Sealion Aces Out the Pelicans

This cleaver California sealion jumped up into the air and snapped up the fish mid-stream before the pelicans could!

Happy Valentines Day to You and That Special Someone

Two California Brown Pelicans, Pelecanus occidentalis, in breeding plummage. These two are looking a little cozy. Wishing you and that special valentine all the best! -A

Are You Out of Formation? Pelicans on Thermals

California Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, flying in lazy formation over the thermals along the cliffs of Laguna.

California Brown Pelican Diving for Dinner

California Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, diving after fish far below.

Pelican Over Water

Pelican Over Water, Mission River Preserve, San Diego, California.

Diving Pelican

California Brown Pelican diving for fish. It's really amazing watching these huge, lumbering birds fold in their wings and plummet from the heights!

The Last Thing Some Fish See...

California Brown Pelican scanning for food! Shot overhead with a Tamron 500mm zoom. Indeed, these are not small birds!

Pelican Diving for Food

California Brown Pelican diving for fish in the Mission River, San Diego, California. Most pelicans dive from perhaps 50 feet up, diving at a near vertical incline into the ocean to catch fish. A few California Brown Pelicans have adapted to diving in much shallower rivers. They cruise over the water at about 4-5 feet scanning for fish and, upon spotting one, swoop headfirst into the water after them.

Diving Pelicans

California Brown Pelican diving for fish. I've been trying to get a clear shot of one of these awesome diving pelicans for some time now. Taking a snapshot of a plummeting bird at extreme range with a telephoto lens is not the easiest thing in the world! This is one of the clearer shots thus far. You can see that they tuck those huge wings, normally used for gliding, way back to reduce drag. They tuck in the tail and cock their head in an odd angle that reminds me of the song, "the Egyptian." All in fun.

Pelicans Diving for Fish

There was a flock of Brown Pelicans diving off of the IB pier on Sunday. It's amazing that a bird that big can tuck in so tight and blaze out of the air like a bullet. It's really fun to watch. There was probably a huge school of bait fish below as the birds were hovering all around that patch of the ocean.

California Brown Pelican

The California Brown Pelican in breeding plumage. The males get downright gaudy. The females appear to keep their white bellies.

Birds Make It Look Easy

Do you ever dream of flying? Wake up in the middle of a dream of soaring through the sky? Either way, birds make it look so easy. CA Brown Pelican coming in for a landing here.

Pelicans Drafting

I saw these Pelicans in a huge formation flying over Imperial Beach. The California Brown Pelican used to be endangered. DDT was causing their eggs to crack. However, they are now a success story species recovery and for a regulatory change that banned DDT. They are now one of the few species successfully being taken off of the endangered species list!

Are Brown Pelicans Really Brown?

Are adult California Brown Pelicans really BROWN? Judge for yourself. This one was hanging out on the Mission River hunting for fish.

Jumping Pelicans

This young California Brown Pelican was flapping and jumping along the water in little 10-20 ft. hops trying to catch a meal. He would land head first making a huge splash! I don't know if he succeeded in nabbing a fish but he looked a wet and a little tired. There is a bit of a pelican learning curve involved in catching dinner. At other beaches, I have seen adult pelicans diving from 50+ft. in the air for fish along the surface of the water.