These photographs show only one of the many flocks of White Pelican that took over this salt marsh.
We learned from other photographers later that day, only a half hour before, no Pelicans. In about 2 hours, they all left.
We hit the spot at the perfect time.
Ellen always reminds me it’s all about timing, that we have no control over. I think that’s how she keeps me moving.
It was good to see this White Pelican was able to (barely) miss landing on his friends. Once they get close like this things don’t always work out as planned.
It looks like he pulled back a little to glide past the main group. Very thoughtful of him.
Behind the Pelicans you can see various other birds like American Avocet, Glossy Ibis, and Snowy Egrets.
Everything had a sharp golden glow at the time due to sunrise being at my back.
This is the shot I was hoping to get. I know when they cluster together the photograph can be very interesting, and fun.
‘The White Pelican has an overall length of about 50–70 in (130–180 cm), courtesy of the huge beak which measures 11.3–15.2 in (290–390 mm) in males and 10.3–14.2 in (260–360 mm) in females. It has a wingspan of about 95–120 in (240–300 cm). The species also has the second largest average wingspan of any North American bird, after the California condor.’ (Wikipedia)
I have no way of knowing, or counting, how many White Pelicans we watched. Thousands for sure.
The big birds kept coming in to the marshes to start their morning feeding. Flocks like this continued for a long time.
After a while we stopped photographing the formations over head. Still, it was very impressive how the flew in a ‘V’, turning and landing so tight together.
If we had been at this spot right at dawn there would be no Pelican shots. The sun was just up when they all came in. They did move on after a few hours.
Things change so fast we caught scenes like this, and classic bird butts leaving in other places.
The tallest birds in the swamp, Wood Storks, are dwarfed by the size and bulk of these White Pelicans.
Most times these two are not together, shots like this are unusual for me. Now I need to get out and see if I can get them with the Tundra Swans down the road.
The fun shot of photographing White Pelicans, the ‘slide’.
These big guys need plenty of room to land on the water.
It doesn’t hurt to have big feet that can water ski to a slow stop.
For me it’s best when you can get an interesting nature landscape with some of the locals in scene. Adds a bit more interest and perspective of the natural environment. The following are three random photographs from a marsh.
First image is a marsh with both cuts and high ground. The winter reeds have fallen a bit so more of the area is visible. Behind the main subjects, Pelicans, are several Great Blue Herons. Looking close I also see the head of a Great Egret in the left side reeds.
A quick snap next since I assumed the Great Blue would fly. A big Pelican is to be watched and the heron didn’t have much space to back off. He stayed of course. When shooting we all figure out what the critters will do, not sure how often we’re right.
Last is another wider shot. The background has several Great Blues. Up front is interesting since a group of Roseate Spoonbills are huddled up in the grasses. They weren’t ready to start the day.
This is an old rice field, turned marsh. It’s huge and there’s almost always something happening here.
They was so much splashing I could hear them from the end of a dike. I had to turn around and go back.
You can see they were all bunched up so my guess is a school fish. I wonder how many escaped the ‘machine’.
ACE Basin, South Carolina.
