White Pelicans. San Joaquin Valley, California. December 6, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
A flock of white pelicans wheels overhead
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a late-comer to the whole bird thing — and I’m still more of a bird appreciator and photographer than an actual “birder,” in the sense of being able to precisely identify many birds or of building a life list. I have long been aware of the brown pelicans that are found along our California coastline, and I’ve watched and photographed them for years. However, until just a few years ago I was unaware that we had white pelicans right here in California. I first “discovered” them on one of my Central Valley goose photography forays when I spotted some large white birds with big bills off in the distance. It was a late discovery for me, but I’m glad I found them.
Each of the birds that I know from the Valley has its own mode of behavior and of flight. The geese generally fly fast, make a lot of noise, can frequently be approached fairly closely, and tend to flap a lot when flying. Ibises, to me at least, somehow have a mosquito-like appearance in flight. Cranes seem purposeful, often flying in low, straight lines, but swerving so as to avoid flying directly above people. The white pelicans often have a very smooth mode of flight, seeming to coast in without a lot of wing action — much like their brown cousins along the coastline. They do flock, but in much smaller numbers here, generally measured in dozens rather than hundreds or thousands. And when they land they typically seem to keep their distance from humans and their traces. This group, however, put on quite a close-up show. The arrived from out across the ponds, but then began to circle above and around my position, where they remained in flight for quite some time. A bit of backlight shining through their wing feathers compensates for the usual difficulty of photographing the undersides of birds against the bright sky.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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