Les found a Scotch Bonnet and junonia piece
I couldn’t wait to check out Captiva’s Blind Pass this morning after we had whipping 20 mph north west winds all day yesterday. As soon as I got on the beach, I met fellow sheller Les who showed me he found this SCOTCH BONNET and a piece of JUNONIA at daybreak on the sand bar. The SCOTCH BONNET is not perfect but it’s a nice size and all one piece…… so to me? It’s a nice find. I hardly ever see SCOTCH BONNETS and it’s the third one I’ve seen this week – weird!
Horse conch on the shore
This big HORSE CONCH was my first shell I picked up this morning. It’s old and pitted but it sure does have pretty lines and color so I fell in love with it. The next few pictures show you how I found it…..
Sand Covered Conch
Partial sand covered conch
Blind Pass sand bar
As you can see, there wasn’t tons of shells but I met Linda from North Dakota who was just happy to find a nice WHELK and to be on the beach in Florida. I like your attitude, Linda!
Linda (North Dakota) with whelk
I did see lots of PEN SHELLS which is a good sign of good shelling in the next few days. I’m keeping my fingers crossed! I’ll be anxious to see if anybody else finds another SCOTCH BONNET.
A nice Kings crown on the beach
Those poor folks from North Dakota!!! A few are lucky enough to be here in the freezing cold!
Love the horse conch!!!
Nice update! I’m telling you if I lived near the beach I would be out there every morning!
That horse conch is pretty. Hopw big is it?
why do I proof AFTER I post? LOL
Love your finds.. I went shelling yesterday.. and found tons of conchs.. but ours are different here in NJ.. Will post some later!
Smiles~
Cricket
Amazing horse conch! And I’ve yet to find a king’s crown or a scotch bonnet. Maybe next time. . . only 39 more days.
I think I would probably walk right pass the Scotch Bonnet. Today West Gulf was bare compared to yesterday, but Richard found a 16″ Horse Conch, an 8″ Horse Conch and a 8″ Lighning Whelk in less than 5 minutes. Last night we went out at 9 p.m. and I found 7″ Horse Conch. Your shell finds at Marco Island were real beauties and WOW the shell pile. I would probably still be sitting there looking (partly because I couldn’t get back up).
That sandbar looks like it’s getting bigger…is it? Love the horse conch, Pam. What’s that Scotch Bonnet sitting on? Looks like it’s barnacle covered? Also, nice Junonia piece. Can’t wait to see what you find in the next few days! Oh and that King’s Crown is quite nice…would like to find me one of those. LOL Have a great week!
wow it looks cold on the beach…I passed people in shorts and t-shirts today on the Island…must have been windy or early in the morning…still so lucky to have no ice or snow…it’s in the 70’s and loving it!!!
Your photos are always so well done, the color beautiful and your commentary about each photo is so cleverly written. I live for your site! I’m curious as to how many of your delightful finds are actually on the shore, or in shell piles? And how many require digging either in the water or in the sandbar to find them? My friend and I will be visiting Sanbel from California next month. I’m totally addicted…..:-) It will be my 8th trip (I try to do twice a year if I can). I can always use helpful hints from the expert! :-)
Have you noticed that some scotch bonnets have a thin edge that runs along their opening on the exterior and others have that edge that can be 1/2 or 3/4 inches long. It’s a kind of outer rim? It makes me wonder if there are more than one varieties of scotch bonnet.
Hmmm- I’ll have to check that out! I don’t see them often enough to notice the difference. Good eye!
I love finding big ol’ pitted , scruffy shells! They always have a unique quality to them- and they’re BIG!! :)
Love the “antique” shells. Lots of miles on them-kinda like the people out there looking for them. Took home some stuff from Algiers and really can’t get the stink to go away. Soaked them in bleach, made sure there was nothing left inside and they still stink. Any suggestions cause I really want to keep them but the smell is crazy.
We just got back from Sanibel 2 weeks ago. We had some shells that stunk sooo bad! The bleach thing didn’t seem to totally take care of a few of them so we rubbed them inside and out with some peppermint essential oil. Seemed to help a bunch! But you’ve got to get the real stuff (the properties in it kill different kinds of bacterias, etc.) , otherwise you’ll just have peppermint + stink :) Good luck!
Another question for you about our February shelling trip, I am having trouble deciding which days would be better. The week we are looking at will have -0.8 tides early in the week but later in the week there will be a full moon -0.4 tides. Which time would you consider the best? Again, thanks for all your help…hope to see you out on the beach!!
I would consider the best days would be the times of the low tides that you would enjoy the beach the best. Of course the lower tides the better on the average. Just keep you fingers crossed that we have some good west winds a couple of days before you get here… then that would be the best deal!
I am SO jealous! Wish I there.
I’m learning so much from this marvellous blog.
It’s been snowing non-stop here, in Ontario, Canada–and it’s freezing. Brrrrr. Minus 20 degrees celcius. Global warming? As if!!!!!!
I was on Sanibel over the Christmas holidays and found some fantastic shells. I LOVED it so much that I’ve already booked a trip back in March–this time on Captiva.
Can’t wait to get back on the beach and continue building my collection.
Save some shells for me. :-)
S
Hurry up and get down here so you can thaw out! We’ll save lots of shells for you. ;)
How awesome! I found an olive a few days ago. There have been quite a few in the last couple of weeks. That’s about as “exotic” as it gets here, lol.
That horse is WONDERFUL!!! Excellent find! But I love the Kings Crown as well. I have only found one very small one before. Scotch bonnets were plenty in 2000 and 2002 up at Gulf Shores so I have a few of those. But none that match the size of this one.
Hi Pam :)
I wanted to ask you if you are going to the Sanibel Shell Show and if you have ever entered one of your pieces. It looks like a lot of fun.
Diana
Wow… is the sand bar reaching all the way across now???!!!??? The picture makes it look like it could be touching Sanibel.
Hi there-
We are in the Outer Banks this week and we went to Ocracoke Island and I found what looks like a piece of a black scotch bonnet. I have been searching the web, reading books, to see if scotch bonnets come in black. Do you know?
I love seashelling too! I recently wrote a post about the great shells I found in my hometown in NJ. Here is the link if you want to read it:
http://jerseymomsblog.com/2011/04/a-walk-on-the-beach-a-journey-in-photos-from-seashells-to-tampons/
Also, I plan to write a post about my great shell finds here in NC, once we get back.
Thanks for any help with the scotch bonnet question. Where are you in these photos?
Yes, they are black too! I just saw pictures that Kate and Lee posted on i Love Shelling facebook page that were from Ocracoke. Take a look at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1799105906385&set=o.115874658439407&type=1&theater . You can post your picture there too for us to see them if you’d like. We’d love to see them