The post-arrival frenzy

After a few hundred American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) showed up close to the same pier I was haunting, an equal number of ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) and herring gulls (Larus argentatus) swooped in for some unknown reason.  I posted a few photos yesterday from that event.  Today, you can see the video.

The voices you hear in the background are those of random people walking around the lake.  Otherwise, you hear the gulls and an occasional duck.  The gulls congregated near the shore for a while—not all of which was captured in this video—and then they calmed down.  Their numbers thin at the end as you’ll see.  What isn’t obvious is that many of them landed on the pier while others scattered about the shore, and many more landed in the water.

Meanwhile, the pelicans assembled en masse to preen and do their pelican stuff—whatever that might be.

The cloudy day and clamoring of the birds made for a wonderful and relaxing time.

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