The Invasion Has Begun!

This morning an armada of American White Pelicans suddenly came swooping into the salt marsh area and did a couple of high circles above us.

It looked like a huge group of heavy bombers had just arrived!

26 thoughts on “The Invasion Has Begun!”

wcoy1 on February 7, 2015 at 5:59 pm said:

Very beautiful flock!

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- Phil Lanoue on February 7, 2015 at 7:32 pm said:
  
  I wish they would have landed and spent some time, but guess they had other places to be. Thanks for looking!
  
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Vicky on February 7, 2015 at 8:56 pm said:

Look at all of those American White pelicans! How many would you guess?

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- Phil Lanoue on February 7, 2015 at 10:17 pm said:
  
  In total I’m guessing over 30. Why didn’t they drop down into the pond? No fish? Did the cormorants eat everything? 🙂
  
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Linda on February 8, 2015 at 12:09 am said:

Its so great to see so many pelicans flying together, they almost look like geese flying south, there are so many at one time…wonder if they were flying south too….nahhhhhh

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- Phil Lanoue on February 9, 2015 at 10:42 am said:
  
  They have been coming and going around here for weeks now but never so many. Hope they stick around.
  
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foxleylady on February 8, 2015 at 7:32 am said:

That’s awesome, Phil!

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- Phil Lanoue on February 9, 2015 at 10:43 am said:
  
  It was fun to see!
  
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Sarah Longes - Mirador Design on February 8, 2015 at 2:16 pm said:

Wow! What a sight 🙂

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- Phil Lanoue on February 9, 2015 at 10:43 am said:
  
  That’s exactly what we said!
  
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  - Sarah Longes - Mirador Design on February 9, 2015 at 3:46 pm said:
    
    Lol 😉 I’m not surprised!!
    
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    - Phil Lanoue on February 10, 2015 at 11:25 am said:
      
      It was a good sized crowd.
      
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anotherday2paradise on February 8, 2015 at 2:52 pm said:

An amazing sight, Phil. What a flypast! 🙂

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- Phil Lanoue on February 9, 2015 at 10:45 am said:
  
  It’s amazing how those huge wings catch the lift and in seconds look like only dots very high up!
  
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Raewyn's Photos on February 8, 2015 at 3:51 pm said:

Great captures. I tried to get some photos of seagulls flying with my cellphone – not a good thing. Lots of blurred shots.

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- Phil Lanoue on February 9, 2015 at 10:46 am said:
  
  It’s tough with a cell phone. I was trying that yesterday on some brown pelicans flying around a marsh festival. Didn’t work out so great. 🙂
  
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Lyle Krahn on February 8, 2015 at 8:12 pm said:

And they do have their artillery!

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- Phil Lanoue on February 9, 2015 at 10:48 am said:
  
  I’m just glad they didn’t unload on us when they flew directly over head. I saw one strafe his buddy quite rudely.
  
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Katrina W on February 8, 2015 at 9:39 pm said:

Magnificent.

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- Phil Lanoue on February 9, 2015 at 10:48 am said:
  
  It was an impressive sight for sure.
  
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Birder's Journey on February 8, 2015 at 11:11 pm said:

Great images! These Pelicans are beautiful – and HUGE. Good analogy!

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- Phil Lanoue on February 9, 2015 at 10:50 am said:
  
  They really are quite large. Second only to the California Condor in wing span size.
  
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  - Birder's Journey on February 9, 2015 at 1:52 pm said:
    
    Yes! I learned this myself only A few months ago, when I saw them at Ding Darling NWR on the golf coast of Florida.
    
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    - Phil Lanoue on February 10, 2015 at 11:27 am said:
      
      Ooooo that’s a nice spot. Did you see any spoonbills? It will likely be late June or early July until we see any of those here.
      
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      - Birder's Journey on February 10, 2015 at 12:54 pm said:
        
        Yes we saw quite a few roseate spoonbills in mid-November in fact
        
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      - Birder's Journey on February 10, 2015 at 12:55 pm said:
        
        Oops, in fact, it was the comparison of spoonbills to pelicans that made me realize how immense the white pelicans are!
        
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