Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Zebra Longwing Butterfly Florida's State Butterfly |
They are actually prettier than that in nature. Close inspection reveals other bright colors on the body and antennae.
I received an email from Dan B. along with some find photos. I'll present some of that email and the finds today but keep some of his email for discussion some other time. I want to address some of it as a separate topic.
Here is part of what Dan said.
I drove to a river spot yesterday to find that it was still sanded in. So instead I decided to go hit my local railroad town that I have enjoyed for years. I actually have been intrigued by the story of the man sifting the property and finding much more after detecting...Regardless of my thoughts. Two minutes into my old trash pile and I eyeballed this and all it gave me was a frumpy iron hit.
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| Beautiful Ornate Hinge. |
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| Square Nail. |
Thanks Dan.
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I recently spent a little more time metal detecting the Indian River Ridge site and found some BIG iron items. First, here is a complete 47 inch long wrench that I dug up along with the incomplete one I found before.
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| 47 Inch Long Dug Railroad Wrench |
Below are the heaviest finds yet. I don't know what they are, but they are heavy. They were found closer to the railroad right of way. That supports one of my theories - the heaviest items are likely to be closer to the tracks. I can see why someone would not carry these things very far.
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| Two Very Heavy Iron Railroad Related Mystery Finds |
Anybody know what they are? The small projections on the right side of the photo look like they would screw into something.
The 6.5 oz. Coke bottle is for size comparison only.
I also dug up more spikes, bolts, nuts and some other things.
I have removed a few pounds of rust bits from the site. My magnet is an indidpensible tool that saves a lot of time recovery small rusty items from the leaves, twigs and other detritus.
I've been removing a lot of rusty old nails of various sizes.
I detected a metal screw top still on the neck of a broken whiskey bottle, and then a bit later and a distance away dug this old stopper top bottle while I was digging another signal.
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| Dug Old Stopper Top Bottle. |
Yesterday I showed an old embossed Stuart Bottling Works bottle while digging another signal. That bottle, which according to my research would date to 1933 or earlier, provides my best evidence that I have recovered so far for the date of the site. I'm hoping to obtain more and better date evidence.
The iron items I've recovered have been very rusted and provide very little information that could be used to date the activity of the site. There have been a few more modern items found, but most of the items show some age. All of the iron items are heavily rusted.
I've dug about seven bottles of varying ages on the site so far. Most have been recovered by accident while digging metal targets. They have been scattered around the site. They represent a broad date range too. Two were detected because the metal top was still in place. Only one bottle was found broken, not counting the bottom of the stoneware jug and the red lens.
I didn't expect to find old bottles on the site. Based upon what I've found, I assume that there are probably several times more if the entire site was dug up.
I located another area that is very dense with metal targets.
I dug up a few new iron railroad items. Some are mystery items that I haven't yet photographed.
Just last evening I went out just before dark and was having a difficult time digging a target that was hiding under some big roots. I was getting frustrated and for some reason stood up and looked behind me. I was greeted by the sight of a bunch of Zebra Longwing butterflys fluttering in and settling in the dense vegetation for the night. It was a pretty picture. The butterflys were flitting in and out of the low filtered sunlight between the light green leaves and dense vegetation. It reminded me a bit of the scene in the movie Avatar where the Neytiri (seeds of the sacred tree) were all around.
I don't know how many butterflies were there because they kept disappearing in and out of the light and between the leave and things as some of them settled down. There were a lot though. I learned that they gather together nightly in the same location.
When settled they hung upside down with wings closed on a twig. Some close together. The oldest get the primie spots and settle first.
Here is some information about the Zebra Longwing butterflies. Their host plant is the passion vine, where they lay their eggs.
One of the nice things about metal detecting is the experience of nature, whether it is on the beach or elsewhere.
Tomorrow I'll take my wife to watch the Zebra Longwings roost.
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In the near future I'll be talking about some strategies and observations.
This moring is cloudy and breezy. There is a 19mph east wind. Very pleasant morning.
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| Source: magicseaweed.com. |
Looks like to tomorrow we'll get a 4 - 7 foot surf. I wish the tides were going to be higher, but the increased surf will help some.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net