Sunday, January 31, 2016

Los Pelicanos

Los Pelicanos

We moved to Southern California in November and were immediately enchantedreassured by the relative abundance of brown pelicans along the rocky shores of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Lines of them skim over the breaking waves, soar in cliff side updrafts and bob in the swells behind the breakers. They do all of these things with the most serious expression and controlled demeanor. We have yet to see a rattled pelican. They are all grace and exhibit perfect mastery of their environment.


As soon as we arrived here in Costa Rica and got to the beach we were pleased to see the pelicans were here too. Brown pelicans are endangered in the United States, their numbers still recovering from the DDT disaster, but here populations seem to be steady, with plenty of nesting habitat and food. It is easy to observe them feeding even from shore which is of course, super entertaining to watch. The pelicans fly above the water scanning for fish.



When a fish—or a school—is spotted the bird folds its wings and dives, hitting the water open beak first, with tremendous force. It then gathers itself back at the surface, tucking its wings in and if there is indeed something edible in its enormous bill, the bird tips its head back and swallows its catch. 
It then takes off and repeats the whole process again.



No matter how many times we see it, a pelican feeding offshore is always amazing to witness.

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