Signing up for April 2016 A to Z challenge, super keen, just out of Blogging 101, Photo 101 and Commenting 101…. yes, yes, another Blogging event, I’ll do it. Continue reading
Tag Archives: atozchallenge
A to Z Challenge: Z is for Zonata…..
My final mollusc of the challenge just had to sneak in here to round off my Seashore series… Hydatina Zonata, an intertidal zone inhabitant, usually found cast up on a wrack line. Fragile, akin to a fine eggshell, these beautiful little molluscs were a lucky find on a windy beach on Masirah island, Oman. I suspect they were blown across the waves and ended up tangled and dried in seaweed, where I found them… Continue reading
A to Z Challenge: Y is for Yellow shells….
There are not that many Yellow shells around the Arabian coastline but I have found most of them! Continue reading
A to Z challenge: X is for Xenophora…
What’s quite good about doing an A to Z seashore theme is that you just know that someone, somewhere will have used “X” to name a family in the taxonomy, so it removes the X-day stress! Continue reading
A to Z challenge: W is for Window panes and Watering pots…
It’s ok readers, I haven’t totally lost the plot. The seashore can throw up some unusual treasures and both of these are just those, colloquial names for sea-shells, which are both treasures in their own right. Continue reading
A to Z challenge: V is for Volvarina and Volva…
Volvarina is a genus of small to very small sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Marginellidae, the margin shells.(Wiki) Continue reading
A to Z Challenge: U is for Umbonium
Re-posting this from my Arabian Asides category, published back in early March. “U” is quite a difficult sea-shore letter to find another interesting subject to photograph and write about! Continue reading
A to Z challenge: T is for Turtle…
Fours species of turtles nest in the coastal areas of the UAE and Oman, including the green turtle (Chelonia mydus), hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), olive ridley turtle (Lepydochelys olivacea) and the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta). Continue reading
A to Z challenge: S is for Starfish…
Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or “basket stars”. Continue reading
A to Z Challenge: R is for Ranellidae…
The Ranellidae, common name the triton shells or tritons, are a taxonomic family of small to very large predatory sea snails, marinegastropod mollusks in the clade Littorinimorpha. (Wiki) Continue reading
A to Z Challenge: Q is for Quicksand
Quicksand features quite heavily in Oman, especially on the sabhka wastes of the coastal peninsula of Bar al Hikmann and as my recent ” H is for Help” A to Z challenge post describes, much care needs to be taken after heavy rainstorms. Continue reading
A to Z challenge: P is for Pen shell-Pinnidae
The Pinnidae are a taxonomic family of large saltwater clams sometimes known as pen shells. They are marine bivalve molluscs in the order Pterioida. Continue reading
A to Z challenge: O is for Octopus
I like to see octopus in the wild, but it’s hard to get photographs as they are fairly elusive and lurk in dark crevices, moving very fast in a cloud of ink, when disturbed. Continue reading
A to Z challenge: N is for Nasturtium
I thought I had a pet Nudibranch, which was my “N”, but whilst writing this, I discovered it’s just a sea slug. Hmm… Continue reading
A to Z challenge: M is for Melo….
Melo melo, common name the Indian volute or bailer shell, is a very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Volutidae, the volutes.
Not found on the Arabian shorelines, but plentiful in Asia and I’ve had this for dinner! Continue reading
A to Z challenge: L is for Lambis
Out of the shells I have found, the Lambis family are beautiful specimens of molluscs.
Never expecting to find anything but broken ones, given their size, imagine, when one day, walking along a rock shelf at low tide, I spied a vivid pink, shiny blob on the dull rocks in the distance. Deep down, knowing what it could be, hoping against hope it was intact, I crabbed across the slippery rocks in record speed. Continue reading
A to Z challenge: K is for Kite-boarding….
Masirah island, Oman, according to some wind-surfing Aussies I met in Ramadan last year on the island, rates amongst the top 10 places for both sports and having spent time there during the monsoon, it’s certainly windy enough to blow you away into the raging seas, but these guys seemed to have no fear. Their main issue was they hadn’t realised it was Ramadan, so the hotel was dry ! Continue reading
A to Z: J is for Journey
As a change from the sea shore today, come and have a little journey with me around Dubai’s souks….
Crossing the creek to the souk area on the traditional abra, life is buzzing on the waterway… Continue reading
A to Z Challenge: I is for Inspiration, Internet, Information & Ironwood…
Visiting Borneo in 2015, the wealth of drift seeds washed up on the beach sparked a new interest.
On the Arabian coastline, there are no such treasures. There are few trees on the coastlines here, only mangroves, so, on coming across beans and husks of all shapes and sizes as I walking along the shoreline looking for shells, I was fascinated. Continue reading
A to Z Challenge: H is for Help….
This post had been planned as “H is for Herons” (plenty of Herons on the coastline of UAE and Oman) but this weekend turned it into “H for Help” instead… Continue reading
A to Z challenge: G is for Gastropods
The Phylum, Mollusca is the second largest in the anima kingdom. There are five main classes, Gastropods, Bivalves, Scaphopoda, Amphineura and Cephalopoda. Continue reading
A to Z Challenge: F is for Festilyria and Fossils
Festilyria Festiva …Of all the Arabian shells this is my absolute favorite. Continue reading
A to Z Challenge: E is for Echinoderm
Participating in Blogging from A-Z challenge (April 2016) with a sea-shore theme…
Members of Phylum Echinodermata are more usually known by the common name of Echinoderm. Sea urchins, starfish, sand dollars and sea-cucumbers are well known members of this genus. These are the more common ones seen in inter-tidal regions or as exo-skeletons washed up on beaches. Continue reading
A to Z Challenge: D is for Dhow
Participating in Blogging from A-Z challenge (April 2016) with a sea-shore theme…
Dhows (generic name) are the traditional trading and fishing vessels of Arabia. Continue reading
A to Z Challenge: C is for Cowries…
Participating in Blogging from A-Z challenge (April 2016) with a sea-shore theme…
Cowrie is the common name for Cypraeidae, a taxonomic family of small to large sea snails. Cowries are tropical and subtropical dwellers, living in shallow to deep-water environments. These hump shaped molluscs are also known as the “Gem of the Sea” owing to their varied colours and pattern and glossy appearance. Continue reading
A to Z Challenge: B is for Beaches…
Participating in Blogging from A-Z challenge (April 2016) with a sea-shore theme…
Beaches have their own meaning for different people. Holidays, sun-bathing, swimming, fishing, clam-collecting, walking, water-sports and so on, the list is long. Continue reading
A to Z Challenge: A is for Argonaut
Participating in Blogging from A-Z challenge (April 2016) with a sea-shore theme…
The argonauts (genus Argonauta) are a group of pelagic octopuses.
Commonly known as the “Paper Nautilus” the exquisite egg casing that the females secrete are a shell collector’s treasure. Continue reading
Travels in the Middle East and beyond 