Wildlife, landscape and weather photography
This was a pleasant surprise yesterday as I came across a pod of 50 or so pelicans at a lake in northeastern Colorado. Given the 20-degree temperatures and breezy winds, most of them were quite intent to just hunker down on a small island. Only a couple ventured out into the water to fish but it was fun to see them and a welcome sign that warmer weather is on the way.
I always joke that I don’t photograph “little birds” because they are boring. That isn’t entirely true. While I may not focus on them regularly, when the opportunity is there I certainly will snap pics of them. They just require more patience than I have most times. 😉 Some, like hummingbirds, are a real challenge while the American white pelican is kind of goofy looking but just beautiful.
Quite an interesting scene at a local pond this week. Due to an algae bloom, the fish at this pond had suffered a massive die off. That drew the attention of many birds, none too shy to take advantage of the easy meal to be had.
The mid-afternoon sun was a bit harsh but it was fun to see so many birds in such a small area. The snowy egrets, in particular, were there en masse with probably 100 of them. Joining in were a dozen or more pelicans and some surprisingly cooperative black-crowned night herons.
A very fun sequence of pics that I took a few months ago but never shared. The American white pelicans were just returning to Colorado for the season and a bunch were hanging out at a local pond with the double-crested cormorants. After their long flight, all were very hungry and looking hard for a meal.
Any bird that caught a fish was soon besieged by the entire group as they looked to horn in on the action. At one point, the pelicans and cormorants congregated in one corner of the pond to fish. A cormorant caught itself a little shad and that was enough to catch one pelican’s attention.
The bigger bird’s attempt to steal the fish resulted in it’s monstrous beak entirely enveloping the cormorants head! I don’t know that either ended up with the fish but it certainly had to be a traumatic event for the cormorant. 😉
This was something I hadn’t seen before. Pelicans can definitely be aggressive in trying to steal a meal from other birds, usually choosing to go after cormorants. I had never seen one try to steal from a great blue heron though, let alone set off in pursuit of it in the air.
This heron caught itself a huge fish and no doubt was looking forward to the meal but the pelican had its eyes on the prize as well. The pelican chased it for a good ways and eventually the heron dropped the fish, living both empty handed.
Kind of a “content over quality” series as the pics aren’t the best with the action taking place a long ways away and not in good light but it was fun to see.
Yesterday I spent some time at a northern Colorado lake enjoying the crisp morning and a notable lack of wind (folks on the Front Range know how welcome this was). This beautiful summertime visitor to the Centennial State gave me a picture perfect flyby just as the sun was cresting over the horizon, illuminating it beautifully
Who knew these guys were into watersports? 😉
Kind of a fun capture from a couple of weeks ago as this American white pelican landed straight toward me. As it did, it extended its legs and used its feet to help slow it down before settling onto the water for a swim. Kind of a bummer that the sun was behind the bird making for tough shooting conditions but not too bad of a capture.
American white pelicans are some of the first migratory birds to return to the Colorado Front Range in the spring. Their arrival is a sure sign of the changing of the seasons.
On Thursday, I saw some but they were too far off to do anything with. Yesterday after work, I found a couple dozen of them hanging out at a local pond. They provided a couple of hours’ worth of fun photo ops as they swam, flew and fished.
These guys are just gorgeous – and massive. They are also my wife’s favorite so when I see them, I am required to photograph them or I will hear about it. 😉
Nothing much exciting happening in this image but a trio of pelicans just taking it easy this past weekend. Because they are pelicans, my wife’s favorite bird, I am compelled to share the image or I might catch an earful.
Well, this was one big bird with a bit of attitude.
I was tracking it across the sky as it approached and, suddenly, it takes a sharp turn and begins plunging toward the water. Its target? A western grebe that was hanging out quietly in the middle of the pond.
The grebe saw the pelican coming and after sounding an alarm, dived out of the way at the last minute. Once the pelican settled on the water, it swam toward the grebe who clearly knew it was no match for the bigger bird and moved on to a different spot of the pond.
I don’t know if the pelican thought the grebe was a fish or perhaps just has a thing against waterfowl but it was clearly targeting the much smaller bird. Kind of a fun bit of action although my angle wasn’t exactly ideal. Be sure to check out the entire sequence of images.
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