treasure after the rain

The other day we went for a walk along the foreshore. It had been raining for many days and this was the first opportunity to get out of the house and go for a walk. There were many treasures to be seen both on the ground and in the air. Although we were searching for the legendary Snowy Owl (Harry Potter owl), we did not see any this day. The snowy owl resides in the area for about 6 weeks before moving on. The newspaper did say that 22 of the birds had been spotted in the annual bird species count, and with the limited number of the species being revealed, I didn't feel quite so bad for not having spotted one. We did however, manage to see 7 Bald Eagles. Such large and intimidating birds, they are, sitting high in the naked trees waiting for some poor unfortunate prey to dare stick its neck out, no doubt. Alex was quite taken by this shell. It was like a mini oasis: small pool of water admist the parched well of dry shell and tiny branch-like leaves with the tiniest berries, perhaps providing some sustainence and shade from the breezy coastal conditions for some microscopic organism here on holidays from the arctic.
I suggested, to Alex, that he take his find home, but he insisted it be put back EXACTLY where he'd found it- perhaps a future conservationist.