Monday, January 5, 2009

Squadron

(That's the proper name for a group of pelicans, or so Donald informed me. (g))

We spied a group of birds overhead, Sunday afternoon, and hurried for the camera and camcorder. The video's a little shaky, because I had to zoom in so much and, well, because I'm just not that steady-handed with the camcorder. . . Anyway, here's the video, such as it is:



As the title implies, we think they were pelicans-- American White Pelicans, specifically, some of which winter along the Gulf Coast. They can be fairly hefty-- up to 19 pounds with a wingspan of 95-120 inches (240-300 cm).

It's nice to see some large birds other than vultures. ;o) We occasionally see a hawk that must live in the area, but usually it's too skittish to hang around long enough to be photographed.

Edited to add:
It is possible to see a larger version of all these embedded videos. The last few I've uploaded are available in full size on my Flickr photostream. (Maybe my Flickr contacts all hate me now. (g) When Flickr first announced that they'd be hosting video as well as photos, many people were very upset. I'm still not sure what all the fuss was about. Guess they didn't want it to turn into another YouTube, but of course it hasn't. It's just convenient for those of us who have all our photos there and are familiar with the system. Anyway. . .)