I sometimes liken American White Pelicans to B–52 Stratofortresses – they often fly at great heights and they’re not very agile in flight but man are they ever impressive during landings.
1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I got this one in my viewfinder three years ago (2/28/17) as it was coming in to land on one of the ponds at Farmington Bay WMA. Unlike many smaller birds these massive and ponderous 16+ pounders do very little flapping as they approach the water’s surface.
1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Instead they take advantage of their 9′ wingspan as they mostly glide during their approach which means….
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
there’s very little variation in flight posture during the process. About the only difference between the first three photos in this series is the background and water color – the pelican’s wing and foot positions are almost identical in all of them.
1/1000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Finally as its airspeed slowed the pelican flared into a much more interesting flight posture as it got close to the surface. I managed to get quite a few shots after this one but in many of them there were other pelicans in the frame.
I haven’t seen any pelicans yet this year but I keep watching for them. It shouldn’t be long now.
Ron
PS – For those interested, I’m still without a vehicle and will be until late today. Ford assured me they’d have the necessary parts to make repairs on my pickup when I dropped it off but in the end they didn’t have them in stock so they had to be ordered which added 24 hours to my time being grounded.
As reminded by one of my readers yesterday one of my long time mantras is “I’d rather push a Ford than drive a Chevy” but at the moment I’ll admit that mantra is being tested…
Perfect exposure!
Nicely done, Ron. My memories of Pelicans from the Monterey Bay coast is vivid. Like Ken I, too, remember them flying gracefully in a line just above the breaking waves as I sat on my surfboard.
Thank you, Lyle.
I would choose the last pic for my fave. Lovely
Me too. Thanks, Linda.
They are beautiful majestic birds (albeit their dinosaur forebears are evident). Any day I see them is immediately improved.
Thank you for this elegant series – and I do hope your car is returned to you today.
Thanks, EC. I’ll be very disappointed if it isn’t, if not surprised…
Great images– they do look like aircraft with their rigid wing positions, and they seem to float effortlessly high overhead. I saw a flock approach the water in a line which spanned out laterally behind the leader. They struck the water at almost precise intervals from each other, ending up almost side-by-side.
I’ve seen something very similar several times, Ken. It’s great fun to witness.
I adore watching pelicans land. There are pelicans at Farmington but not as many as this time last year. You have to walk out on the dikes to see them.
I did not go out this morning either, I wanted to but I was sore from all the core samples they took yesterday! Tomorrow for sure! I need it for mental health. Maybe we will cross paths.
Hopefully we’ll be out somewhere tomorrow. We’ll look for you, April.
Absolutely stunning shots, even if they lack “positional variety” — makes it all the more fun to look for differences. š
Jealous of the time you get to spend with these behemoths. I need to get down to the beach to hang out with the “brownies” we have, as I haven’t seen them along the river or channel lately.
My dad was a Ford fan (the cars, not the Henry). He didn’t appreciate my Found On Road Dead or F**king Old Rebuilt Dodge comments. My first car was a Dodge and my second car/first brand new car was a Ford. š
I remember Found On Road Dead. That was cruel to us Ford lovers.
On the farm we actually had what Ford called a “Fleet” – 4 or more Fords (grain trucks, pickups, cars etc. ). If you had a Fleet, Ford gave you a 25% discount on all Ford parts. That added up, especially on farm vehicles.
Hubby and I had a half a fleet — we had two 1993 Ford Escorts. Ford didn’t give us any discount. š
I love seeing them soar into Sugarhouse to land at the pond in Forest Dale Golf Course. Their fishing style is interesting s well. Beautiful pictures.
When I lived in Sugarhouse I don’t remember ever seeing them at Forest Dale. I probably should have looked more carefully…
I love the way pelicans soar in flocks and their landing “glide” is also beautiful. As to vehicles Joe says “in the old days” the saying for Chevy was “shove it or leave it”….. š Wild ride yesterday to town and back – got sand blasted in the way in and an storm(not forecast) got us from the N side with sleet and pea sized hail on the way home covering the road with melting, the “brown” hail!
Yup, that’s Montana for ya! I don’t miss that part of it but I do most everything else.
“Fix Or Repair Daily” is what My youthful FORD mantra was, but now that I’ve owned the same Ford chassis motorhome since ’95, I have to admit, it’s not daily.
“Fix Or Repair Daily”
That one used to aggravate me, especially when it came from a farmer neighbor of ours (Marv Edwards) who ALWAYS seemed to be tinkering with his many Chevy’s to keep them semi-running.
I was soured on Chevy’s as a teenager. My second car was a cute as hell 2 door ’55 Chev. Problem was it had the 265 engine instead of the much, much better 283. That 265 engine burned more oil than gas and others had the same problem with the 265.
The only time I ever appreciated the notorious Montana wind was when I was dragging Main Street in that 55. The wind would blow all the embarrassing blue smoke off the street before I made my next pass and that’s the truth.
What a great series Ron. Sure enough not much change in the wings during approach until right before landing when they flare out. Very interesting. We have just a few here in Prescott each year most often on their way back from their Gunnison breeding grounds. Very often one or two will have been tagged. I have taken many photos of them and really enjoy the time when they are here, but I have never been there when one is coming in for a landing. Hopefully I will get a chance to see that.
Everett, several of my friends, including an ex-student of mine, have helped with banding of Gunnison Island pelican chicks. Who knows, maybe your tagged pelicans were tagged by folks I know.
Ron – Twice I have reported tagged pelicans here through that reporting process and in both instances I received thank you e-mails from the very persons who originally tagged the pelicans. One was red-tagged from Idaho and the other was green-tagged from Utah. Not sure if I still have the Utah e-mail, but will check.
Love your analogy. They are a delightful bird to watch…also to practice flight shots on. Ours have not returned to the area also but I keep checking….we get a massive population around here. They nest on a few of the small islands in the bay.
We have a lot of them too, Kathy. They nest in large numbers on Gunnison Island in the Great Salt Lake.