Archive for Bowman’s Beach
Get Those Toes In The Sand
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I have never seen so many empty beautiful FIGHTING CONCHS before as I have in the last month. I try not to pick them up but some times… ooooo… it’s so hard not to after nudging them with your toes and finding them empty. I’ve had to make myself promise only to keep the exceptional ones and I’ve learned that if I just take a picture, it satisfies the urge. You might be seeing a lot of these kinds of photos in the next couple of weeks. heehee
We started shelling at Bowman’s Beach since we’ve had luck there the last few weeks. Other than finding the FIGHTING CONCHS, here is a Cyber Shelling photo of what most of the other shell piles were looking like on the beach…
After walking the beach for miles it seemed, I ran across Alan The Toe Sheller who was finding the big shells in the water. He said “While I’m cooling off in the water, I just feel around for shells with my toes”. It worked! He found 2 big HORSE CONCHS and a big WHELK! Here he is with Gail (GA), Kevin (WI), Angelique (WI) and The Toe Sheller himself, Alan (WI). He ended up finding one more big HORSE CONCH after I took the photo then he gave the white WHELK in his hand to Gail but kept that gorgeous HORSE CONCH Angelique is holding and the new one not pictured. Wow! Talented toes!
Kevin went out on his Stand Up Paddle Board and said he saw a SPOTTED EAGLE RAY like we saw last week. Cool!
Going to Bowman’s Beach is a little bit further to walk from the parking lot but it sure is a pretty path with a beautiful bridge which reflects the sky. Gorgeous.
Want to know what happened at Blind Pass over the weekend? Would you like a JUNONIA for your birthday? Well, Becky could tell you that it was a good weekend and she got the best birthday gift ever. Her husband Tobias found this for her at Blind Pass on her birthday on Saturday. That’s a birthday to shellebrate!
UPDATE: GiveAway is now OVER…
Shell Pile Rising, Sanibel Sun Setting
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Lovely. Last night at Bowman’s Beach was just that… lovely. There was a cool breeze… with peace and quite.
There were seashells strung all long the beach with flocks of birds here and there… and not one bug. Ahhhh.
There were quite a few members of the SANIBEL SIX (excluding the CONE) there for the picking but my fave shell of the evening was this calico scallop… which I named Saniberry Sorbet for the color name game.
I met Freddy, Jan, Fran and Mike from Atlanta who were enjoying the perfect weather as well and finding nice SAND DOLLARS!
Since we’ve had nice morning low tides this week, I checked to see if the Lighthouse Beach was producing goodies.
At the low tide line (which is right where the surf is lapping up on the beach- where you can see a Sanibel Stooper in the left corner of the next photo), I only found some SEA WEED, MANGROVE SEED PODS and other sorts of BEACH BLING, but up higher on the beach in the high tide wrack line I found BANDED TULIPS…
Apple Murexes…
And hundred of double DOSINIAS…
So remember… just because it’s a really low tide, check the rest of the beach for shells if you aren’t having luck at the low tide line. The high tide during the middle of the night could have left the best treasures!
PSSST Okay, one more thing… I have exciting news for y’all and you are gonna LOVE THIS!
My next post will be ….. a really nice….. a spectacsheller…. GiveAway!!
Stay Tuned!
Dredging Blind Pass Between Sanibel Captiva
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Okay, Folks, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is… the dredging of Blind Pass has begun. But wait. Before you get all excited and envision the seashell fountain of youth spewing out your favorite shells into your shell bucket…. the rules have changed. Here’s the bad news…. the whole area is fenced off for safety reasons and you can’t get near the new sand (and shells) they are pumping on the beach.
This area is right in between Blind Pass and Bowman’s Beach so either way you cut it… it’s a long way to walk to look at some heavy equipment and an orange fence. I know… bummer, right? I’ve always heard about the fun times people have had waiting for the good shells to pop out of the pipes and grabbing handfuls at a time. I’ve never experienced it and I guess I never will now because they’ve put an end to it for liability reasons. I really don’t blame them. That water is gushing out of that pipe so fast it’s crazy. I heard there was an accident with a sheller at the Fort Myers Beach dredging last year so they realized it was too dangerous.
This is how I see it… for me, waiting outside fence is not a fun way to shell. After these guys do their job, move the big equipment and move the orange barricades off the freshly laid sand, that’s when I will enjoy looking around for shells. I’m not saying it’s not fascinating watching the heavy equipment move around the beach. I felt like I was watching one of those children’s videos that showed tractors and backhoes moving dirt with Hard Hat Harry. Remember those? My nephew was crazy about them! It kind of put me in a trance too. LOL
I tried to ask a few questions but my camera made him very nervous so he was a little short with me. He warmed up after a while and told me he really couldn’t give a date that the new sand would be “available” to the public to sift through because they had been slowed down because of the heaviness of the crushed shell. So y’all, that’s all I really know about this project right now. If I find out anything else thats not worth a whole post, I’ll make comments here.
But hold on. I’ve got other good news. On my way up to the pumping area, I met Sherry Ann, Abby (GA)and Pam (Indiana) who found a shell spot to Sit ‘N Sift.
They didn’t mind that things didn’t work out collecting shells with the dredging. They understood the situation and made the best of a little shell pile they found…
Sherry Ann even found this sweet little HORSE CONCH. Can you spy that candy?
Low and behold, Abby found an ALPHABET CONE! See? It all works out.
World Record Sanibel Stoop Scoop
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After seeing over 700 hovering hineys on Bowman’s Beach today, I’m sure there was a new record set for the Guinness Book of World Records doing the Sanibel Stoop.
It was a blast to experience this spectacular kickoff for the 75th Annual Sanibel Shell Fair and Show with so many shellers bending over … with butts in the air … to do the Sanibel Stoop all at one time.
Before we started stooping, it was like a party while I stood in line with friends Karen, Gail, Sandy and Jane to register our names to make it official.
Then we all headed to the beach…
My good friend Lisa showed up in style with her iLS cap! But why are Jane and I turned around? We put our tees backwards for the stoop overhead photos- ha!)
Then the party got crazy when 3 other beach bloggers showed up! Here’s the shark’s tooth queen of Englewood Kaybe (The Essential Beachcomber), the ultimate shelling guide Captain Brian (Captain Brian On The Water) and Rhonda (of Shellbelle’s Tiki Hut). That’s Capt. Brian’s boat anchored in the background. He came by water to the stoop!
Wahoo! Here comes the helicopter for the overhead count and photos!
Everybody in stoop position!
The crowd went wild after the chopper passed the second time for a “shellabratory” spin..
The organizers did a fabulous job getting this event together. They even gave away free tee shirts for the first several hundred “stoopers” to register. Darn! I was too late!
When I get more scoop on the outcome of the stoop, I’ll share the word. Let’s keep our fingers crossed we make it in the Guinness Book Of World Records. It was a day to remember for Shellabration 2012!
Golden Girl Gets Seashell Gold
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When Joanne showed me her CABRIT’S MUREX last weekend, she told me she also had found a GOLDEN OLIVE almost the color of a pumpkin. It is! It’s brilliant! Look at the color on this gem.
Her GOLDEN OLIVE is quite a prize but when she told me she had found a golden LEAFY JEWEL BOX with both sides together as well….. that’s when I got excited. I just had to see it.
Now you might not think this is really pretty right away, but look at the colors and texture on this shell.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen both sides still together of a LEAFY on the beach before.
I have collected single valves for my own stash but never have shown one to you because it never looked interesting enough or it didn’t photograph well….okay, actually…. I thought you might think I was crazy for picking up what look like a beat up shell. But now you can see for yourself how cool they are. Don’t you think? …. Errrr…..Maybe?
These yellow and orange ROUGH SCALLOPS are fabulous too. That top yellow SCALLOP looks a little different so even if it has a few holes in the middle, that is a fabulous find. Joanne really is the golden girl!
This OLIVE pales against all of these other shells but that’s what makes it special in my book. It looks to be an albino LETTERED OLIVE.
It’s definitely not beach worn with that glossy shine to it so to me, this is a great find too.
Thanks so much, Golden Girl Joanne, for sharing your golden treasures with us.
Gotten, The Cabrits Of Our Lives
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It’s not easy to find a CABRIT’S MUREX on the beaches of Sanibel.. much less with some of the spines still in tact. So I was over the moon when Clark found this one near Bowman’s Beach. (Okay, hopefully not the Cabrits of our lives but I couldn’t resist the silly title play on words)
Joanne (NJ) was shelling in the same spot with me when Clark showed us this great find. So guess what she found the very next day? You guessed it! Her own CABRITS MUREX!!
They look to be just about the same size and color (Clark’s looks whiter but when it’s wet it looks just like her’s with a pinkish color) but hers has a few more spines still in tact. Crazy, huh?
Look at the other cool shells she found… a piece of LIONS PAW, 2 FLATS and a pink tinted ALTERNATE TELLIN with both sides still attached.
Then I ran into Joan (Indiana) who found a beautiful SCOTCH BONNET on her birthday!!!!
Look at that bright yellow SCALLOP too. Happy birthday, Joan!
The low tide mornings over the weekend brought in these unusual shells along with lots of the goodies.
Lizbeth found a handful of orangies. Look at that fabulous solid brilliant orange CHESTNUT TURBAN. It doesn’t look chestnut to me, you know?
I also found a wonderful treasure… Shelling Sistah Connie Knight in her i Love Shelling shirt!!!
And then Shelling Sistah Mary Ann Ross too! I was in hog heaven all weekend.
Here’s Benny from Miami finding those bright orange SCALLOPS too…
The weekend started off with gobs of rain and wind then finished with gorgeous skies. We shelled right through all of it and ended up with a treasure trove. You gotta roll with the tides, baby.
