Shoreline finds

The sun was shining when I woke  and we headed off to Traeth  Mawr/Newport Sands to see how the estuary and the shore had fared in the rough weather.

The grass was blonde on the dunes and the tides had scrubbed the beach clean and smooth.

 First off I found an Ocean Quahog, just the one. These ancient clams are the longest lived animals in the world and one was estimated to be over 500 years old. They are deep water shellfish occasionally brought in by storms. They fascinate me but sadden me too because, once washed up,  there's no way they can return to where they came from. This was was intact and tightly closed but, although I threw it as far back as I could, I know the tide will bring it ashore again to perish in  the open air.

The tides had exposed the Sabellaria colonies formed by tiny worms that make reefs of innumerable densely-packed sand tubes each occupied by one individual.

There were razor shells and limpet encampments and sand bubbles and froth patterns. Raki found some flesh in a clam shell and put her paw firmly on it to hold it still while she chewed the meat off.

On the way back I picked a bagful of sea beet and that's where I saw the ladybird on a sea beet leaf - a lady bird in January is a first for me I think.