Tag Archives: American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)

Pelicans

October 26, 2008 jason Leave a comment

The American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos). Quite large. Cooperative fishers. Gregarious. Blindingly white but for the stark black trailing edge of the wingtips.

American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) sleeping and preening with some American coots (Fulica americana) milling about in the foreground (20081025_14097)

They visit year after year. When the whole gang comes together, it can be a fantastical sight as these behemoths glide in silently for a smooth water landing. They soar near the water’s surface with the grace of a ballerina and the power of a jet airplane.

Two American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) standing over two other pelicans trying to sleep (20080114_01174)

Consummate and gifted fishers who do not dive like their brown brethren but instead swim along and dunk their heads underwater to catch fish, often doing so in a group effort that herds fish together for easy pickings, these birds have also been known to consume the occasional pigeon—and to try to consume an occasional cat.

American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) preening at sunrise with another group far in the background (IMG_0109)

Overwintering at White Rock Lake but not living here the rest of the year, these gentle giants offer a splendid cold-weather diversion from gray skies and chilly temperatures. Their magnificence shines through even when the world around them is barren and desolate.

On a canvas of blue

October 18, 2008 jason 5 Comments

Long night. Very long, but really a long day.

I awoke yesterday morning around four. I’m still up.

This is the new reality: our on-call shift for the weekend is now 24×7.

And it’s been a rough night.

Elvis, a large male muscovy duck (Cairina moschata), gliding by the shore on a bright morning (20071228_00485)

The thought of brighter times has kept me going, kept me from throwing the pager across the room and climbing into bed for some sleep.

Yet sleep might not come until tomorrow.

An American coot (Fulica americana) swimming toward shore in the weak light of dawn (20071228_00418)

So far I’ve been paged 107 times since midnight.

And the day is young.

A juvenile ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) standing atop a light post and watching me closely (20080114_01205)

I have no creativity, no worthwhile or witty content bubbling around in my head.

I barely remember my own name.

An American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) suffering from a majorly bad hair day swims away while screaming 'No pictures!' (20080223_02030)

Were it not for images like these still loitering about my laptop searching for the light of day, I might have to forgo all hope of seeing nature this weekend.

Aside from the nature outside my windows, I mean.

A male red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) perched atop a shrub singing his crazy head off (20080420_04224)

This kind of workload cannot continue, will not be tolerated.

I just can’t do it.

A juvenile red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) perched in a treetop surveying its kingdom (20080405_03024)

Perhaps I can grab a quick nap later today.

The sooner the better.

Elvis again, a large male muscovy duck (Cairina moschata), taking a refreshing bath near shore (20080614_06555)

This weekend sucks.

I might try to spin that into an artistic sentiment if I had the mental wherewithal.

But I don’t.

— — — — — — — — — —

Photos:

[1] Elvis, a large male muscovy duck (Cairina moschata), gliding by the shore on a bright morning

[2] An American coot (Fulica americana) swimming toward shore in the weak light of dawn

[3] A juvenile ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) standing atop a light post and watching me closely

[4] An American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) suffering from a majorly bad hair day swims away while screaming “No pictures!”

[5] A male red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) perched atop a shrub singing his crazy head off

[6] A juvenile red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) perched in a treetop surveying its kingdom

[7] Elvis again, a large male muscovy duck (Cairina moschata), taking a refreshing bath near shore

The first walk (Part II)

March 30, 2008 jason Leave a comment

A month ago I began an informal series of posts showing some photographs I captured during the first walk I took with my new camera, a Canon S5 IS.

Now quite some time after that first post, I’m finally getting to the second part (and who knows how long it will take to get to subsequent installments…).

My lack of timeliness notwithstanding, however, I hope you enjoy seeing the fruit of my initial experience memorializing moments of time with this great piece of photographic equipment. The more I use it, the better the results, yet I couldn’t have been happier with what it accomplished on our first walk together.

A simple view of the lake with the sun rising behind me.

A small covert of American coots (Fulica americana) foraging on shore.

A beautiful, large male muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) keeping himself
between me and his lady friend standing just behind and to the left of him.

Four American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), two
preening and two beaking (which is how these large birds establish
and maintain their pecking order).

Two ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) in flight.

An American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) hunting for breakfast on
the wet floodplain.

I promise to get back to this set of photos soon so I can complete this series before 2015…

[Prev | To be continued…]

The first walk (Part I)

February 28, 2008 jason Leave a comment

My new camera arrived in late December 2007. Because my naiveté with its functionality meant the date had not even been set correctly, I can’t truthfully say when I first held this splendid piece of magic in my grimy paws, nor can I tell you the actual date these photos were taken (as the EXIF date is incorrect, although it’s only off by 12-24 hours from what I remember).

Nevertheless, I can tell you this: Perhaps taken Christmas Eve or the day before, perhaps taken Christmas Day even, these images represent my new Canon S5 IS’s initial performance at White Rock Lake, its debut as my photographic companion at the urban oasis I love.

So welcome to the first walk, to be presented in parts since there’s lots to see.

Two American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
and a double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
perched on a submerged branch and preening in morning sunlight.

A broad view of White Rock Lake from Sunset Bay (IMG_0092)

Taken immediately after the previous photo, I zoomed out to give some
perspective on where I stood when I snapped that picture. This is
facing west from Sunset Bay. You can see my shadow in the lower-
right corner of the image, and the pelicans and cormorant can be seen
just right of center.

A pair of juvenile ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) standing on a submerged tree stump (IMG_0111)

A pair of juvenile ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) standing on a
submerged tree stump, sometimes preening, sometimes looking around
as though trying to determine what to do with their morning.

The confluence in Sunset Bay crowded with teeming waterfowl, from
an American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) to American coots
(Fulica americana) to brown and white Chinese geese (a.k.a. swan
geese; Anser cygnoides).

A covert of American coots (Fulica americana) milling about in the shallows near the shore of Sunset Bay (IMG_0139)

A covert of American coots (Fulica americana) milling about in the shallows
near shore, some eating, some preening, some wandering aimlessly.

A veritable flotilla of ducks swimming upstream from the lake, including
two male, one female, and one unidentified pekin ducks (a.k.a. domestic
ducks, white pekin ducks, or Long Island ducks; Anas domesticus), a male
mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), two male Indian runners (Anas platyrhynchos),
and a male crested Indian runner (Anas platyrhynchos).

That’s it for now, but there’s more to come in future installments.

Allow me to finish with this:

It took me years to realize my Canon PowerShot S50 had a macro setting, let alone what that could do for me. It took me years to develop any level of proficiency with that piece of equipment, my first digital camera. It took me years to feel comfortable with it, to feel confident with changing the settings to fit the conditions. It took me years to start taking respectable images.

My sincere hope now is that it won’t take me years with the S5 IS. I love photography. Something about capturing the moment as I see it means a great deal to me, whether the pictures are just for me or for public consumption. My newest camera, although certainly not a professional piece of equipment, offers tremendous power and advantage when compared to its predecessor. I’m trying to learn its ins and outs as quickly as possible. Considering these photos were taken the first day I had it, I hope I’m making more rapid progress than I did before.

[Next]

Let’s get this party started

December 27, 2007 jason 3 Comments

First, some observations and notes regarding the new camera.

It’s an 8 megapixel camera as opposed to the S50 being 5 megapixel. That means I can take larger photos with higher image density, and that in turn means I can more easily crop images to focus on the subject—without decreasing the quality of the photograph.

This camera has a 12x optical zoom. I’m now able to get high quality pictures of subjects at distance.

The S5 IS has significantly improved white balance. This provides for deeper, richer, and more realistic color.

Similarly, it handles focus with more granular control. Part of this stems from the increased optical zoom, but another part of it comes from its improved handling of targets. Like I did, you’ll find subjects clearly delineated by sharp focus while background information becomes a supporting palette.

I forgot to change the ISO setting from automatic to manual. I never take photos at anything higher than ISO 100, even in the dark, so I rarely have the significant image noise generated by higher ISO settings. Regrettably, the camera selected some of those higher settings yesterday which resulted in some of the most anticipated images turning out poorly. Nevertheless, several are retrievable. Oh, and I’ve since updated the ISO settings to keep that from happening in the future. Hindsight and all. . .

Finally, there’s much to learn before I’ll feel comfortable with this new gadget, although having the same manufacturer reduces my learning curve since a great deal of the functionality is already familiar to me. Still, I quite capably fouled up several shots while trying to learn. Oh well.

But rather than bore you any longer with senseless gibberish regarding some of the photos I took yesterday, I figure it’s best to jump right in. Here is a small sampling of the pictures captured yesterday. While you’ll recognize several of the lake’s normal inhabitants and winter visitors, this time around you’re likely to see them in a different light. I know I did.

A pair of American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
and a double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) preening
after their morning baths

More American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
preening in the morning sun

An American coot (Fulica americana) milling about
in winter grass looking for breakfast

A white Chinese goose (a.k.a. swan goose; Anser cygnoides) watching me closely (note the stunning blue eye)

A male white Chinese goose (a.k.a. swan goose; Anser cygnoides)
watching me closely (note the stunning blue eye)

A female domestic greylag goose (Anser anser)
facing me directly (again, note the stunning blue eyes)

After all that preening, and after the pelicans left,
this double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) turned
around and enjoyed a relaxing stretch

Despite the unnecessarily high ISO settings, these
ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) made for great subjects
as they flew around the pier

More ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) in flight

The larger versions of these photos offer far more than these reduced sizes can hope to achieve. I hope you at least take a look at some of them.

[note this represents only a fraction of the pictures taken yesterday, and even that fails to include the photos I’ve taken of The Kids; you can expect to see more in the future; likewise, I can expect to overwhelm myself with a plethora of images as I experiment, learn, and bury myself in the joys of photography with this very capable camera]