A few captivating tidbits from today’s walk…

This is a male great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus).  He had been perched on the pier quite close to me.  As luck would have it, he took to the air the moment I snapped the photo.  But I wasn’t terribly disappointed given this shot.

Here are several members of a colony of ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) as they leave their group near shore and head out over the water.

And here’s the lucky shot of the day.  This is an American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) as it flew directly over me.  I was standing near a line of trees when two of these massive birds suddenly appeared overhead.  With trees in front of me and trees behind me, I had no time to piddle with camera settings or even take aim lest I lose the chance.  So I just aimed the lens toward the sky and pressed the button.  I was pleasantly surprised I had captured anything worth sharing given the circumstances.

How I’d love to be able to join them in the ether lifted high on my own wings and power, free to soar at will sans cumbersome machinery or mechanisms.