![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/american-white-pelican-4164-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-white-pelican-4164-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nJust over a week ago I photographed this American White Pelican as it landed on a canal in heavy overcast\u00a0at Farmington Bay WMA. I’ll be presenting\u00a0an unusually large number of images (17\u00a0of them) because I want to give readers a feel for the precision of the landing by this huge, heavy bird. Landing White Pelicans always remind me of B-52’s coming in to land because of their heavy weight, incredible wingspan, lumbering maneuvers and relatively slow speed.<\/p>\n
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- Techs for these images are: 1\/500 – 1\/800, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender<\/em><\/li>\n
- I don’t know the sex of this bird but for the sake of convenience I’ll refer to it as male<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/american-white-pelican-4165-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-white-pelican-4165-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nFor reasons that will soon become apparent I believe this pelican had a precise spot on the water\u00a0where it wanted to end up when it was all said and done so the timing of each landing action and the direction of travel were critical. Here he’s putting his feet forward and spreading his webbed toes…<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/american-white-pelican-4168-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-white-pelican-4168-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nto begin the “water skiing” portion of the landing. As you can now see there’s at least one other pelican in front of him.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/american-white-pelican-4170-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-white-pelican-4170-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nIt’s amazing how long and how far these birds surf on the surface before settling down into the water.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/american-white-pelican-4171-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-white-pelican-4171-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nIt’s beginning to look like he’s on a collision course with the other pelican…<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/american-white-pelican-4172-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-white-pelican-4172-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nand that pelican isn’t alone. And to complicate matters further the pelicans in the water are swimming to our right\u00a0so depending on where he’s heading the timing and direction of his travel could be critical.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/american-white-pelican-4173-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-white-pelican-4173-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhen I was watching this unfold through my viewfinder I remember thinking I was about to see some really pissed off pelicans when these birds inevitably\u00a0collide (part of the reason I kept firing my shutter despite the conglomeration of birds in some of the photos).<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/american-white-pelican-4174-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-white-pelican-4174-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nAt this point in the landing a\u00a0pelican weighing up to 16-29 lbs has an incredible amount of inertia so it takes\u00a0it a long time and some distance before they settle down into the water and stop moving forward.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/american-white-pelican-4175-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-white-pelican-4175-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nTo get the timing just right he put on the air brakes by increasing the angle of both wings.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/american-white-pelican-4176-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-white-pelican-4176-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nBut it’s still looking like this isn’t going to end well.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/american-white-pelican-4177-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-white-pelican-4177-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nI’ll let the next five images mostly\u00a0speak for themselves with\u00a0very little\u00a0“narration” – you can see for yourself how this turns out.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/american-white-pelican-4180-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-white-pelican-4180-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nOh, oh –\u00a0he has an entire flotilla of pelicans to negotiate and he still has some speed!<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/american-white-pelican-4182-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-white-pelican-4182-ron-dudley\\"")
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- I don’t know the sex of this bird but for the sake of convenience I’ll refer to it as male<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n