What a Motley Crew of Friends!

  With the coming of fall, the weather has cooled nicely.  Early mornings are pleasant down on the pier so I tend to spend a good bit of time there.  It matters not if the fish are biting, the view alone is enough to keep me intrigued.  This morning, another gathering of the cormorants took place.  This time, the birds never stopped.  A long stream of them flew eastward along the far shore.  As I was photographing them, a few dolphins decided to join in on the fun.  

  While this was all fun, my favorites were the pelicans.  Dozens of the large birds were dive bombing the schools of mullet.  Today, they seemed to be doing it more for fun than for nourishment.  The pelicans were not even making attempts to actually scoop up anything to eat.  It was just dive and take off again.  Perhaps they were practicing their fishing skills!  

  One pelican stayed close to the pier.  This bird would dive and then sit to look at me for a while.  Of course, I had to talk with the bird. We are old friends.  Its close proximity gave me some excellent photo opportunities!  After a bit, a lone cormorant came to visit us.  With the rest of its kind far down the Bay, it seemed to appreciate the company of the pelicans.   All of us, as misfits, seemed to flock together.  Friendship can cross the species boundaries at times.