Crescent Lake Park

Starling shining in the sun.

Female grackle with a juvenile.

Fat geese getting fed.

Juvenile white ibis downing a mouthful.

Foodfest at the ibis party.

Blue jay looking sad on the bench.

When it gets really I hot I tend to head for spots along the water to get the sea breeze. Before heading to the St. Petersburg Pier, I stopped at a nearby park. Crescent Lake Park is a small park near downtown St. Petersburg.  My last trip there was last spring when the baby geese were growing up. It looks like there weren't any baby geese this spring. People are always feeding them so they're pretty aggressive. I try and stay away from them. While I was walking around the lake, a lady and her daughter had a big loaf of bread and were feeding all of the animals at the park. The ibis were practically attacking each other for a slice of bread. Of course, they attacked the little girl as she was throwing out slices and finally she just threw the whole bag at them. This is why there are signs saying "Do not feed the wildlife." Oh well.

Baby eagles, parrots mating and a starling

Getting a bite of fish.

Feeding the baby although it looks more like a kiss.

The parent is looking at something.

Both babies are visible.

Baby is flapping it's wings.

One of the parents flying by. I know I shouldn't post this since I cut one wing off but I couldn't resist. He flew so close to me so fast.

A lone starling was sitting in a tree close by.

Wild parrots making whoopy.

The recent Sunday started out sunny but later in the day as I was on my way to check on the cemetery eagles in St. Petersburg it started to get cloudy. The closer I got to the cemetery, the cloudier it got. There was a small chance of rain and it looked like we were going to get it. White and gray clouds do not make for a nice background but hey, when you are watching a bald eagle feed it's chick you get over it real fast. They had just started eating when I got there so I missed the big "parent flying in with a fish" moment. After the eagles finished eating and had settled down in the nest I noticed a few other birds around me. I found a lone starling which I though was strange. Usually they are in big flocks. Right as I was leaving a parrot couple landed in the tree near my car and quickly got down to business. I wonder if they have a nest in the cemetery. It would be nice to see the baby parrots growing up.

Large flock of starlings - Skywatch Friday

Every once in a while I see a large flock of small birds buzzing around and I wonder "What are those little birds."  I was out at the celery fields in Sarasota recently and saw a flock flying on the other side of the lake. One minute they were in the cow pasture across the street and the next minute they were in the lake. They kept flying back and forth. I snapped a handful of pictures when they were headed into the lake and when I got home and zoomed in on them I realized they were European starlings. It's funny how close together they stay. It almost seemed like they were trying to take the lake with them. While this seems like a huge flock to me, they are found in flocks of over 1 million birds in England. Now that would be a sight to see.

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