Bayou Visitors

It has been quite lovely here on the Bayou for the past few days.  The sun shown brightly today and the temperatures were rather balmy.  With a westerly wind blowing, it was easy to forget that we still have winter yet to come.  Mark and I took advantage of this gorgeous day and hiked about the hillside several times.  As usual, our treks seem to always wind up with us on the pier.  This morning while he sipped his coffee, I snapped photographs of the birds.  They, also, were enjoying this midwinter break. 

In the distance,  group of pelicans paddled about hunting breakfast.  After watching them for just a few short minutes, I knew that these were not our usual Brown Pelicans.  They were not doing the headlong plunges for their prey.  Instead, they were sort of daintily taking a dip now and again.  The American White Pelicans work together to corral fish for easy taking.  They will swim in a circle keeping small fish in the center. Whenever a fish nears one of the birds, it is easily scooped from the water.  These birds travel here to spend the winter and then head far back inland to breed.  Their brief stay here is a bit of a thrill for many of us and to see eight or nine of them together (like this bunch) made me downright giddy!  Ok, so that was an overstatement.  Still I am always happy to see them!  

This morning's bright sunshine made the birds gleam on the sparkling water.  They are so bright white compared to the dark brown and grey of Old Gus, the Brown Pelican.  A White Pelican is also much larger than a Brown. Where a Brown will weigh about eight pounds and have a wingspan of nigh on seven feet, the White will sometimes weigh a tad over sixteen pounds and have a wingspan of nine feet!   The White Pelican is one huge bird!  It is good to know that the American White Pelican has made a great comeback as of late. A number of years ago, the species was considered "Threatened" but now numbers continually increase. Yep, it sure is nice to be able to watch these birds as they make a winter visit to the Coast.