Friday, June 18, 2010

American Brown Pelicans

Birding Longboat Key, FloridaI'm trying to finish up the photos I took from our spring birding trip to Longboat Key, Florida. Back then, there was no gushing oil well, and the pelicans were all safe...





Once again, I snagged these shots at Quick Point Nature Preserve. I was on the observatory deck and the pelicans were diving all around. It was fantastic watching them dive over and over.

29 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, Great shots. Really like the landing shot! They sure are odd looking birds aren't they!

Out on the prairie said...

Have lots of whote pelicans around me during the warm months. Like to watch them work in unison. The browns always are fun, sad to think of them getting killed.After shooting them for a week I thought of them as the Old Men of the Sea.

Roy said...

Great shots, Kelly!

And would you believe it? We had an American White Pelican visit the Pawcatuck River in Westerly, down in the southwest corner of RI on the border between RI and CT. That's a rare visitor up here, indeed!

grammie g said...

Wow you could almost count the feathers on his back ....really like the spread eagle ooop!! spread pelican shot!!! :}

grammie g said...

Wow you could almost count the feathers on his back ....really like the spread eagle ooop!! spread pelican shot!!! :}

Chris said...

Wow waht a fantastic post Kelly. The second shot is awesome and I would love to have such a shot in my HD.... Well done...

Hilke Breder said...

Magnificent photos of a magnificent bird!! Doesn't it look like a bird from the age of dinosaurs?

Unknown said...

Wow! These are really amazing photos. great work!

Uncommon Depth said...

These are great, but kind of sad to think about their fate now. I posted a white pelican photo.

Warren Baker said...

Spectacular shots Kelly, well done.

When will learn to rid ouselves of our dependence on oil ? :-(

Matt Latham said...

superb images Kelly

Kay Baughman said...

amazing photos! Since the horrible oil tragedy I've been thinking a lot of our brown pelicans. They seem safe here on the Texas coast for the time being, but the spill reminds me of how fragile all this is.

Andy said...

Awesome!

holdingmoments said...

Spectacular Kelly. They must be quite a sight to see.

Janice K said...

Totally awesome pictures! I loved seeing all the details of their feathers.

Kathie Brown said...

These are magnificent! wow! Oh for a wrold without oil gushing! These shots would make excellent paintings! I love all the subtle colors in the beak and the feathers!

Montanagirl said...

Kelly these are just flat amazing. What wonderful camera work!

Anonymous said...

I love brown pelicans; such a striking appearance, and it's so much fun to watch them dive into the water! (When I was in Costa Rica we spent an afternoon on the beach entertaining ourselves giving them points out of 10 on their dives...)

Elaine said...

Fantastic shots, Kelly! I love the detail you captured.

Mary said...

Wow..great shots! What a wingspan it has!

Elva Paulson said...

What exciting pelican photos. I would love to have been standing next to you!

K said...

Me too, wish I was there with you! How exciting to see a display of behavior you normally don't see. Beautiful, breathtaking photos as usual, Kelly.

TonyC said...

Oh! Great shots Kelly. Pelicans are such good value aren't they. always up to something, and always photogenic. Lovely post!!

ShySongbird said...

Incredible photos again Kelly! I love them all but particularly the second one showing the wingspan.

I can't bear to watch those dreadful images of the oil covered Pelicans, such a tragedy!

Shelley said...

After seeing so many terrible images of these poor oil covered birds, it is so nice to see your photos of them in all their glory!

Kelly said...

...thanks, everyone. It breaks my heart every time I see a photo of a bird covered in oil. Let's hope they get the well capped soon, but we all know there's going to be a lot more suffering in the days to come.

Jenny said...

Hi Kelly, you need to enter that last one in some sort of photography contest or something....it's just a cracker! You certainly had some amazing experiences on this trip! (-:

AFTERMATH said...

Fantastic shots! I've never seen a Brown Pelican, or for that matter, any pelican. They don't get to Maine often. These shots make me want to go to southern climbs to find one!

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

getting the shot of the wingspan...love it!