Pelican day at Galveston Bay.

Lots of sun problems today. All the Brown Pelicans and loons were on the sun side. Only the White pelicans were on the good side.

1 of 9. White Pelicans.

2 of 9. Sleepy looking.

3 of 9. All alone.

4 of 9. Together again.

5 of 9. Shooting into the sun. Brown Pelican.

6 of 9. I don't know what it's companion is, but it seems sound asleep.

7 of 9. The Black Headed Laughing gulls thought everything was funny.

8 of 9. Loon, not sure of type, but I think it is a Red Throated based on its size. Winter plumage.

9 of 9. Another view.

trois;,,

I see what you mean about the sun...... With all the water I guess it could of been difficult getting a better angle on a few of those unless you went swimming......

Would you mind if I downloaded one of those shots and played with it for a few minnutes?


....Dave

This message was edited Feb 25, 2007 7:30 PM

Nice photos, Trois. I enjoy your American White Pelican photos in particular since I saw them for the first time here in Maryland just a couple of weeks ago. I did get some photos but not as close as yours. There were 24 of them in one group. They're listed as an "accidental specie" in Maryland .....

I agree with Resin. Common Loon. I don't see any red throated in the gulf in my book also.

UncleGreenthumb, go ahead. See what you can do. Thanks, Resin and Boojum. Also, thanks to Linthicum. It was a bit cool and windy, but not too bad.

Great pics trois!

Thanks, pelletory.

Great pictures trois. Love those Loons. We get them on our lake up in the north woods of Wisconsin but I can never get close enough to take their picture. Love their call.

This is as close as I can get to taking pictures of the Loons! Yes, believe it or not there are Loons there on the lake! Tee Hee!

Trois, wonderful photos! What remarkable birds those Pelicans are . . . and don't Cormorants look like they are headless sometimes?

Staceysmom, you make me laugh!!

staceysmom, are you sure those are not Anhingas? That's how they always look to me.

Thanks Murmur.

trois, yup, I'm sure those are Loons. We get them on the lake all the time up at our cottage. They have swum close to the dock many times but of course not when I have my camera with me. Also can tell by their call. Love to watch them take off from the lake too. They need a running start like they are running on the water surface and have to fly a few laps around the lake to get high enough to clear the trees, they aren't real graceful on their take offs or landings. They are one of my favorite birds. Wasn't real sure what an Anhinga was and had to look it up, have never seen them on our lake.

Anhingas are large birds that usually swim with only their head and part of their neck showing, and locally are called snake birds.
Loons are not common here, and the winter plumage is drab.

Ah, yes have heard of the snake bird. The plumage of the loon here in summer is a beautiful black and white pattern. Have never seen them in their winter plumage, thanks for sharing. I also believe the loon is silent in winter and only make their calls during spring and summer.

Also, I always find it strange when everyone posts pictures of the Robins saying they have arrived for the winter. We only see them in the summer here. Can't wait until you all send them on back to us. A sure sign of spring!

Staceysmom, we have Robins year round, but still consider them the "Harbinger of Spring" as their numbers increase at that time.

We have Robins only in the winter, and they are still here.
I have seen Loons on the Great Lakes with mating plumage. Beautiful!

Thanks trois;,,,

Sometimes when shooting in not such a favorable spot where the sun angle is effecting the subject, you end up with unwanted shadows..... Fill flash can help bring out more of the highlights, sometimes....
When everything else fails theres always the digital dark room to try and save the image...... I'm not to good at this but heres my feebled atempt at trying to bring out a few more of the highlights in the pelican on #5.... Some of the areas were just to dark, in which case theres no highlights to work with...In this case you just turn black areas into gray areas,,,,, Thanks for letting me fool around with the image for a bit...

..Dave

I do use a fill flash for birds, but this one was maximum telephoto, way too far for flash.
All the pics of birds at my feeder are back lighted and require fill flash.
Thanks for the improvement.

trois