Eerie Visit to Jax Beach

I visited Jacksonville earlier today, and might I say it was a pretty dreary day at that (i.e. my kind of day). I guess you can infer that I decided to stop off at Jacksonville Beach from the above pictures I took. Often I plan to do this but usually end up just turning back around and going back home to Gainesville without taking a look at the ocean. But not today. I drove over to one of the many excellent (and free) public parking lots right next to the beach. It being early in the weekday afternoon, I wasn't surprised by the lot being nearly empty. There were a few cars scattered around, nonetheless. Looking at them, I noticed something peculiar: every one of the parked cars had a very elderly looking person sitting behind the wheel. Just sitting there, not making any move toward either getting out of the car or driving off. Well, I thought to myself, that's strange.

Having parked in the center of the lot, I got out and walked toward one corner where a narrow walkway to the actual sandy beach began. Facing the walkway was another parked car populated by...an old man. Next to it was a large circle of pigeons clustered together. They seemed completely oblivious to me as I approached them. Just as I got within about a couple of feet from them (with the intention of side-stepping the throng) they exploded into the air en masse around me, somehow avoiding colliding with me in the process. And then they flew off together. Strange.

I walked down the walkway to the beach. As I came out on the other side, I found myself suddenly surrounded, in very close quarters, by masses of sea gulls and pigeons flying all around me. Or to put it more accurately, hovering and collectively eyeballing me. Some of them were hovering so close to me, in fact, that I could have reached out and grabbed them had I wanted to. After several seconds of this, the swarm gradually settled and the birds landed on the sand and just stood there, aligned like magnets facing the north. I managed to get a few of these later shots on my cell phone camera.

I stood out there on the beach for a few minutes, enjoying the dreary ambiance while keeping a wary eye from time to time on my avian buddies. Then I walked back to the parking lot. There were a few more cars there by then and...yes, they all were occupied by elderly drivers who just sat there. I left, having my creepiness quota filled for the day...