Monday, January 18, 2010

A Mild Sanibel Monday

It was a pleasant, mild day, with the early morning low of 55 and the highest temperature was 67. Going to the beach this afternoon, I put on a zip up sweatshirt, which I didn't need when I got there. There wasn't a lot of wind and the sun felt really warm. We went to resident access 2, and walked west. There were more shells in the same area as the last time I was there. I dug through shells in a couple of places, but didn't find much that I wanted. There were quite a few people and a lot of dogs on the beach. Most of the people were having a great time digging through the shell pile. I only saw a couple of dead fish, but there were many starfish.







There were a lot of Cockle shells, but I have way too many of those at home already, so I left them for someone else.







There were three more starfish, just to the left of this photo.

This was the only spot where I could see shells coming in.







What I carried home. The Calico Clam in the upper left corner, has both sides still attached and it was empty and clean on the inside.

6 comments:

Maria Vincent said...

Hi Toots
I have a couple of questions I hope you can help me with? When you talk about Resident Access, can you tell me what number Buttonwood Lane Access is? Also, I know the strict rules about live shelling but do you know if there are any regulations on taking washed up shells out of the USA - I have taken a few home to the UK in my suitcase before but just want to make sure it is legal! I found a huge lightning whelk in 2008 but it had a critter living in it so I waded back in waist deep and gently put him back in the sea so hopefully he wouldn't get disturbed again!I'm glad things are warming up and there were less dead fish washed up yesterday. xx

Unknown said...

The piece of Junonia you found is great, Tootie! In fact, you got yourself a lot of pretty shells. We were there yesterday, too, except we were on the beach by the fishing pier, digging through mountains of dead tube worms, dosinias, star fish and sea urchins. I brought home 197 sea urchins and left thousands more still there for others. It'll take a couple of days to clean them all, but I'm thrilled to have found so many.

Pam

Tootie said...

Oh Pam, you really have a job cleaning those sea urchins. I picked up over a hundred one time and since then, I don't pick them up unless they are already dried up and clean. I must be getting lazy. :-)

Maria the Buttonwood access is at the south end of Buttonwood Lane. Going east on Periwinkle Way, Buttonwood Lane is the first street past Lighthouse Cafe. Just make a right turn there. Only residents with parking stickers are allowed to park there, but you can ride a bike or walk there.

As for taking seashells back to the UK, I'm not certain about that. Some friends from the Netherlands told me that they aren't allowed to bring seashells home. Maybe you can find out by checking here: http://gouk.about.com/od/tripplanning/ss/customsexcise.htm Or this one: http://gouk.about.com/od/tripplanning/ss/detailed_UK_Customs_info.htm
So far I haven't found anything that says you can't.

toni said...

Tootie- thank you so much for keeping your blog up and posting the beautiful pictures! We still have snow on the ground and the sun hasn't shone in about four days. So, your pictures and blog are a "breath of fresh air" so to speak! I miss Sanibel so much! Can't wait to see it again this summer!!!

gpc said...

Every time I check your blog I wish I were there . . .

Maria Vincent said...

Thanks for the info Toots - really appreciate your help. I can't find any thing about bringing them into the UK either. Have you ever heard of anyone having problems leaving Florida with shells in their suitcase? If I'm lucky with finds at Easter I would love to bring them home to show my family and friends.