Tag Archives: American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)

Let the symphony begin

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We each measure the change of seasons by different sounds in nature’s symphony.  For those who live near White Rock Lake in Dallas, summer’s chimes at midnight ring with the arrival of the first American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) who will overwinter here.

American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) landing at White Rock Lake (2009_03_07_011912)

This weekend, two of these magnificent birds marked the quieting of the world under the guise of autumn’s undressing and the lull to sleep of winter’s coming song.  More will follow, and too will come the falcons and hawks and eagles, the vireos and warblers and sparrows, and the legion vast of migrating musicians who bring with them an orchestra of change.

Already thousands of monarch butterflies fill the air with wings that tremble the earth with drumbeats we scarcely hear.  Hummingbirds amass like maestros leading a band of merry players along the road to warmer climes.  And pelicans rest their weary wings in an amphitheater welcoming of their artistic gift.

American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) landing at White Rock Lake (2009_03_07_011916)

Some of these travelers will offer their songs only as they pass through on their way to stages further south, but many will remain here and will bring with them a performance that warms us in the coldest months.

The players are seated.  The audience is hushed.  The houselights have dimmed.

You’ll never ignore a sore throat again

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Let’s say you have a sore throat, so you decide to step into the bathroom, turn on all the bright lights around the sink, and look deep in your gullet to see if you can identify anything of concern, like swollen lymph nodes or raw mucosa.  But instead of the usual suspects, you see this:

A close-up of avian biting lice (a.k.a. pouch lice; Piagetiella peralis) in the mouth of an American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) (2009_07_04_025808_c)

Hordes of biting lice of varying ages, from newborn nymphs to bloated adults.  They’ve chewed your mucous membranes until they’ve become raw and inflamed.

If you were to see such a thing, you’d have to be a pelican or a cormorant, for these dastardly little critters are avian biting lice (a.k.a. pouch lice; Piagetiella peralis).  They don’t only live on the outsides of birds, though; they have no qualms moving inside where they can chew on soft flesh without all those feathers getting in the way.

That horrific scene happens to be from an American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos).  Here’s the full view whence the above image was cropped.

A serious infestation of avian biting lice (a.k.a. pouch lice; Piagetiella peralis) in the mouth of an American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) (2009_07_04_025808)

While volunteering at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, I participated in lice removal from several pelicans who were at the center due to various wounds and ailments (none having to do with lice, mind you).

The original handful of birds proved free of lice when they arrived.  But a single bird was brought in later who did have lice.  Its infestation was small and the ectoparasites went unnoticed for a few days.  And that’s all the time a few lice needed to reproduce in large numbers and to infest the other pelicans.  Thankfully the above pelican (the original host) had the worst problem while the other birds had significantly smaller crowds of the critters.

A minor infestation of avian biting lice (a.k.a. pouch lice; Piagetiella peralis) in the mouth of an American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) (2009_07_04_025800)

Avian lice such as this species have little interest in humans.  That’s because the insects are specialized for hiding, breeding and feeding within a feathered environment.  Lacking feathers, people don’t offer the creepy crawlies anything of interest.

So what happens to a louse when it’s removed from its host?

Avian biting lice (a.k.a. pouch lice; Piagetiella peralis) dying in a tub of Sevin dust (2009_07_04_025809)

It gets dropped into a tub with a shallow layer of Sevin dust.  There, each louse writhes in the poison just long enough to become completely covered with it, then a stillness falls over it and it becomes but one more dark speck in a growing sea of dark specks.

Unfortunately for the pelicans who find the removal and manhandling rather disagreeable, the process had to be done to ensure their health while they are cared for in preparation for release back to the wild.  The lice can only make the birds’ recovery more difficult, so it behooves the caregivers to keep them clean and to remove the little nibblers before they cause complications.

Nature’s handiwork

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One need not look beyond nature’s own doing to find beautiful things, exquisite and lovely forms so picturesque that they must be the purest variety of art ever known.

A knot clinging to the base of an ancient colossal tree (20080224_02332)

A knot clinging to the base of an ancient colossal tree.

Morning thunderstorms moving in from the west (2008_12_27_003468)

Morning thunderstorms moving in from the west.

A ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) at sunset (2009_02_13_008424)

A ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) at sunset.

An American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) landing on the water (2009_02_14_008604)

An American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) landing on the water.

A white fawnlily (a.k.a. white trout lily; Erythronium albidum) in dappled sunlight (2009_02_22_010626)

A white fawnlily (a.k.a. white trout lily; Erythronium albidum) in dappled sunlight.  (Yes, the flowers always lean down.)

Large, woolly vines grow on some of the larger trees around the lake (2009_03_07_012204)

Large, woolly mature poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) vines grow on some of the larger trees around the lake.

Shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) creates its own alien landscape (2009_03_07_012194)

Shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) creates its own alien landscape.

A mallard drake (Anas platyrhynchos) rests at the base of a reed bed (2008_12_25_003334)

A mallard drake (Anas platyrhynchos) rests at the base of a reed bed.

Sunset Bay – Part 2

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Your sunset is not like my sunset, and I can’t explain my sunset to you no matter how much I describe it.  Words become feeble in such vain attempts.

A female Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) foraging on shore at sunset (2009_02_18_010153)

Your eyes taste the universe differently than my eyes: they see the fragrances and smell the light from places I have never traveled.

Three great egrets (Ardea alba) wading through the confluence as mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) swim in the background (2009_02_18_010168)

As a star falls below the horizon, the smile I envision might to you be a frown, although both are expressions of the same magic drawn upon canvases made of separate thoughts.

A great blue heron (Ardea herodias) in silhouette as various ducks swim about (2009_02_18_010188)

Shadows grow long in my sunsets, silhouettes pulled toward darkness that turn even the smallest life into a giant, and true giants become leviathans unimagined.

American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) line the sandbar at sunset while a plethora of waterfowl swim in the bay (2009_02_18_010197)

The sky burns with day’s waning embers, a horizon filled with flames unseen, palpable art untouched yet touching.  Or perhaps you see a setting sun hidden by earth until its light becomes a memory of what was.

A great egret (Ardea alba) and a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) stand amongst swimming mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) (2009_02_18_010205)

And reflected upon sky held by water becomes the hues of what is indescribable, for how can any life put words to that which only one at a time may know?

Five great egrets (Ardea alba), a great blue heron (Ardea herodias), various ducks and gulls, American coots (Fulica americana) and an American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) facing sunset with urban Dallas towering in the background (2009_02_18_010207)

Even when I stood in awe of the vision, others passed by seeing that which I did not see, and not seeing that which I did see.

American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) demarcating the safety of the bay against sunset (2009_02_18_010212)

Finally the last sparks of daylight flitted into the heavens.  Behemoths made of white wings held the line betwixt that which was and that which was to come.  Others might say they simply prepared for nightfall…because they see things differently.

A great egret (Ardea alba) marching through the shallows with mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) swimming about and American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) nestled in the background (2009_02_18_010217)

Your sunset is not like my sunset, and I can’t explain my sunset to you no matter how much I describe it.

— — — — — — — — — —

Photos:

[1] A female Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) foraging on shore.

[2] Three great egrets (Ardea alba) wading through the confluence as mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) swim in the background.

[3] A great blue heron (Ardea herodias) in silhouette as various ducks swim about.

[4] American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) line the sandbar at sunset while a plethora of waterfowl swim in the bay.

[5] A great egret (Ardea alba) and a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) stand amongst swimming mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos).

[6] Five great egrets (Ardea alba), a great blue heron (Ardea herodias), various ducks and gulls, American coots (Fulica americana) and an American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) facing sunset with urban Dallas towering in the background.

[7] American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) demarcating the safety of the bay against sunset.

[8] A great egret (Ardea alba) marching through the shallows with mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) swimming about and American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) nestled in the background.