Lovely Night For A Moon Dance

Van Morrison sang, "Into The Mystic." While I thought about a lovely night for a moon dance.

Avocet Island

A new island /sandbar emerged in the Gulf of Mexico 18 days ago. I have wanted to check it out since the first time I laid eyes on it. The day arrived for exploring this little spit of sand when Gail, Billie, Hilliary and Beth went exploring with me. I was throwing the bow anchor when Gail said, "look at those birds".  I thought, "yes",  there have been some nice gulls and black skimmers, but I had no idea what I was in for as I looked back and saw seven Avocets! In all my years of guiding I have never seen an Avocet. I have only seen this bird in books.  I grabbed my camera and took many photos. After catching my breath and shaking my head in disbelief, I finally got the stern anchor out and we shelled this new formation of sand and shell. This little spit of sand was loaded with a diversity of shells. A large horse conch and lightning whelk were found as well as sand dollars and a beautiful alphabet cone. The day was filled with new discoveries. I have named this new spit of sand "Avocet Island".

Morris Family

 

 

 

 

The Morris family was full of adventure. Jeff, Shannon, Julia, Anna, Adrian(AJ My little buddy) and John the explorer were open to whatever came our way. We started our trip with a walk in the sea grass. The girls were finding live lightning whelks and having a blast learning about their ecosystems. While walking the grass flats we saw four manatees. Next it was off to a barrier island where we walked the beach and explored the backcountry. They all enjoyed seeing different fish bones and a rare morph reddish egret. We also sampled some of the local fauna. I enjoyed exploring with this family very much especially with my buddy A.J. and her little brother John.

                    Thank you,  Capt. Brian

Jandris Family

Chuck, Christine and their boys Logan and Owen have been exploring with me for over 5 years.  It's always a fun time with the Jandris family on the water. During this outing we charted new territory, we looked at live shells and we explored more beneath the surface of the water.  After exploring underneath the water we traveled to an isolated stretch of beach and the kids swam and explored while Chuck, Christine and I walked the beach for shells. The day could not have been more perfect.

   Thank you Jandris family! See you this summer.

                                                              Keep on shelling~ Capt. Brian

Landscape With Edna

Cross Canadian Ragweed  was singing, "On your own" When I took this shot, But it was Edna St. Vincent Millay, I kept thinking about, "My candle burns at both ends: It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends-It gives a lovely light." You gotta love Edna.

Today

Today was a beautiful day on the water. I watched the sunrise and the sunset. In between  the sun's activity I was busy watching nature and educating along the way. Many photos were taken. Hope you enjoy these. Capt. Brian

Shelling Family

You can never learn enough about shells. This family knows their shells. Pat, Jen, Izzy, Ben ,Ursla and dad. I find myself researching uncommon shells they find on every trip. Ben found wentletraps, Jen found  a fossilized shark tooth, (in a very unique place) an amazing worm shell and a few semele shells with different colors. Izzy found a large rice shell. It was a shelling frenzy on the sandbar. The young shellers Ben and Izzy amaze me every time we go out. I am always learning more from this family."
Keep On Shelling" Capt. Brian