Robert Moses Beach June 2015

This was our first trip to Robert Moses Beach, 2015, which is on the south shore of Long Island.

 It was a really windy and gray day when we got there around 10:30 in the morning.

 The snack bar was not ready for the new season's customers.

 The Sea Gulls were flying above hoping not to miss anything, especially food scraps.  They can be very aggressive, so hold on to your food.

The Italian inspired "Pencil" tower at the entrance to the parking lots.

 City friends walking on the beach

 Gull just sitting, not paying much attention to me.

 Remains of shells and flotsam and jetsam as the tide recedes.  I did trip over some fishing line that was buried in the sand.  I wound it up and tossed it into the nearest garbage can.  It can be dangerous if there is a hook on one end, but this line , fortunately was just a line,  no hook.  It is dangerous to animals and birds.

Rockweed, or Fucus,  a Seaweed we used to call "poppers" which when dry from the sun, produces small pops when the air bladders which keeps it afloat are pinched between kids fingers or toes.  It is a very common seaweed on the cool and rocky North and South shores of Long Island.

This is a fragment of a Moon Snail's sand collar egg nest, where masses of eggs are laid by the snail.  Usually it is a complete circle made from the spit of the snail and sand.  It is flexible when wet, but very crumbly when dry.

 A sand dune and snow fence

 A fisherman was surf casting.  I had never seen anyone actually catch anything, but today he caught a Striped Bass.

After his wife measured the catch and found it too small to keep, the fisherman returned it to the sea, much to my relief.  It was a beauty, and swam quickly away.  I had  hoped that it had learned a lesson;  hooks are dangerous.

 The surf was wild from the aftermath of a southern hurricane.

 Waves dwarfed visitors, but people went into the water which was about 65 f. degrees.  Too cold for me, to too early to get in beyond my feet.

 The American Flag was full out, indicating probably around 15 to 20 mph winds.

The lifeguard's flags were up

 These are images of the shells that I brought home, featuring the Moon Snail shells.

 This is part of the Moon snail, the Operculum, or trapdoor, which seals the opening of the shell.  It is thin and horny and feels like a finger nail.

 This is an egg case from a Skate, or perhaps some sharks.  It is also known as the "mermaid's purse," or "devil's purse."  Probably by the time it washes up on shore, the young fish have hatched out, and it is empty.

 Over the years I have walked the beaches on both shores of Long Island, and inevitably collected, carried home in my pockets, and sketched and painted shells and other beach items.

 I have sat on the sand and painted the "pencil,"

 and people in their chairs between the blowing flags

 These beach remains find their way into all of my drawings and paintings.

 Just a wonderful day, the first of many this season.

Sunken Meadow Beach in a New Year

We were wondering how the beach at Sunken Meadow State Park, N.Y, fared after the huge October storm, Sandy.

New Years Day was a time out and we went for a rather chilly walk.  The beach looking east.

 Looking west

 The beach looked pristine and the water looked really cold and choppy, at an outside temperature of 40 degrees F.

 The tide line was free of un-natural debris. There were a lot of tiny,  deeply purple colored lady slipper shells.

A very orange jingle shell, and a piece of popper sea weed.

 The Plover were scurrying about,

 trying to find food.  Off in the distance were quite a few more, so I guess there was plenty for them to feast upon.  Plover never like to get their feet wet and dart at the edge of the waves.

 Baby Lady Slippers attached to a clam shell.

An egg casing from a Whelk Snail.

 The winds made sort of moguls out of dune grass clumps.

 We thought that we might find some of the "Wagon Wheel" Plastic shapes, and there were a few higher up on the beach. 

 The storms pushed the sand up against the board walk,

 but a few of these escaped being buried by the fall storm.

I noticed that the pines were looking sort of "burned" on their edges.   Wondered if the winds had done that.

 Even on the First of January, plants can surprise you.  Here is a Dusty Miller sort of planting that was doing well in spite of the cold.

 These were planted as ornamentals along the entry to the park.

 Span Dragons were also stubbornly blooming along side the Dusty Millers.

 In the distance was a huge pile of fallen trees from Sandy.  I was surprised that more storm debris wasn't in the parking lot, because there are so many, many large downed trees on the North Shore.

 The gulls were sitting in the parking lot.

 A photo of the "Wagon Wheel Pasta" shapes that I blogged about was included in a publication concerned with Long Island Sound Health.

 In their Article they reported that 33 million of these wheels were released into the Long Island sound in a waste treatment plant  overflow last march.

Pretty unbelievable, but we found some as far out on a beach in Orient Point last September.  Can there be some in France or Morocco?

These are the shells that I collected today: Oyster, Quahog, clam, Whelk and Razor or Jackknife Clam.

This is a small water color painting that I did a few years ago of a Whelk with Barnacles.  Shells make interesting subjects, and when you live on an island, they are plentiful.  Happy New Year to all.