So, another first of sorts!

Once the sun was above the horizon, the colors changed notably . . .

I never tire of finding Atlantic calico scallop shells…esp. ones with barnacles attached…

Look closely, the two barnacles on the left are striped acorn barnacles (white with purple
stripes), and the one on the right is a rock acorn barnacle (solid purplish-reddish).

I found two very nice, good-sized shark's eye shells . . . this one was covered in sand

and I almost didn't see it . . .

At one point I did go back to the water's edge on my way back up the beach . . . and found two little hermit crabs cruising along near one another . . . this little guy stopped and went into his shell when I neared for a photo . . . I didn't realize until I cropped the photo, that I'd had two beady little crab eyes keeping a close eye on me!

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...

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.