Clyde coast

On 18th February we did one of our favourite nearby coastal walks - around Ardmore Point. I was looking for shells and found this pair of Mya arenaria shells. I'm not sure if these are recent or sub-fossils from the ice age as they can still be found alive in this area.

The Chlamys islandica shell below is certainly a sub-fossil, as it no longer lives here. As its name suggests, it is found in more northern places, such as Iceland.

My best find of the day was this Panomya norvegica. The book "Seashells. Bivalves of the British and Northern European seas" by Christensen/Dance states [referring to the synonym Panomya spengleri] that "this undistinguished bivalve used to be highly prized by British shell collectors because of its rarity in British waters." Despite this, I had found at least one other a mile or two away. This one measured about 8cm across.

Many of the rocks are red sandstone, including this large pebble.

Some are covered with brightly coloured lichens.