Tag Archives: Brown Pelicans

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Humpbacks have been seen off our portion of the coast, always a treat. John Batchelder photographed this Humpback off the coast of The Sea Ranch. Just look at all those Brown Pelicans flying by.

Here are a few photos of Humpback Whales that John took last year - a tail, a breach and a flipper.

Thanks to John for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

Today it is HOT on the Mendonoma coast! Have I ever mentioned I'm not a fan of  hot weather? Bring back our ocean breezes! Oddly enough, but most welcome, we have rain in our forecast for Monday. Rain would be such a blessing.

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This morning Rick and I, along with friends Pam and Eric Ryan, saw a large group of Brown Pelicans on the sandbar of the Gualala River. We were walking the Gualala Bluff Trail when we saw them, a true delight!

Grace O'Malley was at the Bodega Bay Harbor recently when she saw these two Brown Pelicans coming in for a landing. They look like they are tippy-toeing across the surface of the water.

Then, with Grace watching, the two pelicans face-planted into the water. It's enough to make one laugh out loud!

As graceful as Brown Pelicans are in flight, they can be quite clumsy in landing. Ah, we love the Brown Pelicans, graceful or not! They have recently dispersed along the coast - a large group was recently seen resting of Gualala Point Island.

Thanks to Grace for allowing me to share her photos with  you here.

The weather here changed dramatically today. This morning it was warm and still. When we walked the Bluff Trail it was probably in the mid-70s. Then around noon the fog formed up. The temps dropped 15 degrees. Amazing...

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Hundreds of young Brown Pelicans have been migrating northward. These hatched-this-year pelicans have brown heads and white underparts. They are accompanied by a few older pelicans. The adult pelicans have white heads and brown underparts. They are also accompanied by dark gulls, Heermann’s Gulls. These smart gulls let the pelicans find fish for them, sometimes even stealing it out of a pelican’s mouth.

When there is forage fish in the water, many birds feast. Craig Tooley photographed a feeding frenzy by Gualala Point Island with Brown Pelicans and several types of Gulls. Brown Pelicans plunge dive, beak first, for fish. It’s quite a sight.

Brown Pelicans also rest in rivers and on offshore rocks. Paul Brewer wrote, “There was a congregation of Brown Pelicans behind Breaker’s Inn having a spa day [on the Gualala River.] I got a few interesting shots from the Gualala Bluff Trail when they all decided to fly at once. They did that twice while I was there. They enjoyed their spa day, but all headed north about 6:30 pm.”

We almost lost Brown Pelicans due to the pesticide DDT, which made their eggshells so thin that they broke when the mothers sat on them. Since DDT was banned, the pelicans have recovered in numbers. To see them flying just over the bluffs is a thrilling sight.

Thanks to Craig and Paul for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com. And to see more of Paul's nature photography, here is his website: http://www.capturingnatureswonders.com/

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ah, Craig Tooley had a Beatles song in mind when he titled his photo of Brown Pelicans resting on kelp.

Young Brown Pelicans are migrating northward now. They rest on rocky islands, in rivers and apparently on a mass of kelp!

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com

It is a glorious day here in the Mendonoma coast. Conditions should be perfect for watching the Perseids Meteor Shower tonight and tomorrow night.

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Carolyn Carnell shared this photo of the big island sitting off the north end of The Sea Ranch, Gualala Point Island. It was very crowded that day!

Carolyn Carnell wrote, “This photo was taken while doing a drone survey to check on the Common Murres nests on the [west] side of Gualala Point Island. To our surprises it was covered with 112 Brown Pelicans, with many also in the water along with Common Murres having a feeding frenzy.”

Also on the island were Brandt's Cormorants and Western Gulls. Let's face it, GPI is a popular place to hang out! The Brown Pelicans were most likely resting before continuing their northward migration. As I've shown you in a previous post, the juveniles are now strong enough to be passing by the Mendonoma coast.

There was a lot of bait fish in the ocean which caused multiple feeding frenzies last week, a good sign of the health of the ocean.

Here's one of my favorite photos of GPI as big waves crash into it during a high surf event, taken by Richard Kuehn.

Thanks to Carolyn and Rich for allowing me to share their photos with you here.