Orange Mornings and Brown Pelicans!

  Fall brings us plenty of opportunities to fish and shrimp here on the Bayou.  Menhaden come in by the millions, shrimp schools pass near the pier and fish just follow along getting their bellies full.  With all of that activity, the waterfowl are sure to follow as well.  All of the birds are packing themselves full of the minnows so they can have an extra layer of fat for the winter. Seagulls, cormorants, ducks, egrets, herons, rails and pelicans can be found fishing throughout the day and long into the night.  The oily menhaden are an excellent source of nutrition for the birds and the shrimp are a tasty tidbit to top off the diet.  No fish-eaters should be going hungry at this time!

  While Mark and I watched the sun rise from behind the pines this morning, several of the Brown Pelicans were filling their gullet with the tasty fish.  One pelican was even too lazy to do much diving.  The bird did a couple of dives but then resorted to just scooping its large bill under the water.  The bird found that since the minnows were so thick, it did not even have to work for its breakfast.  I watched as it would scoop, raise its bill high into the air, then swallow.  The pelican just paddled aimlessly and managed to scoop up dozens of the four inch long fish. 

  The large pouch of the pelican is not used to "store" fish for later as many a tale would lead us to believe.  Also contrary to these myths, a pelican does not carry fish in its pouch. The pouch is merely a way of scooping up the fish and letting the water "sieve" out the sides of its bill. The pouch can hold up to three gallons of fish and water!  This is far more than its stomach can hold!  The Brown Pelican is the only pelican to use the method of plunge diving to catch prey.  This makes it an easy way to identify this incredible bird!