07 May 2010

Great white pelicans flying at Khijadiya

Sometimes when they flew overhead I heard the rush of air over their wings
At Khijadiya, a bird sanctuary near Jamnagar in Gujarat, huge flocks of great white pelicans (Pelecanus onocrotalus) shared the wetlands with storks, egrets, cormorants and a diversity and number of other birds I'd never seen before.


[14 February 2007; Canon 20D, 300 mm f4 L, ISO 200, 1/1600 at f4]
 
All content © 2010 Pete McGregor
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6 comments:

  1. Relatively Retiring7 May 2010 at 19:22

    Have you ever seen these in St. James Park, Central London? Not as active and pristine as these, but urban pelicans all the same.

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  2. Relatively Retiring7 May 2010 at 19:50

    P.S. The pelicans are employed by the Royal Household as Park-Cleaners, and here's a bit of film to prove it:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO5ifLzLYiU

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  3. Barbara Butler McCoy8 May 2010 at 00:34

    Oh, man, Pete ... kudos again! One of the things so arresting about this image, I think, are the colors in the bill and around the eye ... No plain black and white for this bird! (The clip at that address, Rel. Ret. is wicked!)

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  4. pohanginapete8 May 2010 at 11:58

    RR, I think the only other place I've seen pelicans outside Gujarat (or a zoo) has been in Australia (and even there they might have been partly confined). The video makes me wonder whether the urban myth about the chihuahua plucked away and eaten by a pelican really is a myth.

    Barbara, thanks — they were spectacular: a sight and sound I'll always remember.

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  5. Anonymous9 May 2010 at 01:13

    wow very cool pic pete

    tom

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  6. pohanginapete9 May 2010 at 09:49

    Cheers Tom :^)

    ReplyDelete

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