You want another reason why i Love Shelling? Seeing a site like this! This Reddish Egret was wading in a tidal pool at Sanibel Lighthouse Beach pacing back and forth stalking his prey. I could have stood there for an hour watching this entertaining canopy dance. Errrr….. wait, I DID stand there for an hour fascinated by his show of chasing minnows.
Even though it distracted me from finding more shells, I didn’t regret one minute of it. To me, that’s what shelling is about…. finding treasures AND drinking in nature and the view along the way. Even the man made views. How cute!
And yes, there were even shells and SAND DOLLARS too!
I found more of those cute little juvie SAND DOLLAR “sand dimes”! I found live ones down on the surf line which I left alone but I also found them high in the high tide wrack line to bring home. Way in the background you can see the Lighthouse so you can see how far I was from the point. It was a hike but worth it.
I found all sort of BEACH BLING semi hidden in the seaweed. I placed the LEOPARD CRAB SHELL on the purple SEA WHIP but I saw the SAND DOLLAR laying exactly like this…
I zig zagged the beach to look on the edge of the tidal pools to find a clump of BUBBLE SHELLS…
When I see lots of BUBBLES hanging out like that, I immediately start looking for WENTLETRAPS!
This is what I found…. Are you ready CYBER SHELLERS? Now after you take a little CYBER SHELLING stoop by clicking on the next photo to enlarge, make sure you scroll down even more on this post because I have another somethin to show you… a video too. Shell on!
Did you find anything? Okay, before we get to the movie, I want to tell you that I’ve gotten quite a few requests to sell my Seashell Identification Cards online. I want to thank everybody for buying them in the local retail stores that are carrying them and would love for you to continue to support them. But for those of you who can’t be here, I’ve added a BUY NOW button so I can send them directly to you. Check it out by CLICKING HERE…
Okay, back to the movie! Now you will be able to see the low tide tidal pools I was walking through and around to see so many amazing sites during the Easter Holiday weekend. There were so many live STARFISH! They are amazing to watch so enjoy the show!
Beautiful bird… Thanks for showing.. And, I have never seen a star fish on the move. That was fun to watch.. Thanks.. Cyber shelling is like putting a puzzel together although I want to reach in and pick up the shells.. Darn it..
The egret is amazing! So beautiful! Love the video too! The starfish are incredible! I pull up the web cam in front of Castaways every morning to look for shells and every evening to watch the sunset. Between that and your site, I keep my sanity until I can get down there. Thanks so much!! :)
That Reddish Egret is just beautiful. It is so entertaining to watch them. I too can spend hours watching the birds.
Thanks for the cyber shelling. There were so many bubbles, tusks and wentletraps. I sure wish I was there to pick them all up!!
I love the colours on the egret. The birds are fun to watch as they skitter along the beach looking for food. Love the colour of the sea whip, too. When we were in Cuba I found a sea fan and a sea whip-only mine is brown. I want to put them in shadow boxes so I can preserve them. I could probably sit in that shell pile for hours looking for shells.
That’s a great cyber-photo! I found my first whole sand dollar on Sanibel (in the photo, just now). :)
Love the egret, sea whip and sea stars. I’ve never seen one with such long legs, (or a sea star breathing for that matter)!
That egret is beautiful! I didn’t know they came in other colors. I love the cyber shelling-were there any sharks teeth in all the black stuff? Didn’t find any clusters of bubble shells when I was there in February. I didn’t realize the big starfish had such long arms until I watched the video again.
Pat
Ha! Funny thing about your post today. We were watching a reddish in the surf today, about a mile and a half up from the lighthouse. Don’t usually see them in the gulf. also saw lots of terns: Caspian, Royal, and Sandwich.
got lots of bubbles, and perhaps my first dime sandollar. he still has hair, but was far from the shore, and dry as a bone. I also searched the coffee grounds and I think I found my first tusks, or at least one. I’ll post a picture along with a dark brown olive that my IPad lightened up.
Thanks for the “beach fix”. We will be there in 3 weeks — can hardly wait. I always say I am going to power walk to the lighthouse, but there are always too many shells in the way that slow me down. Hope to run into you on the beach. Keep sending those great pics.
Wonderful!! I love the video….so neat, you do such a wonderful job! Thank you! Wish we would have met in Feb somewhere along the beach:)
Great photos of the reddish! Loved the cybershelling! Did anyone else see the rice olive and the dove shell with all those bubbles and wentletraps around?
The video with the moving starfish– was that movement from the starfish or from the water movement.? I thought the other side was the UP side. Thought the mouth faced down, along with th suckers?feelers whatever they are. Could I get an answer here?
The “feelers/suckers” which are tube feet …were down. the movement of the water was coming from underneath but had to go somewhere…. so it came up.
This is from wikipedia… “As echinoderms, starfish possess a hydraulic water vascular system that aids in locomotion.[28] This system has many projections called tube feet on the starfish’s arms which function in locomotion and aid with feeding. Tube feet emerge through openings in the endoskeleton and are externally expressed through the open grooves present along the oral surface of each arm.”
I see 5-6 wentletraps which I’m sure are home in a beautiful bowl now, hu Pam?Save some for us – we 4 girlfriends will be down Friday!!!! Hope to see you on the beach. Johnnie
Now this is MY kind of shelling – birds and teeny-tiny shells. You should see what I’ve been sorting on my kitchen table recently. I use a magnifier….
We were shelling the other day and I spotted the black “coffee grounds” and I told Rick to start looking for the Wente Traps and sure enough we found some incredibly tiny ones along with some other minis…loved it! Also some of those sand dollars. You probably walked right by where we are staying, Pam! We are going to Lighthouse beach shortly. Hope you saved some shells for us!
Now as I go on the beach,
As I look at seashell after seashell,
and look at the beauty at my reach,
I realize there’s nothing like Sanibel.
Wow, that is really beautiful!
Thank you so-o-o much, Pam. Every post is a wonderful gift! Loved the Reddish Egret; I’ve only seen them at Ding Darling and never close enough to get such a beautiful photograph. Cybershelling is always a treat; so many wonderful bubbles, wentletraps, tellins, and more; I do so love the mini’s. Thanx again!
Do you think any of the contestants on “Survivor” (one of my favorite shows) ever start looking for shells on those great beach locations? I would probably forget about the game and spend all my time shelling!!
Cindy, survivor I my favorite all time show! Lol and I have seen episodes of shells at their camp… And this season They were eating with those gigs clam shells. Do u see that? I’d be in hawg heaven
Such an incredibly gorgeous egret shot! Like a painting!
And a really fabulous movie — thanks Pam!
Yesterday here in the West Indies I found a tiny baby lion’s paw not much bigger than your thumbnail, but at least it was whole, a first for me.
I bet your baby lions paw is adorable! Would you call that a lions toe? Heehee
yes… so cool
Love the pictures! Just perfect! The video is awesome, too! My hubby and I went out in the pitch dark with flashlights at low tide the other night. It was so much fun! We pulled in a lot of nice shells under the bridge at Blind Pass. Lightning whelks, banded tulips, scallops, fighting conchs, etc. we saw lots of crabs, too. Very fun!
Sherri from MN
Heading down there this afternoon, road trip, driving from Minnesota. Have wenteltraps as a goal this year. Love your daily updates.
Susan
Awesome starfish video Pam…thanks for sharing…we were in Cannon Beach,Oregon@Haystack rock last week..onSat there was a -.4 tide&we saw a clear nucibranch!!
Easter Goodies on both coasts!!!!!
Sorry..nudibranch
That video is fantastic! I’ve never seen a moving, breathing starfish before, Pam you are the best!!!!