Tag Archives: coming in for a landing

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Pam Ryan was observing Gualala Point Island when she saw this Common Murre coming in for a landing.

The top of the rocky island looks pretty crowded! Common Murre's look like small penguins, as they walk around upright.

Here's a photo Craig Tooley took of Murres along with Cormorants on the island. I love the two Murres with their chests together in the back.

Thanks to Pam and Craig 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

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Steve Coffey-Smith was watching the fun from the Gualala Bluff Trail recently. Brown pelicans were coming in for a landing. So graceful in the air, they can be downright clumsy as they land, webbed feet stretched out. You will be hard pressed not to laugh.

Version 2Here's one of my favorite pelican photos. Craig Tooley photographed a Brown pelican about to land. Was it a smooth landing or did this pelican do a pratfall? Only Craig knows. This photo appears in our book, Mendonoma Sightings Throughout the Year, in the November chapter.brown-pelican-pelecanus-occidentalis-coming-in-for-a-landing-nov-by-craig-tooleyah, we love the wonderful Brown pelicans. They were on the Endangered Species List because of the pesticide DDT. It made their eggshells so thin that the shells broke when the mother sat on them. With the banning of DDT in the 1960's, these birds have recovered, so much so that they are no longer listed on the ESL.

Thanks to Steve and Craig 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