Rare Sighting! Mauve-Mouth Drill Egg Case
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This is so wild. Attached to a SUNRAY VENUS CLAM, were fresh egg cases that these MAUVE-MOUTH DRILLS just produced!
MurexKen found this fascinating nest just after MurexAlice had shown me those cute little MORTON’S EGG COCKLES on yesterdays post (hmmm- the “egg” theme continues, huh?). I was tickled that he called me over to show me this egg case that I’ve never seen before. The babies look like little pods of pollen sitting in a beautiful flower. Mk and MA are quite a pair for finding the unexpected!
I’m not quite sure, but I think the shell on the left was still laying some eggs. I hated to disturb them so after taking a few photos, we returned the mollusks and eggs to the water to make sure they produce healthy babies.
You can see this one’s aperture with just a bit of the “mauve” showing around his body.
Oh wait…. just in case you can’t remember what a MAUVE-MOUTH DRILL looks like when you find them empty on the beach, here are a few pictures to refresh your memory…
Now you’ll see why they call it “mauve-mouth”. They have a mauve or purple in the aperture when they are alive or freshly dead.
Out of all these shells in our collection at home, I could only find one that had a mauve mouth.
I don’t find MAUVE-MOUTH DRILLS that often so to see live ones that are laying eggs was really pretty exceptional. I’m not sure if this would be considered scientifically ”rare” to see this out beach combing, but it was rare for me. Great finds MK and MA!
Sunny Side Up Egg Cockles
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This is no yoke….. errr… I mean joke! The inside of this MORTON’S YELLOW EGG COCKLE is really this yellow! And some of the exterior patterns are just as pretty.
We found quite a few of these on some of the sandy mud flats at Cayo Costa.
There is such a variety of patterns on the interiors and exteriors of these cutie little shells.
Yep, I said “little” shells. Wanna see how little they are?
I would have completely missed these little guys if it hadn’t been for MurexAlice pointing these beauties out to me. I felt so lucky to be able to beach comb with her since she showed me another cutie little shell I would have missed. This is the FLORIDA LYONSIA…
It is so delicate and paper thin I thought I would break the valves apart before I got home to photograph it. But… Yes! It made it home with both valves still attached. I rinsed the shells off but those little grains of sand seem to be attached so I let them be.
I’m not sure if you can see the iridescent shimmer to it, but it reminds me of a tiny little ANGEL WING with a pearlized finish.
Okay, let me back up a bit before I forget to show you this….I mentioned the MORTON’S YELLOW EGG COCKLE in previous post “I’m Telling On Some Tellins” and it reminded me of an orchid plant. I got a comment from Jackie saying that it was the Oncidium orchid that it looks like. Yes, that’s it! I found a photo from Wikipedia that will show you why it these shells remind me of an orchid. Do you see why now?
Our Future’s So Bright We’ve Got To Wear Shades
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Seriously, you’ve got to wear sunglasses when you’re on the beach. This is how many pairs of sunglasses I have because I keep a pair close at hand at all times……except yesterday. I did not take one pair of these sunglasses when I went to the beach. Not one pair. I forgot them. Not good. I’m just now recovering from a very long painful headache that kept me up all night long. So, PLEASE … ALWAYS protect your eyes! Drug stores, grocery stores and big box stores now sell the cheap (even polarized!) ones that are fantastic. Okay? I’ll be back to normal self soon and I’ll show you my cool finds.
As Our Beach Paths Cross
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My high school friend Miyuki came to visit (!) so I had a blast showing her around the island on bikes, gabbing and giggling about old times. We hadn’t seen each other in probably 15 years so I wanted the whole day to be an adventure. So, of course, we had to start the day by getting to the beach…. at dawn…. with our lighted caps.
This was her first big find of the morning… a perfect ALPHABET CONE!
The she picked up a beautiful CALICO SCALLOP and said “This is my favorite shell of the trip because it seems sooooo Sanibel”. Awwww, so sweet, huh?
Miyuki has always been a photographer. In all of the years I’ve known her, she has always had a camera in her hand so I was so happy to see she hasn’t changed one bit. She always tries to capture beautiful moments in time.
I caught her switching from her 35 millimeter to her iPhone to share the moment immediately with her family back in Virginia. Don’t you love technology these days?
You know how it is after you get home from a trip. Everything is crazy trying to catch up with life and family. So I haven’t received any of her photos yet of this sunrise and her shell collection (I’ll add a link when I get them) ….. but this is my photo of those gorgeous sun beams shining through the clouds that morning…
I’m so thankful that our lives have crossed the same path again…
As adults, we get in the groove of our own lives and don’t often get to see our oldest friends. It’s always a treat to take a step back and remember our young selves and how many laughs we shared.
Glad you got to meet her! Take a look at some of Miyuki’s work at MiyukisPhotography.com.
I Sooooo Dig Junonias
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That video was so dang exciting when I found that gargantuan TRUE TULIP the other day…… BUT WAIT!!!! Yes!!! I found a JUNONIA ……… AND I got it on video too! I was so excited to see those brown dots buried in the sand, I couldn’t help but grab at it so you’ll see three finger indentions in the sand. Then…. I stopped, took a breath to relax, then started rolling the video. As soon as I started talking to you guys, I started getting so excited again as I dug it up! 
Okay, it has a hole in it…but still!!! It’s the whole body! Hip Hip Hoooray! That video of the tulip was so long, I couldn’t add this (and I didnt want anyone to have a heart attack) so this is sort of Part 2. If you missed how amazing the rest of the morning was at the beach by the Sanibel pier and all of the wonderful comments on Part 1 …. CLICK HERE.
Fishing For True Tulips At Sanibel Pier
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BEACH BLING, PEN SHELLS and live TRUE TULIPS covered the shoreline next to the Sanibel fishing pier after high winds on Wednesday. Look closely at the bottom of the next photo… do you see that very large TRUE TULIP? It was very much alive but it wasn’t the only one mixed in with those PEN SHELLS.
The morning was so glorious, I couldn’t help but turn on the video camera to share this amazing sight with you. Boy, oh boy, I’m so glad I filmed this beach walk because I never could have explained this Beach Bling bananza. I’m so happy you were along with me….
