Winter morning feeding frenzy

Every winter on really cold mornings all kinds of shorebirds come to the lake to fish (and by really cold I mean in the 40's or GASP 30's - not snowing like I see in so many of yall's pictures now!) By the way - I am in Clear Lake, TX - about 30 minutes north of Galveston. Some of the birds include: pelicans (brown and american), great blue heron, great egret, snowy egret, gulls, cormorants

The main reason I go out there on such mornings is to get a glimpse of the American Pelicans. They are in Galveston year round, but dependably come visit me on those cold mornings.

Lots of other shore birds are out on cold mornings also.... wonder what all the frenzy is about? Maybe the fish are coming near the surface to get sun for warmth??

I have a bunch of shots so I needed a whole thread for them all!

First is one the the American pelicans who just landed

This message was edited Nov 24, 2008 12:03 AM

2 more American pelicans getting ready to land. I love how they come in!!

American pelicans landing (more)

Safe landing

Here's part of the "herd"

They are so neat to watch - they group together and scoop up fish. Different than the brown pelicans who fly overhead and then suddenly dive down and grab a mouthfull

Just for reference - here are a few of the gang I took 2 winters ago (with an old camera)

another view showing some of them coming in for a landing

Now for the brown pelicans! I see them occasionally throughout the year, but they also come when it is cold

side view of the brown pelican

brown pelican landing

another landing shot of the brown pelican. They land like the american pelicans

Close up of the brown pelican

brown pelican landing on the water with a great egret in the foreground. They look side by side, but the egret was actually perched on the edge of the lake about 6 feet behind where the pelican was coming down

I am not sure if this is an immature brown pelican or american pelican

American pelican "herd" with a brown pelican nearby

brown pelican diving for fish

2 American and 2 brown pelicans hanging out

Last one! Brown pelican swimming with some neotropic cormorants, american pelicans in background taking a break

What a lovely thread, rntx. Thoroughly enjoyed the photos and your commentary. Thanks.

Very nice series...I guess we get mostly Brown Pelicans here.

Great series rn! I love Pelicans!

I'm with pelle..I think they are so cool looking!!

Excellent thread, rntx, and thank you for sharing. Great shots !!!

What a beautiful collection of pictures. I only get to see the white pelicans during the warmer months. They are pretty much all migrated out of here now. I have never seen a brown pelican in real life though.

I am waiting for another cold morning so I can try to get some action shots of the American pelican feeding (they were resting by the time I got out there last time). It really is amazing to see how they all work together herding the fish and scooping them up in their huge bills! Glad ya'll enjoyed it as much as I do - wish you could come to see it yourselves!

Hey Nanny - do you need to add pelicans, cormorants, or laughing gulls to your list? Come on down!

Oh yeah, and Nanny (or anyone) there is a monthly "owl prowl" hosted at the nature center down the street from me, maybe you could add a newbie from there! It's only $5 a person to go.

Sounds like a good place to plan a trip to.

Oh man wish I could, all those would be new for me!! lol
Owl prowl sounds like fun too!

I just love the landing shots. So funny…

We've had a few more chilly nights recently so the pelicans are back! Lows were in the 30's for some parts of Houston, but the lowest I got was 41.

These are photos of some american white pelicans flying overhead the evening a front came through. I guess they knew it would be cold in the AM so they came early to scout out a spot to feed. First time I have seen them at dusk.

I was out photographing the ibis(es) that came to feed during low tide, and all of the sudden this big flock of huge birds flew right over my head, very low. It surprised the heck out of me! It happened so fast I didn't know what they were. I just aimed up and started shooting as fast as I could. They circled a few times, then flew further down the bay.

A loner

Another fly by

Flying off into the sunset (sort of)

I have some more pictures I took the next morning (and some I took this morning) but they need to cropped and downsized first.

Heidi

Where do they go off to when it is warmer?

I am in Clear Lake, which connects to Galveston Bay, so I think they fly back down the bay toward Galveston. They are seen on the island year round. I haven't figured out why they come inland on cold mornings, I would think they would go south!

Lovely photos Heidi. I particularly like the last one. Their flight is so effortless.

Here's a few more from a coldish morning! They were really choking them down

I like the one with its mouth open

Here's a bigger group of em

This group had pretty much finished feeding