Friday's postcard, and bring on the big wings
September 1, 2023
Soaring American white pelicans against a gibbous moon, near Sprague Lake, WA
The living kites
I think it’s bad luck to pick favorites among the creatures I try to photograph, especially birds. I don’t think they read my stuff but it’s hard to know whether a written sentence evaporates into a vibe that discerning crows can pick up and spread. That said, I still hope to have a quality photo of Northern Harrier to share some day.
Until then I’ll just add that it’s a fact that the American White Pelican—with it’s 8-foot wingspan is an eyeful. It rarely, if ever, visits the Spokane River, where I swim, but it can be seen at lakes throughout the lower Columbia Basin, at least as far north as Clear Lake, where I saw one a few weeks back. In the meantime,….
Left-turning Red-tailed hawk
Wing-flexing Great Blue Heron
Bald eagle, in flight on a Monday
Diving osprey
Soaring turkey vulture
American White Pelicans near Fishtrap Lake
Red-tailed hawk settling to a perch atop a pine at Palisades Park in west Spokane
Young Great Blue Heron
Gliding osprey at the confluence of Latah Creek and the Spokane River
Dark Morph Red-tailed hawk
—tjc
John, thanks so much for your note. I was baffled by the white pelicans when I first saw them on the Columbia, oh, thirty years ago, on the Hanford Reach. I'd grown up with Brown Pelicans in Panama and assumed, too casually, that pelicans were bound to the ocean. Stunning to see these big, white birds so far inland. But I had no idea they would be as far west as Whidbey. That must be quite a sight!
Great pictures Tim! Just in the past few years, white pelicans have been hanging out in the summer in a couple of places on Whidbey. They roost in fresh water lagoons, but head out to the sound to feet. There's a flock of about 150 I can see from my house. I've seen them in California on the Salton Sea, hanging out with their brown cousins.