Ken identified them first. In fact he spotted them early this morning and came to tell me about the large flock of white birds in the center of the reservoir. They were wheeling around in the air and landing on the water. Another huge flock of ducks were with them, harassing them for their food. When I first saw them I thought they were snow geese but when they came closer to the shore, Ken could tell they were white pelicans. I was excited.
In Mexico on the west coast we have many many brown pelicans and some white ones too. But I had never seen a white pelicans even though I have looked long and hard. My friend Pat, a birder from Toronto, spotted some in Puerto Vallarta at the same time as I was there, but I missed them. Now I have seen a huge flock. There must have been several hundred along with many ducks. I never was able to identify the ducks. I needed my friend Alice Anne or Pat to figure them out.
White pelicans are bigger than brown, and they do not dive for their food. They eat off the top of the water. The browns dive from a high height which is exciting to watch. The white pelicans are beautiful and are wonderful flyers. I wonder why they came here? We have never seen them here before. But now I can rest easy because I have now seen a white pelican, right from my own living room. Amazing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment