We just spent three wonderful days in Maine; despite the heavy rain and cool temps. We managed to squeak in a walk on a beach in Kennebunkport on Monday afternoon. The highlight of the treasure hunt was finding two intact False Angel Wings! They are pictured in the photo above. (I cannot wait to paint these beauties!) We also witnessed these Least Terns hunkering down on the shore along with some Great Black-backed Gulls.

On Tuesday we visited the Vivian E. Hussey Primary School in Berwick, ME, where I read "Seashells - Treasures from the Northeast Coast". I'm thankful to Anita Haberzettl for inviting me back to visit and to talk with the awesome first graders. 
We enjoyed a marvelous walk later that day on Wells beach amidst the perfume of beach roses. It smelled like heaven!

On our way home on Wednesday we stopped at Footbridge Beach in Ogunquit. Again, we were delighted with the perfume of beach roses and were so excited to see Piping Plovers nesting on the beach and foraging on the shore. We finished up the walk with this short video. Enjoy!

Can you see the Piping Plover ? He/she is well camouflaged in the sand.

In April we were in Plymouth for an educational beach walk with the Beach Ambassadors from the Goldenrod Foundation. It turned out to be a really great field trip with lots of seashells found! We met in the parking lot at Long Beach and there I was able to show and talk about my seashell collection so that everyone was primed before we set out to comb the beach. We then carpooled in 4-wheel drives out to the field station house and from there set out on the beach to search for seashells. It was a beautiful day, a bit windy, but not too cold. The Ambassadors are in training to help with educational efforts to preserve and protect this rich environment. For more information check out their website and blog: http://www.goldenrod.org/blog/become-a-beach-ambassador-in-2015 

Here are a few pics from the field trip...

I'm in front with Dorie Stolley, Program Manager for the Goldenrod Foundation and behind us the wonderful Beach Ambassadors.

Dorie found this beautiful Sea Scallop. It's not something you usually see; never mind one with so much color! This was found on the harbor side. (Plymouth Harbor)

A European Oyster and a Stimpson's Whelk. This is the second time we have found a European Oyster here on the harbor side.

We just got back from two days in Plymouth, Massachusetts where we visited Ellisville Harbor Beach on the first day.
We enjoyed a wonderful walk down to and on the beach. A beautiful, rocky, beach with sandy cliffs and amazing views. We found lots of shells and saw Common Eiders, Red-breasted Mergansers and several seals swimming off shore!

The coral weed is not quite visible in the video so here is a close up!

After weeks of record snowfall here in Massachusetts, we finally got a break and headed for the seashore. I have been wanting to go to R.I. to visit the Audubon in Bristol and to get down to the beach in Newport. Both visits turned out great. We had a nice walk through the snow at the Claire D. McIntosh Audubon Wildlife Refuge (where I hope to have a book reading and signing this summer) and then made our way down to Second Beach in Newport. 
We bundled up and headed out on the beach and was greeted by seagulls dropping Surf Clams. (They do this to break the shells so they can feast on the tender clams inside.) The beach was littered with many whole and broken bits of surf clams. There were also tons of slipper shells. We found a few scallop shells, jingle shells, and razor clams. Down near the end of the beach nearer to Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge I found several Northern Moon Snails. Many of the shells we found were a beautiful dark blue - quite remarkable! All in all a wonderful walk on the beach.

Second Beach seashell collection.

In November, on our way home from Maine we stopped at Sandy Point on Plum Island. Last time we visited Plum Island we walked the middle section of this lovely barrier island and found many beautiful shells including the Chestnut Astarte. This time we drove out Refuge Road to the southern tip called Sandy Point. It is also part of the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. 
It was such a beautiful spot and we did not have much time to comb the beach so I cannot wait to go back and really explore. Till' we get back again- enjoy this little video. (Watch it till' the end for a little surprise.)
I also want to clarify that the Northern Moon Snail has a large foot that it holds the clam with while it tunnels through the shell with it's radula. The radula is like a ribbon with little teeth and the snail uses it like a file. Kinda scary if your a clam or another Moon snail - because they can be cannibals! 
Still - they have one of the most beautiful shells on the Northeast coast.

My husband read about this beach and said we should visit next time we were in Maine. I'm so glad we did because it is a real beauty. It was a wonderful afternoon for a beach combing adventure. The wind had died down and the sun was shining on this peaceful November day. We walked the whole length of the beach and back and shot this as the sun was setting. The first shell I found was a sea urchin test and the last shell I found was a little sea urchin test (shell). I will post a photo below so you can get a better look. The larger one still has remnants of spines and the smaller one is nice and clean so you can see the beautiful pattern where the spines were. I think these were the best finds of the day!

Ever since I saw this beach from Mass Audubon's Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary across the bay I have wanted to visit. We finally got out there on a windy Oct. day and found lots of treasures. One unusual find was a fish bone - seemingly from a sun fish that we stumbled upon after finding the bone. I also almost always find little toys that have been left behind. This time it was a little blue dolphin. I think it is the best toy treasure I have ever found while combing a beach! We finally ducked behind a ridge of sand and at the base of the sand dunes to try and get out of the wind to film this short video. Enjoy : D

This is the sunfish carcass that I assume the fish bone belongs too...Sorry if this grosses you out...but I thought it was pretty interesting just the same. Here is a link to a live ocean sun fish (also called a Mola Mola)  video:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7ZQwlwbrQo

In the last video from Town Beach in Sandwich, Massachusetts, I talked about the difference between Smooth Periwinkles and Northern Moon Snails. Here is a photo/close up of them so you can see the difference. You need to look under the shell to see that the Northern Moon Snail has that extra opening called the umbilicus.

Today we walked Town Neck Beach in Sandwich, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It was a wonderful, windy, October day and we found lots of shells on the beach and then ducked down behind the jetty to film this little educational video. Enjoy!

On September 17th we were able to get out to Plum Island in Massachusetts for a beach combing adventure. We walked for over three hours combing the beach for treasures and found lots of them! The most interesting find was the Chestnut Astarte clams. Even after we shot this video I found a portion of a Waved whelk and a Stimpson's whelk. I was also really pleased to find several small Deep Sea Scallop shells - very pretty! I will post photos of those soon...for now enjoy this video from Plum Island!