California Brown Pelicans

One of the attractions of this workshop was the chance to photograph these Pelicans in their colorful winter plumage.  We had 3 opportunities under different conditions (ranging from overcast with some drizzle to spectacular early morning sun). 


 

(Clicking on an image below will bring up a larger version of it.)

A preening 'figure 8' ?

Head throw

 

 

This was a bizarre situation...we saw a pelican fly in with something hanging from its mouth.    

He shook it around a while and it became clear that it was stuck in his pouch.  He finally shook it free.

Upon closer viewing, it was wings and a carcass. We suspect that it got in there as he was feeding and it took a while to shake it loose.

 

 

 

Pair...

...pair...

...pair of pairs.

 

Don't try this at home...balancing on one leg on the edge of a cliff :-)

[actually, this guy looked like he had an injured foot :-( ]

All snuggled in - with his very own feather comforter :-)

 

I don't think this guy appreciated my previous joke.

 


One of the amazing aspects of this place...worked slowly and carefully, you can get very close to the subjects.  We used a combination of long and shorter lenses to get the shots.