Wildlife, landscape and weather photography
An American white pelican tries to steer the rest of the pod toward where the best fishing is. 😉
The one photo subject my wife always indulges me on is pelicans as she loves them. On this morning we spent some time photographing a bunch of them that were hanging out on the lake shore. As always, they proved quite entertaining.
Taken at North Sterling State Park.
Taken on my photo drive this past Monday at the local regional park. I was photographing this pelican when out of the corner of my eye I see the heron taking off from a bit further up the inlet.
I quickly swung my camera and started clicking, grabbing this shot as the pterodactyl-looking heron few by the big-billed pelican.
Both of these birds are common here in Colorado during the summer and provide some great photo opportunities.
When no one is looking, it’s okay to scratch your butt, right? 😀 I couldn’t resist but this American white #pelican seemed to take advantage of the fact his cormorant buddies were sounds asleep.
Definitely not your hoped-for warm, spring day here on the Colorado Front Range today. We saw a bit of snow and temps have remained below freezing. That of course didn’t stop me from getting my photo exercise.
I happened across a huge gathering of 40+ pelicans at the Adams County (Colorado) fairgrounds. They and Mother Nature gave me some cool shots between the snow, wind and fog.
This particular pelican separated from the group and the sun made a very brief appearance. It really lit up the bird beautifully. Converting to black and white added some drama and helps to make the snow show up.
My wife, a big pelican fan, loved the capture.
I have yet to come across a big gathering of American white pelicans this spring but I have seen some solos around. This particular one was enjoying a quiet morning at St Vrain State Park. The golden light soon after sunrise really lit it up nicely.
You’ll notice that big “bump” on the top of its bill. This is something this massive #birds get during breeding season. The rest of the year the top of the bill is smooth.
You know the seasons are changing when the American white pelicans return to the Colorado plains. I saw the first at a distance a couple of weeks ago but last weekend, another gave me a nice flyby.
I am always amazed at how graceful these huge birds are as they soar and that white plumage is beautiful, especially when set against a typically clear, deep blue Colorado sky.
When I take pics of flying creatures, I do usually focus on raptors. However, every now and then I will train my lens on less aggressive birds. From ducks to pelicans and meadowlarks to egrets, small and large have all been captured by my camera. Here are some of my favorites from the past year.
A great egret and American white pelican share a pond and fish together. The pelican was actually annoying the egret greatly as their fishing styles are quite different.
Pelicans swim along constantly, dipping their bills and straining the water out to retrieve a catch. Great egrets are far more precise, holding motionless and then suddenly darting their head in the water and grabbing a snack.
Every time the egret would get something, the pelican would come over to check it out, ruining the egret’s technique.
Kind of a fun shot of an American white pelican in flight. Below and beyond are Mount Meeker and Longs Peak.
This was taken last week and as you can tell, there was a lot of snow up in the Colorado high country. This week has seen even more. That has delayed the traditional Memorial Day weekend opening of Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park until some point beyond.
I was tempted to say that they were lit by moonlight but in actuality, this was a bit of a happy accident. Taken in the full light of the late morning, I had my camera settings wrong resulting in an underexposed image. I almost deleted it but instead decided to darken it creating what I think is a nice edge-lit silhouette.
