Well, Mr. Murphy reigns supreme once again. First the good news. My 50K simulation run last Monday was a huge success. Made it through the planned 26 miles on that hellspawn of a course and ended upright. Big thanks to Linda running support for me, driving from each checkpoint to the next to keep me fueled and my spirits up. A great feeling to complete knowing I only had to grind out 8 or so more for the actual race in two weeks (as are most trail races, actual course is longer than stated). Taper officially started the next day with a quick run with friends at another park we train at regularly. A little more than .5 miles into it, an unexpected root and an unwavering tree resulted in an ambulance ride. Ortho-surgeon confirmed surgery for tomorrow. In short, I will be out for a while dealing with recovery and getting over the absolutely sickening reality all the training since December is now for naught. In the meantime, we will be heavily relying on Brad to keep you entertained… starting today! Take care everyone, Brad or I will try to keep you posted on the progress.
Take it away Brad…
Have I mentioned before what a gold mine Huntington Beach State Park is for birders? Nearly two weeks after our February trip, I’m still sorting, selecting, editing, and writing about the birds Jan and I saw while we were there. The more seasoned birders told us it was not a very good birding week to be there. Not good?! They assured us that later in the season we could expect to see 100 (or more) species in a single day. As it was, we saw 26 species at Huntington alone. That’s 26 of the 56 we saw on the entire trip from just this one location.
Just past noon the tide was about halfway through outbound cycle. Jan had walked to the end of the existing portion of the observation deck near the nature center. I had not seen brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) that close before, and the long zoom lens really helped bring them up close and personal. So close, in fact, that I had to back off the zoom a bit to fit them in the field of view.
Hit the jump to learn more about these unique fisherbirds!
As I mentioned, Jan was at the end of the existing boardwalk and I was about 30 yards further away photographing small wading birds (future post). The boardwalk ends suddenly because it was severely damaged during Hurricane Ian in September 2022. Parts of the former boardwalk and observation deck were torn free and washed across the causeway into the brackish water basin 1/2 mile away. Park volunteers worked to tow the recovered parts back close to their original location. Repairs have not been completed. Jan was having quite a bit of fun photographing a brown pelican fishing, when one of its friends joined in the melee. That is when my attention shifted from the shorebirds to the twin aircraft approaching.
I was amazed at just how large brown pelicans really are. A brown pelican is nearly as large (with a larger wingspan) than a great blue heron. While the heron looks very stately while it fishes, the brown pelican gets down to business and interacts with its environment. These brown pelicans were a lovely milk chocolate brown color; nearly the same color as the tidal mud. I caught myself watching the pelicans through the viewfinder instead of taking photos.
The wingspan of its cousin, the white pelican, is noticeably larger than the brown pelican (9 feet vs 7 feet). They both like to eat small fish that school near the surface so they can hoover them up in their expansive bill pouches. Both will drain the water from their pouch and then swallow their catch. Each can scoop up to three gallons of water and fish in a single gulp.
The only time pelicans don’t immediately swallow their catch is if they are taking food to their chicks. Here is where the similarity ends. White pelicans will often fish in groups, lining up and flapping their wings as they swim toward shore trapping their quarry. Brown pelicans will scoop when they can, but aren’t opposed to diving into the water for a meal.
I’ve been able to observe two distinct techniques in brown pelican fishing. First, in deeper water, brown pelicans will dive straight into the water from up to 60 feet in the air. (This is the behavior we saw directly off the beach near Ponce, Puerto Rico.) They don’t actually snag the fish in their bills. The impact of their large bodies on the water temporarily stuns the fish which can then be easily scooped up. Second, in shallow tidal basins, brown pelicans fly along the surface of the water leveraging ground effects. In the tidal marsh, they only have 1-2 feet of water to work with so they adopt a very shallow angle of approach. Just before impact, they turn their giant bills sideways. Our photos show about a 50/50 chance between left and right side turns.
This pair were fishing for quite some time, taking turns pouncing and scooping and swallowing. We saw them fishing around 1:30pm as the tide was nearly out.
Brown pelicans keep their wings above the waterline when sideways diving. This makes flight afterwards a bit easier because their feathers are mostly dry and free of mud. It also probably helps prevent injury to their very large wings.
To get airborne from the water, brown pelicans have to “run” across the surface of the water with their large webbed feet. They have to hop the last couple of “steps” by pushing off the water with both feet as their wings gain purchase on the air. Pelicans are very graceful when they are paddling about or gliding through the air. The transition between the two, in either direction, is rather awkward.
Satiated, the pelicans float away for a nap. They were paddling against the tidal current pulling the remaining water from the marsh.
Brown pelicans can easily live for over 20 years, many into their 30s or sometimes 40s. They are monogamous breeders during the season. A mated pair will raise 2-4 chicks until they fledge at about 13 weeks of age. Both parents share nesting duties. Breeding season for brown pelicans is the same time of year as most other wading birds: in the spring. Though in the tropics, the breeding season can be all year round.
Time to fly, nothing more to see here
Thank you for reading. If you want to see more bird photos from our South Carolina winter escape, please visit here.
Credits
Thanks again to Jan and Allyson for proofreading and editing. Thanks to Jan for many of the photos in this article.
Wildlife Intrigued 
Commiserations B1, can’t believe you’ve crocked yourself again and so soon to the big event.
Nice post B2, always good to learn about birds we don’t get over here.
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Brian, glad you liked the photos of the huge pelicans. They completely ignored me as they went about their business. I kept sneaking up on them and backing off the zoom at the same time until it seemed I was in their way. I’m sure this little setback won’t keep Intrigued’s Brian down for long (though it probably should). Thanks for the reach across the pond.
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I keep asking my therapist when I can hit the trail again…he just smirks and then cranks my arm further, so apparently no yet hehehehe,
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I know, I know, coulda, shoulda, woulda, but I figured I was in the clear starting the taper and all – just never know, but I guarantee you I will never hit that particular root again in my lifetime so there is a bonus ha.
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That encounter with the tree root of all evil sucks big green donkey dongs. I’m raising my Steel Panther coffee mug for you to have a quick recovery. You can get caught up on Steel Panther videos while your are convalescing and convulsing over all the training that was for naught.
Pelicans are cool. We supposedly get them up here, but I have yet to see one. Excellent post and photos by Brad and Jan.
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Thanks Tim. Around here the white pelicans look like squadrons of aircraft flying in formation at a distance. I’ve only ever seen the brown pelicans in very small groups. As always, I appreciate you taking time to read and reply.
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Appreciate the SP raising – things are finally on the mend now. Stitches out Thursday and then it is just the pain and suffering of therapy until I trust myself to get back on the trail. Been walking a lot lately just trying to keep some semblance of my base – October is approaching quick and that brings with it the 100K so no training time to spare.
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❤
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Thank you.
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They are such odd looking birds. Unique and beautiful in their own way.
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I completely agree they don’t look like they would be good at flying, or fishing, or anything besides floating. But they are very agile despite their size and awkwardness. Thanks for coming by.
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Brian…continue to run for me. I am the cinderblock with bad knees.
Brad…you got mesmerized and stopped taking pictures. I get that. Great shots, particularly the one with the water trail on the pelican’s feet during take-off.
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Thank you, I’m very glad you liked that one. It’s one of my favorites from the series. I resist the urge to steal a glance at the LCD when I’m taking photos because I like to be surprised when I get home. Oh, sure, I do check to make sure the exposure is correct for the setting, but that’s about all.
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Will do! Just need to get over this bump in the trail so to speak and then I’ll be back out there piling up the miles for you ha
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Awesome.
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Brad – Kudos on observing their sideways bill-filling technique in shallow water, and getting photos! I’ve often watched them around Galveston and Texas City, but haven’t observed that behavior yet. Brian – I can’t believe your bad luck on the run, that’s got to be crushing. Take care, rest, and prepare for your recovery. Lord knows, your body knows how to do this, let it do its job.
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Thank you Sam. I didn’t notice them turning their heads until I was in the digital darkroom a week or more later. At first, I thought it was a “scoop” gone bad, twisting the pelican’s head around. Then I noticed it again and again and again, so I figured it must be an adaptation for shallower waters. I think the birds could have stood up in the receding waters at this point. thanks for stopping by. I’m sure Brian will be back online very shortly (probably before our corporate Dr. would advise).
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Shhhh, don’t tell the corporate Dr., I am already in enough trouble with him and his nurses.
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I am definitely on the road to recovery now – stitches out Thursday, so hoping to accelerate the therapy/recovery process (they have been hesitant to do too much based on the size of the wound etc.). Most of my time is spent trying to get the swelling down and happy to report that my hand is finally back to normal size and really the main swelling is just in the elbow itself. Trust me, Linda is watching me like a Hawk – every time she sees me trying to do something I am not supposed to she puts the hammer down ha!
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Sorry to hear that the trees put an end to your running season “B”. Hopefully they can fix you up and get you back in the game.
Brad- wonderful post on the “Browns”. They are interesting to watch for sure and your blog really captured their fishing abilities.
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Thank you very much CJ. The pelicans were very fun to watch, even through the viewfinder.
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So far they have been able to put Humpty Dumpty back to together again. After Thursday when the stitches come out it will basically just be me racing against therapy to get back on the trail as soon as possible. Doesn’t help that Linda is watching me like a Hawk and putting an immediate stop to any ideas that stray from the “path” as they say.
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Good that she is being a Hawk over your recovery.
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Hey, whose side are you on CJ!?!
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Well… 😂🤣 us women must stick together!
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Not fair!
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Sorry to hear about that tree violently ruining your plans for the run, Brian. Best wishes for a successful surgery and quick and complete recovery. I knew there was a reason I don’t like running.
Having never seen a pelican in real life, it was enjoyable viewing your images and learning about pelicans from someone other than Ogden Nash (actually he did not write the limerick but most think he did so he gets all the fanfare). Thanks, Brad.
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Thank you Steve. I’ll try to work in their larger cousins in a future post.
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Thank you Steve. I am officially out of surgery now and supposed to get my stitches out this Thursday if everything goes as plan. Running is innocent in this particular case, it is all the fault of that damn evil root, it will forever be scorned ha!
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Brian, you’re in our thoughts for a speedy recovery. Take your time getting back to it. Healing ain’t quick.
Brad, the Brown Pelican ranks as one of my favorite photo subjects. (Appearing soon in a blog in progress.) We’re blessed to have the brown bombers breed in our area and we never tire of watching them crash dive into the water.
All your photographs are terrific!
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Thanks Wally. I’ve learned that part of wildlife photography is catching the subject doing something interesting (5, or 10, out of 100 photos). Seeing birds this large smashing into the water to catch fish was certainly interesting, at least to me. Glad you stopped by.
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Thank you Wally, appreciate the well wishes. I have historically healed in a timely manner, but Linda will confirm, “patience” is not one of my strong points – if Bri doesn’t run the crazies start taking over and NOBODY wants that hehehe. Appreciate you dropping by Wally.
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Loved this post, Pelicans are my favorite bird next to the eagle. The white pelicans are so impressive. But the brown ones are quite amazing as well. So prehistoric looking but their diving abilities and speed they have are amazing to see. This spring is the first time I witnessed them scooping up fish. I thought only the white pelicans did that. I did take some video as well, hopefully I will get to that post next week. Great information, thank you Brad. 🙂
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Very welcome Sandra. And thank you for your compliments. I find the very large birds are so much easier to photograph than the tiny and colorful songbirds. Don’t get me wrong, I like finding them as well and getting a behavioral photo to share. But catching something so large being so graceful is a fun reward in the digital darkroom. Thanks for stopping by.
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That is it exactly Brad, I even told my husband that a couple months ago. We were out looking for the colorful song birds for days. I finally said, ok I am done. I want to go watch the big birds. 😊
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I have to remember to take photos because I tend to get caught up in watching them instead.
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Such an interesting read. Great pics.
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Thank you Linda. It’s not very often something that large sticks around long enough to let me take that many photos. Of course, it had to eat while the tide was going out. I simply happened to be in the right place at the right time. Better luck than good some days. Thanks for coming by.
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So sorry to hear about your fall, injury, and need for surgery, Brian. I’m adding my best wishes for your recovery, as well as to get over the disappointment.
Brad, thank you for the interesting information and great photos of the Brown Pelicans. I have only seen one–a vagrant who visited Colorado in 2022!
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That means you need to schedule a trip towards salt water sometime, preferably late winter! Be sure to catch them both on the open water and in tidal basins. They have different fishing behaviors.
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I’ll add it to my already-long and constantly growing birding trips wish list. 😊
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Thank you Tanja. Surgery is past me now and from what I can tell at this point that went very well. Heavy swelling, but the stitches come out Thursday and hopefully my therapist can get things back to normal quickly – he made me laugh when we met last week – his last comment was “something tells me I’m going to have to try and hold you back”. What can I say, my motor goes to 11 hehehehe.
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I’m glad you are in the process of recovering. Hang in there!
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Trying, but my inner Bri doesn’t do well when not pushing the body – when I’m idle, that’s when I start getting into trouble ha!
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