Report to Bird Island

I never thought much of Ballet, but to me the pelicans flying through the air was a Ballet dance on the wind currents. What I saw were groups of Pelicans flying through the North draw bridge gliding around in loose circles in front of and over the raise the section portion of the bridge where the bridge tender stayed. I got situation on a park bench, where I could see the show of the pelicans gliding in towards me. They swooped in hard and fast. I wondered if I could get my camera ready fast enough to grab the shot. Three of the pelicans would glide in and out so fast. It was like playing my catch the bass game where when the bass came by too fast you just had to let him go. Try to catch him the next time, because I promised to my self, I would be better prepared.

The one drawback of being at the North park was my back facing the sun and I could not get the dynamite sunset shot especially with the pelicans flying overhead with golden sunlight reflecting on their wings. I also would have liked to taken a shot where the pelican was on a dock way where the fishermen would be fishing begging for a fish handout. It was reminiscing of the television series"Gentle Ben" where there would be a pelican following the humans around like a puppy dog. Throwing a fish to the pelicans was like a reward for being a good bird. The pelican did resent the humans, if he did not get the fish. He would fly away in a childlike tantrum, but pretty soon forget. He would replace those feelings with goals of catching a fish himself by sitting in the water until he spots one he could scoop up with his beak.

The sunlight gave a soft reflective yellow glow to the buildings across the Inter coastal Waterway. The wind kept the humidity down. I was only bitten once in the leg by a mosquito. Both mom and I figured the temperature was in the 70's. Mom saw a guy fishing out in the water up to his waistline. I missed the chance to take his picture.

There is a sunset tour put on by the Marine Discovery Center which cost 25 dollars a person. It is a wine and cheese tour which brings you up to bird island around dusk. There would be loads of birds trying to nest in the thickets. I did not pay much attention to where the pelicans hung out. I would only hope they would have a good little place to get tucked away for the night. Mom and I went on to the beach, but not much bird action there. It was more like a people beach with the drunk guys getting friendly with the little dogs which owners come to just find a bench to sit on. I went home with a prize load of pictures and I am glad I caught them on camera.