11. Found on the beach

One of my great pleasures is to walk the beaches of the world looking for biological treasures. Sometimes you find objects that are hard to identify, as they lie among the more common sea shells that litter the beach.














Othertimes, you find nicely formed crabs such as this one that was unlucky to have been deposited by heavy surf and unable to find its way back to the water.












Once in a while you find an item that stands out because of its rarity or its beauty, such as this nicely formed sponge.














Or, this nice, compact cluster of skate eggs, along a Sanibel beach in spring. Quite common, one sometimes wonder how any of the embryonic skates survive, as they are scattered everywhere along the beach.












This double breasted cormorant, still in its fledgling coloration, is lucky to still be alive. How it found its way to this spot on the beach is a puzzle.














Starfish are often thrwn up on the beach at high tide and have a difficult time getting to the water before the seagulls get to them. This one has passed ob but is still intack on its back.













Occasionally, on the land side of the beach, one can find true beauty, such as this wild morning glory.













Another crab, this one still barely alive. I picked it up and placed it at the waters edge. Unfortunately, I think I was too late.












Another beautiful starfis, amongst varios shells and other unidentifiable stuff.















Detritus..... this happens to be natural detritus, as opposed to the much more unpleasant, detritus left by people.












A familiar scavenger along the Sanibel beaches, this sandpiper ( I think) is searching for small animals washed up on the beach.













More skate eggs.....; these clusters can reach lengths of 3-4 feet in some cases. Great for teching biology to young kids.














A large shell common along the Sanibel beaches but at the moment cannot remember its name.











This was a real rare find, and still alive. A sand dollar slowly moving across the wet sand. You can see its track as it seeks out the water and safety.














And, watching everything that was going on down below, this beautiful osprey keeps a sharp eye out for food.

10. Coastal S.W. Florida

When visiting coastal S.W. Florida, say from Tampa/St. Pete down to Sanibel and Captiva, one of the first things that impress you are the trees. Large, showy trees, such as this one in St. Petersburg.










Often, when near water, the foliage literally drips into the water, as if the tree were taking a drink.











Others like this one, perhaps a live oak, is dripping with spanish moss, a common symbiont of southern trees. But, I tell you, the trees are impressive.









When I am visiting friends on Sanibel Island, I will often bike through the Ding Darling preserve to observe the wildlife. Occasionally I'm lucky and see interesting sights, such as this small mangrove crab. You have to look carefully to see them!









This curious fellow came out of the mangrove swamp to see if we had some food to give him/her. Of course, we did not feed the raccoon as it is against the regulations in the preserve.










Everybody comes to Ding Darling to see the alligator. More often than not, what you see are two eyes out of the water; the rest of the animal is beneath the water.











They look like they are sleeping, but you can be assured that they are keeping there eyes on you and trying to guess if you could be their next meal. Some of these are 6-8 feet long, and they can move fast if they want to.









The real treasure of Ding Darling is its bird population. At low tide, hundreds of birds check out the waterways for food. Then you can see snowy egrets, great egrets, roseate spoonbills, anhinga, white pelicans and white ibis, along with many others. Quite a sight.








Gere a great edret checks out the shoreline for anything edible. These birds can be 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall.












The roseate spoonbill's coloration shows that they are in mating colors. The redder the color the more mature and ready for mating.












The bird at the top of this picture is "fishing" for food. By dragging its feet in the water, the bird drives the fish in certain direction where they can be harvested. The lower bird is great egret.












In this picture, the white pelicans have formed a nice line, all off to a new location where they will again start scooping out bait fish.











Here a couple of snowy egrets check out the shallows for something to eat.













A white ibis (orange beak) is in the midst of catching lunch, while the snowy egret next to it is looking for a meal.











A great blue heron stalks the shallows on this waterway for food. They will also stalk the land for snakes. lizards and such.