Sarah Lynn's Nature's Splendor: Photos: Trip to Florida, Day 6, Part 2 -- From Ft. Pierce Inlet State Park to St. Petersburg

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Photos: Trip to Florida, Day 6, Part 2 -- From Ft. Pierce Inlet State Park to St. Petersburg

Ft. Pierce City Marina

Great egret

We saw many large cattle ranches as we crossed south-central Florida.

They haul elephants on flatbeds down here?

(Turns out, it was a large pine tree.)

Boat-tailed grackle

Great egret

Female boat-tailed grackle

Great egret

What's in the bush?

It's a cormorant, trying to pretend it's a songbird!

Common moorhen

Common fishermen

Cormorants

Common pigeon (although his wing is lacking a molecule or two)

Looking out toward Lake Okeechobee

Fishing pier bristling with poles

Sarah Lynn, looking for the Loch Ness monster

Somebody caught a fish!

Oops, he got away.

This man caught several

Telling about the one that got away

Ring-billed gull

Perfect two-point landing

Storks' nest atop the light pole

Another storks' nest

... and yet another.

Kissimmee River

Coco Sod Farms

A squadron of white pelicans

Cattle egrets, obligingly palling around with the cattle to better facilitate identification.

Young citrus orchard

Orange trees

Truck full of oranges

Heritage Baptist Church

Spanish moss

Trestle drawbridge

Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Tampa Bay

Tampa skyline

Tampa Bay

Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Tampa skyline

Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge heading into St. Petersburg

Heading into St. Petersburg

Homes along Boca Ciega Bay

Hey! What's that in the water??

A close-up

While both sharks and dolphins frequent the waters off St. Petersburg, we believe this to be a dolphin, as the rear edge of its dorsal fin is quite curved. Sharks' dorsal fins are generally more straight at the rear edge. And there is that hump at the head, too... though some sharks swim with hump behind head showing... and some varieties of sharks have curved fins... but I think it's a dolphin.

After all, there weren't scores of general populace lining the shore screaming "SHARK!!! SHARK!!!" (Though that, too, can be a sign of ... dolphin.) ((snicker))

We stopped for supper at Subway. Larry brought along the salad he didn't have time to finish, as the sun was going down, and we wanted to get to St. Pete's Beach before sunset. So there sits the salad on the dash, in all its glory.

Walking to St. Pete's Beach

Despite the raw wind, we saw wedding photography in process right out at the water’s edge.

Meanwhile, kitesurfers played in the background.

Ring-billed gull

Laughing gull

Victoria and Larry

After a long enough time had passed that I wondered if the bride was going to be in the hospital suffering from hypothermia on her wedding day, they departed for a house farther up the coast, and I saw that the bride certainly had been cold, even in the warmth of the moment: she was now wrapped in a large, red blanket.