Pelicans

I took a lot of photos at Lake Byllesby on Saturday, where I finally saw a nice flock of about 90 small shorebirds, and a couple of juvie eagles doing interesting things with their wings out on the mud/sand, and I thought I saw a couple of Franklin's gulls but maybe they were Bonaparte's gulls. And then I idiotically erased almost the whole lot during the upload process. Dave and I went back Sunday morning and there were not as many shorebirds, though we did see some -- probably lesser yellowlegs and, according to another birder we saw who was able to get a better look than we did, some pectoral sandpipers. I'd seen one shorebird with a long, downcurved bill on Saturday, and the other birder we saw confirmed that there was a dunlin in the group.

Pelicans - click to see photo larger

Both days there was a line of pelicans on their favorite sandbar well out into the lake. I counted a good 60 on Saturday and about 50 on Sunday.

Speaking of pelicans, these were American white pelicans, the only kind usually seen in these parts, but the rare bird alert has been buzzing with confirmed sightings of a brown pelican in Red Wing and other spots in the region in the past several days. Brown pelicans don't come here! They live along the ocean shores -- east coast, west coast and Gulf of Mexico. They are the only dark pelicans, and much smaller than the white ones we see here. I have seen them flying along the beach in northern California. That is one mixed-up or extremely-blown-off-course pelican. I hope it does okay.