St. Augustine's Alligator Farm

What a beautiful town St. Augustine is.  I actually lived in this town when I was a toddler.  Born in Jacksonville, Fla, my mother reminded me of how much they enjoyed St. Augustine when they were young.  Full of beautiful architecture and history.  I only wish I had been able to spend more time.  As it was, I considered myself lucky, for my short time there was amazing.

I had heard of the Alligator Farm in the past, but it was not on my radar.  It was fortunate that my friend, Nancy, reminded me about it and strongly urged me to stop there.  I'm glad I did.

There were so many of these guys around, it was incredible.  It's no wonder they call it a farm.  I'll bet the even sell them for consumption.  The place is not really big and is set up like a zoo.  Some animals are caged or have their own areas and there is a boardwalk that roams through the swamp where the gators live, which meanders for several hundred yards.  I'm guessing there are several thousand gators living in this place, and if there is food about, they swarm.  Don't want to fall in the water at this place.

Even though it's called an alligator farm, gators were not my reason for visiting.  I was told there was a rookery here, and that is no lie.  This place is amazing.  There are so many different kinds of birds here, and they all nest together in this small place.  Not sure what the attraction is, but, there are a lot of birds here and they are easy to shoot.

I witnessed a lot of nest building, territorial squabbles, and eggs in the nests, as well as some young being fed.  I didn't want to leave, but, time was running out and I was getting a bit too much sun, or I would have stayed all day.  I'm glad I had some time there and I'm pretty happy about some of my shots as well.

There were also a few pens which were home to some African birds.  There were a couple different kinds of vultures and a stork of some kind, but my attention was drawn to this African Crowned Crane.  I really wanted to get a capture of it with it's wings spread, but that was not my luck this time.

Hopefully, I will be able to visit the Alligator Farm again, for I could tell there is much more to be had here.

There are a bunch more shots here.  Thanks for looking.