Cockle Shell

Do you remember the little nursery rhyme about what little girls and boys are made of? Have you ever wondered what Cockle shells are. Well, wonder no more. This is a genuine, Florida Cockle shell.

If you've been following my blog, you know I've been spending a lot of time on the beaches of Ft. Desoto lately trying to capture the elusive sun rising between the spans of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

After the sunrise is over, I leave East Beach for one of my favorite spots for capturing birds at North Beach. Ft Desoto is one of the best places to create awesome bird shots, and this time of year is perfect. It's not too hot, there are few people on the beach this early in the morning; mostly other photographers with the same idea and a few people just walking the beach for exercise.

North Beach was voted the #1 beach by Dr. Beach in 2005. This beach is pristine with its fine (as talc) white sand, beautiful sand dunes dot all around the beach and a gorgeous lagoon situated between the main beach and a little island or key. The key has a sand bar leading up to it that during low tide, one can walk right onto it to explore its beauty. Part of the key is a protected nesting site for both native and migrating birds, so we need to be careful not to go too far towards the end of key; however, the conservation area is well marked. We also need to carefully watch the tide coming in. It's not bad though, since it's a short distance if the tide covers the sand bar. The lagoon is only about 4 ft. deep at the deepest spot and Florida water rarely dips below 71 deg. F. Worse comes to worse, one can walk or swim back to the mainland.