Thursday – A little Personal – Pelicans

~ John W. Howell

By now you must realize I have a fascination with the birds here on the Gulf. They never seem to tire of providing a fun watch as they go about their day. This first picture is of an approaching flock of pelicans.

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I would like to point out a couple of things. Notice the haze in the sky along with the clouds. ((Trust me it is there) This photo was taken on Tuesday this week and believe it or not the haze is from the burning of crop lands in Mexico and South America. The farmers do it each year as a method of pest control. The smoke flows over South Texas when the wind is from the South as it has been for a few days. The other thing I would like to point out is the haphazard way the Pelicans are in formation. Usually, they form the classic V formation much like geese. The winds are blowing at about 20 knots, so it is difficult for them to hold the position.

Here is an another look. I waited for them to get closer for this shot.

Pelicans on the Gulf

They still look all over the place. I’m sure their commanding officer will have a chat with them back at the perch.

I managed to catch a shot of the Pelicans in the water (Those black things at the water’s edge). The gulls were having a time with the wind as well.

Gulls and Pelicans

So you will not think the haze is forever, here is a shot taken Wednesday morning after the winds shifted to coming out of the North. (Thank you, Yankees) What a difference a day makes.

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This shot is a long beach view taken from about a half mile North of our walkway. (The dogs get a mile walk in the morning, and since the wind was coming out of the North, I started out heading into the wind. I just turned around to head back and took the photo) The haze will return today but it was a nice break.

 

42 thoughts on “Thursday – A little Personal – Pelicans”

  1. A mile walk on the level? I’d love that. Monday was an on-target day; my Fitbit tells me we did 7km and climbed the equivalent of 40 floors (it ignores downward slopes). That’s a total of four hundred feet climbed.

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  6. A great picture of the beach: it definitely conveys all “the beach” and “Port A” stand for whenever I think of being there.
    Have a great day,
    Pit
    P.S.: I’m always fascinated of the birds there, too.

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    1. Thanks, Pit. I’m working on getting a better camera. I need to do some nice tight closeups which I can’t do now. Like yesterday two gulls were having a territorial dispute and they were bumping chests. Would have liked that shot.(reminded me of a lot of people I know.)

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      1. Which camera are you thinking of?
        I keep thinking of a new one, too. My old Nikon D70s seems to have developed internal connection problems. Ever so often it doesn’t properly recognize the SD card in it any more. Simply tells me either I need to format it – which would of course result in losing all pictures saved there – or says “no card”. The way arounbd is to switch the camera off, get the card out, put it in again and then switch the camera on again. So far, that has always worked. But it’s tedious, especially if it happens – as it sometimes does – a few times a day.
        I’m in 2 minds about a new camera. The Nikon D7200 would have the advantage over the Nikon D5200 or 5300 is the better/higher ISO range and the 2 wheels to separately adjust shutter speed and aperture in fully manual mode. The advantage of the D5200/5300 is the fully movable monitor screen. Plus, of course, the price.
        I’ve just read that Nikon is planning a D7300 with that movable monitor screen. Maybe I’ll wait.

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  12. White pelicans seem to be able to stay in formation better than the brown ones. Maybe it is the uniform. Yes, we are more connected than we realize when burning of fields in Mexico make an impact on us here in Texas.

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    1. I love the whites but they stay in the bay. Seldom see them on the Gulf side. I think you are right about the uniform. I like your comment about a connection. Not a good one in this case. Thanks.

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