Back to the Beach!

Well, it's been over 2 months since my last post, but I've finally moved to Sarasota, FL!  Now the "by the sea" portion of this blog can be accurate. 

I've got a lot of beach exploration to do, but last weekend I started with Coquina Beach on Anna Maria Island.  I arrived mid-morning on a Sunday and found the beach to be not too crowded at all, even though the busy season is just beginning.  There is a lovely park there with an extensive bike/walking path and many picnic tables set amongst pine and palm trees. 

The beach itself is overlooked by beautiful white, sandy dunes and sea oats. 

Of course any time I go to the beach, one of my favorite things to do is look for shells.  I grew up shelling on the beaches of Sanibel Island, which is considered by many to be one of the best of such places in the world.  And so my expectations are probably a little high.  They say that Sanibel is so ideal for shelling because it is situated somewhat east/west or perpendicular to Florida and therefore catches many shells that would otherwise be washed on down the coastline. 

Nevertheless, I have been excited to explore the shelling possibilities in my new home of Sarasota.  The shells that I've seen have been nothing that I haven't seen on Sanibel, but certain shells may be more plentiful here.  There has been an abundance of coquinas and calico clams, and I have found more shark's eyes than usual as well.  Like Sanibel there are also many arks, lucines, various clams, cockles, and slipper shells. 

Here is what I picked up at Coquina Beach (5 calico scallops, 2 calico clams, 1 cockle, 2 olives, 2 shark's eyes, and 1 baby's ear, a turkey wing, 4 jewel boxes, 1 clam, 1 buttercup lucine, and 1 auger).

 

For comparison, here are the shells I picked up at Turtle Beach on Siesta Key.

 

 





 

It was also a beautiful day for bird watching on Coquina Beach. 

brown pelican

 

 

sanderling

 

 

This snowy egret was definitely posing for me.

 

 

And another snowy egret, fishing at the jetty.

 

 

All in all it was a pretty good start to my beach exploration in the Sarasota/Bradenton area, and any day at the beach is a day well spent.  I'll close with some fun pictures of my Lucy bird at bath time. 

 

 

"May you always have a seashell in your pocket and sand in your shoes."