Hootin' Anni's Day Trippin' : Shells

Showing posts with label Shells. Show all posts

§ A Driftwood Search...

Well, since I worked on the piece of wood shown in a previous post, I needed to find a 'base' that would keep the 'dragonbird' upright to sit on a shelf or table. The beaches were closed last week to vehicle traffic, and I didn't want to climb the sand barricades, so I waited until our local news told us the beaches were open again [closed because of the threat of Hurricane Laura]. I, of course, wanted to walk and at least get a 3 mile walk in before the heat index made it unbearable. I left before sunrise, arrived at the beach as the sun came up and when I parked to get out and walk and look for a piece of driftwood, a big tanker ship was going out to sea. Of course, that, hopefully, meant that the dolphins were bidding the crew a safe journey. I walked up to the jetty hurriedly to see if I could spot any action....

I watched for several minutes, until it got near the end of the channel to turn and go out into the Gulf. The jetty was crowded with fishermen at this hour, which didn't come as any surprise!

Magee Beach was pretty well cleaned up of debris from the storm; hardly any wood was seen. There were plenty of shells; whole and broken bits, all over the shoreline. I continued walking along and finally came up on a very large piece of driftwood that I thought may be a good piece. Instead of carrying it while I continued to walk, I marked the spot so when I did my about face to return to the car, I would know where to pick it up and carry it the short distance back. Beach marker "J"! I saw many very small and whole sand dollars this morning! They even had the 'tentacles' attached, and still a purplish-brown, so they washed ashore very recently [probably at high tide just hours ago] and not long dead. They are supposed to be a good luck piece if whole. I spotted 17 of them. Plus two nice, whole, sundial shells and one whole saw-toothed pen shell [as fragile as the sand dollar and finding one in one piece is nearly miraculous!] While I walked this is what I saw. The piece of rusty iron [photo below] from most likely the oil rigs out at sea that washed ashore, reminded me of a chicken drumstick...

That was my morning on the beach. When I got back to the car and loaded the piece of driftwood into the trunk, a barge was being towed down the channel. I took pictures...

I then backed out of the parking spot, drove over the beach to the access road, and left to drive to a birding hotspot in the village and then head home.

In the news...I have a question pertaining to the riots and maybe you agree: "how does it empower black lives when the same are destroying their own livelihoods and businesses? Can they not see this, what they're thinking/doing"? addendum: And, I don't post my opinions for the sake of arguments...I will delete comments if I have to. If you have an opinion, publish it on your OWN blog!

§ Beach Finds...

Scenic Views from a walk along the beach, alone and so much tranquility.

Lost and Found? No, not really...they may be found, but were never lost. Just, more or less, washed ashore after its natural use is finished in the life cycle...

Here is an example:

Tho it resembles a snake skeleton, in reality, this is an egg case. It could be from several different animals, a whelk or perhaps a conch [snails] each segment can contain hundreds of eggs. This is a common sight in the summer months along the Texas Gulf Coast

On the same day, walking further, I came across this little threat:

...it's a Portuguese Man o War

Some say it's a jellyfish, but in all reality it's a conglomerate of many living organisms, and not at all a jellyfish. Their tentacles are quite venomous, but rarely lethal. [don't take chances if bitten/stung...get attention as quickly as possible. Better yet, stay clear of them...give them wide berth. If you think they're dead just because they've washed ashore, they may still sting!!!]

Walking even further, at this area of our beaches, it's uncommon to see these [they're usually more abundant the farther north you go along the coast]. But, Padre Island National Seashore continues to amaze me. Anyway, there is a legend of the Sea Heart. There has been much lore about this seed, one being the discovery of America, to it being a 'lucky charm'. If you're interested in some of the legends, do a Google Search of Sea Heart Beans. These seeds wash ashore after a long journey across the oceans' currents. After storms on the sea, you can often find 'beaners' searching for them on the sand. They're from the pea family [some call them chestnuts...I would believe the pea family more so]....the tree/plant that the seeds come from are of the longest pod in the world...some way over 6 feet in length. They are of hard wood-like covering and can be polished beautifully.

A collection [polished and cleaned] of mine FROM THE SEA
A sea heart necklace I made HERE

It's a rarity to find whole shells that are not broken by vehicles traversing the beaches. Texas, for the most part, allows vehicles on beaches. Even if they didn't, the beach patrol ATVs for turtle nests and patrolling beaches for violators would surely break shells continually. Very seldom a whole unbroken shell is found. This one I came across. It was moving, so a hermit crab was inside:

§ By the Shores of Gitchy Goomy ---AKA the shells are Moving!!!

The South Texas Coast is finally, FINALLY, getting some cold air! It's raining as I type this up, but the temperature here at home is in the 50's!!!! [forecast the mid 40's this weekeknd] I'll take it. Seems to be an eternity since we have actually been cool enough to tolerate the weather. On Thursday, the sky was overcast at times, and occasionally, the clouds would break and the sunlight filtered through the tree canopies as I walked to the bay via Hans Suter Refuge...

After trekking along the pathways, and the boardwalks, in search of bird life, I got back in the car and drove to the other side of the bay, along Ocean Drive heading toward the NAS [Naval air Station]. Once I parked, I walked. One way on the way to the air base, then turning around just before the restricted area [the gates into the base] and walking the sandy area of the South Bay. Any given day, there are fishermen on foot along the rocky shore, out wading waist deep in the water, or onboard a boat. This day as I walked, they didn't disappoint, they were scattered here and there. And the flight trainers/trainees were encircling the base in their maneuvers...

Many birds, waterfowl, were seen at a distance. Just a couple photos. See if you can spot all 5 of the plovers along the mudflats, and the egret behind the mangrove...

I noticed a lot of activity in the shells that washed ashore and littered the beach. By this, I mean the crabs were hiding...using the snail shells and the whelks for cover. Most ALL moved...

I took a short recording of a crab "coming out". Sorry that it's a bit 'bumpy'...the winds picked up as soon as I clicked the record button on the camera...go figure!! It's eyes are watching me...keeping within the shell for protection from Anni the Predator!!!

After tallying only about 6000 steps, I drove to the Caribbean Drive area along the outskirts of Flour Bluff Texas, along the ranch roads and walked along the edges of a couple of ponds that are on private land. I found 'em!! They're arriving for the winter!! The Sandhill Cranes.

§ What Are the Odds?

I'm going to begin and end this post with some things.... odd ...

...at the Botanical Gardens, well hidden beneath a cactus plant...a rock! Instantly, to me, it seemed like a human mask [Phantom of the Opera, kinda sorta?]. It's natural....not painted....I got down on the ground, and checked!!!

...a piece of rotting tree branch at Paradise Pond...I saw the heart of it all!

...slime covered oyster shells. The odd thing was, for me, the distinct odor of rotting seaweed.

...what's odd about this? Nothing really, except I don't know what kind of flower this is. Oh, and there is a teeny tiny 'odd' bug on the petal.

...two things odd about this...first the fact I stood still long enough to get a photo of this snake! I HATE SNAKES!! Second, the leaf is heart shaped? Odd something of beauty such as a heart can be near something so terrifying to me. [Yes, it's caught a fish]

...odd! What did this gull get into? Oil?

...seeing double? That's odd...so did I - There are two katydids mirrored [coupled] on the chain link fence. [you may call them cicadas]

§ By the Sea....

Over the years we've lived on the Gulf Coast, I've collected shells and sea beans [drift seeds]. While I was home-bound recouping from what ailed me this last week, I took it upon myself to clean a very large apothecary, crystal, jar that holds my collection...