Another Day at Lovers Key

Yesterday started off with low clouds and poor visibility. Bill headed to the airfield anyway and on his first flight lost his plane in the fog. He thought it was gone forever after he cut the power and let it crash-land; but, with the help of his friends, they found it in the mud. After some minor on-site repairs, he was up and flying again!

When Bill came home we headed to one of our favorite beaches at Lovers Key. It was low tide so I collected shells while he took pictures.

There were lots of birds on the beach. The darker ones are Black Skimmers. If you look closely, you can see that their lower bill is longer than their upper bill so they can skim the water looking for small fish.

I like the Royal Terns,

This is a great shot of the Black Skimmers flying in for a landing.

Bill took several shots of this Brown Pelican diving for fish.

This beautiful Osprey was sitting in a tree eating a fish. He did not want to share and took his dinner and flew off.

The Black Skimmers flew off when a group of people walked up the beach.

Shelling was very good yesterday. These are Banded Tulips - one of my favorites. As you can see, they come in a variety of colors. These are about 3 inches long.

Tomorrow, Pamela and family arrive. Bill is working on menus and I really should be getting ready instead of working on my blog! Unfortunately, a cold front is coming in today and the weather may be the coolest we have had since our arrival.

Bill found this ugly mass of Sea Pork and told me to post it and say it is the brain of a shell collector. I don't think Bill fully appreciates my collecting tendencies!

John's Arrival

Son John finally arrived yesterday morning after his flight into Atlanta was delayed causing him to miss his connection into Fort Myers Airport. He spent the night in a seedy motel near the airport where the clerk didn't understand English and the person ahead of him was a little tipsy. Apparently their conversation was quite interesting.

After he vented his frustrations and relaxed, we headed over to Fort Myers Beach so he could visit with his Aunt and Uncle.

We walked on the beach up to Bowditch Park, around the north end of the island and back. Along the way I spotted this Royal Tern.


In the park we saw another gopher turtle and John got an up-close look. The turtle didn't seem to mind the audience and just kept eating.



Naturally, I collected some shells as I walked - mostly very small, but colorful examples.

Bill decided I needed a horseshoe crab exoskeleton (or molt) in my collection and the animal that shed this one left it intact. Horseshoe crabs are among the oldest residents of planet Earth, preceding dinosaurs by millions of years. They are actually more closely related to spiders than crabs. The molts are perfect replicas of the animal that once lived in it. They exit through an opening in the front of the shell.


This is my growing collection. After I wash them and let them dry, I put them in vented and labeled containers. Some of the specimens need to spend a night in a 50% bleach bath before they can be put away.