Sanibel Island, 2nd day

I am having the time of my life.  So much fun!!  And perfect weather.  I like Sanibel, because it reminds me of Maui.  Sand, sun, beaches, flip flops, casual dress, palm trees, gentle breezes, what more could one ask for?

And lovely surprises.  Today we came home from Home Depot and grocery shopping on the mainland (yes, we have to take care of the mundane), and discovered a Great Egret hanging out with the neighbors!  The bird was about 5 feet from a guy talking on the phone, and about 4 feet from the wife, who was snapping photos.  He seemed quite at home, in no partiuclar hurry to get anywhere.

After dinner, Lee and I took a casual walk to the beach near the campground.  This campground, which is more like a trailer park (although a nice trailer park - very well maintained), has a few dozen tropical birds in large cages near one of the ponds.  Macaws, Cockatoos of all kinds, several different kinds of parrots, and even some exotic ducks (Mandarin, for example).  People stop to talk to the birds, and they chatter and talk and seem very happy.
 
Once at the beach, which had beautiful white sand and lots of shells, I discovered something else which amazed me.  People are told when they arrive that they can collect a shell if the animal has died, but cannot collect shells within which the animal is still alive.  I walked along, and found more living animals in shells, in three inches of water, than I have ever seen before on a sand beach, with no rocks or reef.  There are some living bivalves, but mostly living univalves.  And if a univalve is dead, there is always a hermit crab inside.  Lots of hermit crabs!  Since the univalves are constantly recycled by hermit crabs, there are very few to be found on the beach that can be taken home.

Which begs the question, why do we collect?   I collected, as I walked along, just like everyone else.  But I don't really know why.  I don't know what I will do with them at home.  What in us makes us collect?  It seems to be a human trait or instinct that doesn't always have a useful purpose behind it.  (Unless you are collecting for a museum, but that's a different story.)

So, here are the shells I brought back with me tonight, for no apparent reason:
 

And a few sights that we saw along the way:

Mangroves on the right, a small dock a little farther along on the opposite shore

And the beach itself, near dusk.

Another perfect end to a perfect day!