The year 2019 is ending and as I was going through my photos I realized there are some favorites. Often I will go out on the boat and never get around to sharing my pictures because I simply forget.
To celebrate this past year, I have decided to explore and share with my readers what was happening month by month. Grab some coffee because my life is pretty boring … but here goes.
January and February
In January I visited the local drive-on beach with a friend. It was a rainy day, and very windy, but we took a quick walk enjoying low tide and the mostly deserted sand. At Smyrna Dunes Park I watched winter surfers enjoying the wave action and climbed the two-story pavilion to get the views. The first photo on this page was taken at the park.
Rough seas brought jellyfish onto the shore in January.
We did some boating on the nice days when the winds were calm.
My daughter and her fiancé came to visit in February and we went boating and shell-searching with them. Once again we discovered a huge horse conch with the living orange mollusk inside. We took a quick photo and let him be.
March
In March my son and I went to the Orlando boat show. I’d like to say that we bought this huge Cobia, but no. It was pretty impressive. We saw loads of nice boats and had a nice day but spent money only on food and drink!
April and May
A new way of collecting seashells!
While swimming with my friend in her beautiful pool, I noticed a nearby container of big seashells sitting in green water. I began photographing them and she grabbed a basket and loaded it up and gave them all to me! Read more about them on my post here.
May & June
One day we took a ride up to Ponce Inlet where I love to explore the low tide islands for new sea life. This is where I found some beautiful living conchs.
July
July, and all of summer, are times of big afternoon thunderstorms and heavy rainfall in Florida. One day this big flock of White Ibis spent about a half hour eating bugs, or whatever they eat, in my front yard. The darker colored birds are juveniles.
Even my outdoor-loving cat Skittle couldn’t handle the heat of the day in July.
August and September
September is one of the worst months for hurricanes, and we were lucky to mostly miss them this year.
The Bahamas were devastated by Hurricane Dorian, a category 5, which simply hovered over the islands with winds as strong as a tornado. Most of us have now forgotten it, but the island people are still suffering and will for a long time.
Here in central Florida we got ready for Dorian, but ended up with only a little wind and a beautiful sunset.
October & November
The excitement of having a new boat has worn off and since we are not the greatest fishermen, my son has become very picky about going boating. The weather has to be near perfect, meaning no wind, and not too hot or too cold. We take the boat out less and less. Fall is a good time to get out on the water because the heat that brings big thunderstorms is gone.
I find that there are fewer hermit crabs along the beach in winter. And even the shrubs can have interesting changes, like the big beans I found hanging from a tree near the shore in November.
December
December is a busy month, but we got out for a boat ride and saw loads of dolphins. It is not unusual to see them while we are boating, but this particular day they were everywhere.
I met up with a friend and we rented kayaks from JB’s Fishcamp and spent an hour together relaxing on the water.
Pass it on
The west coast / Gulf coast of Florida is the best place to collect shells. Sanibel Island is especially well known for it’s beach-combing. As far as I know you can collect any empty / non-living shells without getting into trouble. Anything living should be left alone – which is common sense, really. Even “empty” shells can have other creatures living inside, such as the hermit crabs I find regularly. So care must be taken that the shell is truly empty of sealife. It’s probably best to know the rules wherever you visit when it comes to collecting shells.
Thanks for reading!
Just look at the size of the seashells in your part of the world – they are so big and beautiful too! I once rad that Florida beaches are some of the best places to collect them, but you have to know which ones are protected; otherwise you can get arrested. Is that true? Aiva
One was within my reach, and one was not!
That horse conch was massive (as was that boat at the boat show)!