The Essential Beachcomber

Even the shy guys come out of their shell to watch the sunrise. Sunrise at 7am - Low tide at 7:30.  My favorite spot to converge with nature is Boca Grande . A 20 minute drive puts me on the beach right as the sky is waking up. My camera batteries went dead so all my pictures were taken on my iPhone.  I caught a huge parade of pelicans crossing the pass heading south to Cayo Costa Island on the other side. Someone must have missed the pre-flight meeting. A little Egret sashays by.  He was making sure I didn't have a bait bucket with some freebies for him. My heart le a pt in my chest when I spotted this beauty in the shallows. The hermit crab chose a lovely Horse Conch for a home.  Sadly, t his one went back in the water. Huge Lightning Whelks were everywhere in the shallows of the low tide.  It was fun just to have a closer look and then place them back where they were found. This Orange-...

With the Baltimore Ravens beating the San Fransico 49er's 34 to 31 in Super Bowl XLVII , Buffet the Manatee's winning streak remains intact although he did not predict the power outage.   

              (Credit:  www. cfnews13.com)                                                                      The resident manatees at Mote Marine in Sarasota have made their Super Bowl predictions again this year.  Buffet the manatee has a 5 year winning streak going.    I am re-posting (again) my Super Bowl post from Febuary 6, 2011.  It's still my favorite s helling day of all time.) Usually Superbowl is a big deal around our house. The Hubbs is a real football fanatic but mainly for his college team - the Florida Gators. Our first real date was  31 years ago on Superbowl Sunday.  My dad was a football coach so I know my way...

Looking across the Stump Pass channel towards Knight Island to the south.  The channel was dredged in 2010 to make the pass deeper.  The dredged sand was used to build up the south end of Stump Pass State Park. All it takes is one little tropical storm named Debby and 3.76 million dollars worth of sand gets shifted to the west. The sandbar has shifted to the west of it's previous location.  You can see the little spit of sand just past the stumps. The south end of Stump Pass State Park has easily tripled in width since Tropical Storm Debby last July. Prior to the storm the trees were on the edge of the water. Only a mile walk down from the main entrance to the park beachcombers reap the rewards of sharks teeth and shells for their efforts. Australian Pines stand tall against the sky.       (taken with my iPhone) Stump Pass is my happy place.  I walk out to the end a few times each month.  The changes o...

The eagle's nest is located in North Fort Meyers, Florida.  An errand in the area brought me close enough to swing by and see the nest in person. (Credit:  Jamie & April Brooks from Southwest Florida Eagle Cam Facebook Page)    The babies were referred to as E1 and E2 until recently being officially named in a poll taken on the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam Facebook Page. Like the other 8,550 followers of the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam , I find myself checking in on the growing baby eagles several times a day.  The Eagle Cam just passed 8 million views so I'm not alone.  People from all over the globe are watching and connecting by social media as they chat, tweet, & post comments on F acebook concerning the two baby eagles that both hatched around January 1st.  Now named Hope & Honor, the baby eagles are growing about a pound in weight each week.  Webcam viewers are watching the babies learn to eat, preen, and now are sta...

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission webpage gets updated every Friday.    Like a drunken sailor drifting up and down the coast looking for a port to land in - the red tide algae bloom that made it's appearance on Christmas Day is still wandering aimlessly up and down the SWFL coastline.  Manasota Key was hit especially hard.  For 4 weeks now tourists, snowbirds & local beach goers have been hacking, coughing & sneezing all the while stepping over dead fish to try to get in some quality beach time. I ventured out to Blind Pass Beach on Manasota Key hoping the recent NW winds had blown the nasty stuff back out to sea.  The sun was out and the tide was low enough to make it a great day for sharks toof hunting.  The beach was clear of dead fish but there was a definite whiff of red tide in the air.  We stayed for a bit until the winds blew the bloom our way and as the hacking and coughing commenced we quickly exited the b...