Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Pelicans

(please click on pictures for better viewing)
American White Pelican
Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

on a submerged log


This is the large white bird we saw on Sunday. It was such a nice surprise, so unexpected, to come upon these wonderful, sedate birds on a calm interior lake - no one else around, just us and the birds. Well, the black flies were here also, but they couldn't spoil the moment.

Unlike the Brown Pelican, which dives for fish, the White Pelican scoops up the fish from a shallow part of the lake. Their breeding territories range from central to western North America.