A few weeks ago (in December) we were on Cape Cod in Massachusetts and we visited Seagull beach in West Yarmouth for the first time.  It was a perfect beach for a nice long walk and there were tons of seashells. As you can see from the photos above there were piles of Slipper Shells (from the Slipper snail) and many Horseshoe crab carapaces (shells). As with many Cape Cod beaches the Horseshoe crab was quite prevalent. Horseshoe crabs actually shed their shells as they grow so that explains why they are so numerous. We also found several egg casings of the Knobbed Whelk (pictured above) and many Knobbed Whelk shells. It is such a sweet little beach I look forward to going back again in the future. We also shot this short video - enjoy!

Every year we spend a few days on the Southern Maine coast and visit some of my favorite places. This year the temperatures were in the high 60’s and on Friday it was 70 degrees! The weather gave us several very pleasant beach combing days. We started at Wells Beach where we filmed this short video. 

We then walked Laudholm Farm Beach and Rachel Carson’s Wildlife Sanctuary which are two of my favorite places to walk in Wells, Maine. We were also able to explore York Beach and it’s rich tide pools on the way home. It was a fabulous trip!

Many of the shells you see in this video are typical of what we found on Laudholm Farm Beach and Long Sands Beach in York. Enjoy!

August 31st
A peaceful 90 degree day spent at Hampton Beach, in New Hampshire. The ocean was sparkling, calm, and clear. Refreshing swimming at 68 degrees; a perfect day. At sunset we walked the Seabrook, Ma side of the Hampton Harbor Inlet to shoot this video of the seashells we found there. You can hear cars going over the metal drawbridge section of Mile Bridge (Rte. 1A) in the background.

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!

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.

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!

Not long ago I was invited by Dorie Stolley of the Goldenrod Foundation to be a guest leader on a field trip to discover the mollusks of Long Beach in Plymouth, Ma. I was thrilled to accept the invitation.
On Sunday, April 27th Dorie, my husband and I, the Beach Ambassadors, and PACTV (Plymouth Area Community Television) reporter Brian braved the rather chilly temperatures for a beach combing afternoon.
At first many of the finds were pieces of shells -some hard to distinguish - except for the iridescent bits of blue mussel. But as we made our way down the beach we were rewarded with many wonderful finds.
We found HUGE periwinkles, slipper shells, surf clams, blue mussels, quahogs, black clams, soft shell clams, gould’s pandoras, northern moon snails, bay scallops, waved whelks, a stimpson whelk, a sweet little new england whelk and one gorgeous specimen of a New England Neptune (also called a ten-ridged whelk)!
It was a wonderful afternoon and I was so pleased to meet and be in the company of so many environmentally conscious people. I was able to talk about the seashells I love and the creatures that inhabit them. It was a great day - one that we enjoyed immensely!
My thanks to everyone who participated and special thanks to Dorie for the invitation! I’m especially pleased with the work that the Goldenrod Foundation is doing to protect and preserve the nature of Long Beach. I was honored to be a part of their mission.

In the last video from Hampton Beach - I had these shells in an Altoid case for protection. It is hard to get a good look at them in the video so I photographed them here so you can see them "up close". These False Angels Wings are small - the larger one being an inch and a half.

This is a Ribbed Pod - also called the Atlantic Razor Clam. These shells are delicate and break easily as you can see from one side of the bivalve. The Ribbed Pod is 2 and half inches long. Blue Mussels are on the right. They typically have stronger shells and can be kept in your beach pail or a pocket!