Brown Pelican are shore birds, but when the tide is right they will move into deeper salt marshes.
Unlike their white relatives these guys dive from above to catch fish. In the ocean it’s from high up. Salt marshes they can work closer to the water… less wear and tear on the head !
Above I caught a younger bird just as he spotted a fish below.
Then it’s lock eyes on the prey…
grab it head first.
Brown Pelican have a trick, and adaptation, to avoid a broken ‘head’. Their throat is slightly off center and they always turn their head to the right last minute.
Great series of shots Ted, I just love watching these guys fish. Amazing how they dive like this. I have not gotten a good series of them yet where I am at. They are always so far out. We found a spot we are going to tomorrow evening where they might be a little closer.
Thanks 😃😃. I love to see them fishing, and yes hard to find spots to catch the action. Living right here I’m lucky to have extra opportunities.
In Florida a great place to shoot them is the Ft Meyers to Sanibel bridge, Sanibel side. When the tides moving groups will fish right near the shore.
Yes, we were at Sanibel last winter, we have moved over by Mobile Al now, there are plenty of them and we found a place they like to hang out over at a small town called Bayou Labtre.
Wonderful pictures!
Thanks so much, and thanks for stopping by. When you have time please dig around. There are literally thousands of photographs… I probably got carried away at some point, and never stopped.
For sure 🙂