For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery.  

For a SmugMug slideshow, click HERE<<link. When you click the link, it will open in a new window, and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow will run a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos (this will pause the slideshow).

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

Regular readers will recognize the above from the videos shared in THIS<<link post. I now aim to share the photos I snapped when I wasn’t shooting video.

I debated how to best present the photos and decided on chronological order. That means that photos from the D7500 and P900 are mixed in together, and I won’t bother identifying which is which, although one could probably guess based on the composition. That said, if you are curious, click the “i” button for the photos in the SmugMug Gallery and it will bring up information about the given photo.

So, to the right of the pelicans, on the sandbank, sat the seagulls. Some of them intermingled with the pelicans, but they didn’t seem to be buddies.

In fact, sometimes the pelicans looked as if they were snipping at the hovering gulls … or, they could have just been stretching their necks.

Here’s a gallery of some pelicans landing. The videos are nice, but so are the photos as they offer the leisure of examining details.

Not all pelicans huddled together . . . here’s the disperser of the Pelican World.

Most stood close to each other, although it’s difficult judging distances between the birds when looking from afar.

I keep mentioning the sandbar, but it could just be dirt that was exposed when they dropped the water level to affect repairs on the spillway. Whatever these are, birds tend to congregate on and around them.

Side note: I’m back to using the block editor because the Classic Block gave me a few issues uploading photos. Since I have a lot to upload for this post, I’m using the block editor as being less prone to uploading problems . . . except that’s exactly what I’m composing this post. I’m also having issues when writing within a block, with fonts colors switching on me and the italic switching off for no reason. Block Editor (ptui!) still sucks.

Here’s a gallery (if it will load) of pelicans in flight. Their plumage and formations make for a nice contrast to the landscape.

Here’s a gallery of some pelicans close-ups . . .

These are American White Pelicans<<link, and I was curious about the pale upper part of the beak. I seem to remember something about it, but a cursory search turned up nothing. Perhaps they are juveniles.

Them who watched the videos saw the numerous Tree Swallows flying around and seemingly foraging on the sandbar. Here are a few photos of the birds and whatever they were doing.

A few ducks hung around near the area. I think they were Northern Shovelers<<link, either females, immature, or both. That’s a guess based on non-breeding males having a darker beak.

Next up, a pelican in flight . . . and if you pay attention to the third photo, it seems to have an opinion about my presence there (and possibly my photo skills).

Next up. another pelican in flight, this one having just taken off . . .

Here are a few additional pictures of the scene before me . . .

This wasn’t the only flock of pelicans within view . . . further East, about 0.7 miles away, was another large flock and this one was on the move.

I mentioned in the video post that I was shooting from the shelter of my car, the wind at my back. However, to the west — and against the wind — were two other groups of pelicans; one about 1.4 miles from me, and the other 3-4 miles away (difficult to judge where they are relative to landmarks I could barely see). Here are the close and far groups, and a wide-angle shot of the view.

You can see a few cormorants keeping the pelicans company.

Around this time, the flock I was watching began to disperse, so I mostly shot videos of them leaving (I can only operate one camera at the time). However, after the fliers left, the floaters decided to also leave. Note their feather being pushed up by the wind. It’s like having mini-sails, I guess. I bet they hardly had to paddle.

That’s about the time I decided to leave . . . and when I spotted a Great Blue Heron<<link in an area where I had a clear shot of it and far enough that I wouldn’t spook it.

Not everyone clicks on the galleries, so here are three shots I liked from that sequence. You can see from the last two how the wind is messing with its plumage.

Of course, you can also watch the heron “fish” in the previously shared videos.

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

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Note 2: it’s perfectly OK to share a link that points back here.

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