DAY 313: PELICAN DIVE BOMBER

PELICAN 'BOMBS' BATHER IN FLORIDA from news.bbc.co.uk A woman recently required 20 stitches to her face after a pelican crashed into her in              the sea off Florida - apparently diving for fish. The bird, which died as a result of the collision, ripped a gash in Debbie Shoemaker's               face as she bathed near the city of St. Petersburg.  The city fire chief said he had never heard of a diving pelican hitting a person. It's worthy of note that pelicans grow to up to 13kg. & can dive from heights of                    18-21 meters.

DAY 312: BYE BYE GOOSEY GANDER

I read something quite sad today - authorities over a city park in Mobile, Canada have recently euthanized 200 geese.  Apparently the park had become overrun with geese and they could see no other solution to the problem of the over-population of the area by geese.  People feed the geese and ducks in the park, and the resultant faecal problem, as one can imagine, was out of hand.

As geese are homing creatures, they would simply have returned to the park if an attempt had been made to relocate them.  There are still 100 geese and 40 ducks left in the park, so one wonders how long if will be before this exercise has to be repeated.......

DAY 311: EXCEPTIONAL PELICAN BEHAVIOUR

 

In October 2006, a pelican swallowed a live pigeon in St. James Park, London!

According to tourists watching it, the pelican walked to the pigeon and grabbed it by its beak, starting a 20 minute struggle which ended when the victim was swallowed:"head first while flapping all the way down". 

This behavior has also been filmed in a zoo in Ukraine. 

In the Basel Zoo (Switzerland's largest zoo) a Great White Pelican named 'Killer Jonny' (are you listening, Hollywood movie directors?) is hunting and eating any duck  (or other smaller bird) that enters the pelican exhibit. Today, there are rarely any ducks seen on the pelican lake, while on all other bodies of water they are seen in normal numbers.

On the South African island of Malgas, biologist Marta de Ponte was the first to discover Great White Pelicans eating Cape Gannet chicks. The pelicans were then captured on film in a BBC documentary, exhibiting this behaviour.  The same breed of pelican has been observed swallowing Cape cormorants, kelp gulls, swift terns & African penguins.

DAY 310: MR. BASHFUL - THE SHY PELICAN

Introducing a little part of what you can see of Mr. Bashful!!  Cute.....

There's a super little clip from Australia on YouTube showing a small flock of pelicans in shallow water - the photographer obviously drew nearer & nearer to get a better angle, so the pelicans moved further & further away......except for one little guy who decided to hang in there, but simply turned his head (and big bill) away so that he couldn't see the photographer.  So cute...... 

This reminded me of the fable about ostriches putting their heads in the sand - which, by the way, is totally untrue. 

DAY 309: PELICANS ALL IN A LINE

                                                   

Pelicans can sometimes be seen forming a line, as above, or a u shape......

they aren't just swimming around, enjoying the sunshine, they are working hard for their food! 

This is how they surround the fish and round them up for the kill, and it is by cooperating together that they have success.  They also drive the fish into shallow waters by beating their wings on the surface. Then when the fish are congregated in the shallow waters, they scoop them up in their large spacious bills.

DAY 308: PELICANS ....... are pretty?

Pelicans are pretty?  
No, they are actually pretty silly looking birds. 
They have giant bills with a funny pouch that can hold lots of fish. 

Unfortunately a mouth crammed with fish is a tempting target for other species. Some birds will peck at a pelican as it is feeding so it can steal food from the pouch. 

In the Galapagos, penguins follow pelicans as they feed, because little fish escape the pelican’s bill and are easy picking for the penguins. Sometimes things get nasty, and the penguins go right into the pelican’s mouth and steal its fishes. It seems like a pretty rough deal for the pelicans. 

In addition to feeding, pelicans use their pouch for thermo-regulation. When pelicans get too hot, they ripple the pouch, which allows for evaporation and lets the birds cool down.

DAY 307: PELICANS FOUR - BEAUTIES!

After all the weird & funny poses of pelicans I've been showing, I thought it only fair to show how lovely they actually are - & how photographers can show them not just at their funniest, but looking good!

Amazing how their bills look almost translucent, and how beautifully they pose together.  Think of photos of yourself over the years - in some you look pretty darn good, but in others you wonder - what planet did SHE come from.........
or maybe that's just my outlook! 

DAY 306: PELICAN THREE - MANNA FROM ABOVE

Here's yet another weird pelican pose.

Photographers must wait hours for perfect or unusual shots, and their 
patience is rewarded when it all comes together.  

Thinking about that makes me realise that with wild life, it's all about
food, and their constant ongoing desperation to fill their tummies in
order for them and their offspring to survive.  In the case of this pelican,
one wonders if it was expecting manna from above......

DAY 305: PELICANS TWO - UNFLATTERING TO SAY THE LEAST!

We all get photographed from time to time when we are:
- in an unflattering light
- eating something and looking like a horse
- having a bad hair day
- looking plain u-------gly

Well, poor Mr. Pelican here was definitely caught with his mouth wide open and way off centre.  But I doubt whether he would care, if he knew, because all that matters is that he caught his prey and enjoyed the meal.  

DAY 304: PELICANS ONE - DANCING FOR JOY?

What an awesome moment the photographer caught here!  This pelican looks like he's dancing for joy, and having a good laugh at the same time!

There are more than half a dozen species of pelicans, but all of them have the famous throat pouch for which the birds are best known. These large birds use their elastic pouches to catch fish—though different species use it in different ways.

Many pelicans fish by swimming in cooperative groups. They may form a line or a "U" shape and drive fish into shallow water by beating their wings on the surface. When fish congregate in the shallows, the pelicans simply scoop them up. The brown pelican, on the other hand, dives on fish (usually a type of herring called menhaden) from above and snares them in its bill. 

Pelicans do not store fish in their pouch, but simply use it to catch them and then tip it back to drain out water and swallow the fish immediately. 

(Info from NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC website) 

DAY 303: AMAZING HEADGEAR

PHOTO BY TIM LAMAN - King of Saxony Bird of Paradise. 

I found a website which features 'Amazing Birds' - & this one is truly amazing and decorative - also what I would call very elegant, reminding me of a high class society lady's cocktail headgear!

Apparently, this bird of paradise has been provided with special muscles which let it swing each antenna-like head feather through a 180-degree arc - when trying to impress a female.  It caused me to wonder where it keeps its head feathers when it's just being normal!!  Perhaps you can suggest something......??

DAY 302: THE HUNTER, THE FALCON & THE HORSE

The hunter gently pulls off the falcon's hood. The bird's gaze swivels from one end of the horizon to the other, stopping momentarily to spy the hare in the distance. With a shout, "Hah!" the hunter releases the falcon. It ascends with two flaps of its 5-foot wingspan, then swoops downward in a blink-of-an-eye glide that ends with the bird's 3-inch talons clutching the rabbit's head.

Later, at the top of a lone hillock, the hunter, Ablykhan Zbasov, explains what tethers him to a sport practiced by his forefathers 3,000 years ago, a casualty of the Soviet era now gradually making its way back to the Kazakh plains.

"When you hunt with a rifle, this is not interesting," says Zbasov, 30, his boyish face reddened by a bracing steppe wind. "But when you have the bird and your horse with you, you feel united with nature. It's really beautiful. You never forget the bird's grasp of your wrist, how powerful it is."

(Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan website)

DAY 301: FALCONRY IS AN ART

 

Falconry is an art. It requires long hours, constant devotion, finesse, subtlety and skill. The falconer must train a bird of prey to fly free, hunt for a human being and then accept a return to captivity.

Falconers must devote time to their birds each and every day, 365 days a year.

It is not for everyone. It is not a suitable pastime for children.

In addition, it takes a thick skin. Animal-rights activists and some environmentalists condemn falconers; some hunters claim falcons interfere with "their" hunting; and many falconers have lost a bird to inept or ill-intentioned hunters.

DAY 300: THE FALCON HUNTER

Hunting may be a sport to some, but to most people around the world it is a way of life.           If you don't hunt, you don't eat. One great way to hunt with minimal effort is Falconry. Why spend lots of effort when you can train a falcon to do it all for you, then return the catch.

In the USA, hunters get together in lodges, discuss tactics, setup cameras, figure out ways to get more animals to come into their zone, then go out and kill as many as possible in as short a period as possible. 

In poorer countries, this is not the case. Hunters are often poor, are forced to hunt in vast tracts of land, and rarely trust their friends not to steal their catch.

Kazakhstan is a land where hunting with Falcons and Eagles is still popular. Since this is strange to the western world, a large tourist industry has been built on encouraging people to come view the hunt, or even participate in it. Westerners can participate actively or passively in the hunt, and depending on how much they spend they can also be given a falcon or eagle of their own for the hunt.

(From www.mizozo)

DAY 299: FALCONRY

Photo: participants of Salburun festival in Bokombaevo village of Issyk Kul Province in Kazakhstan.

"Historically, Falconry was widely practiced by Kazakhs and Mongols, as well as in the Mesopotamian region. There are few hunters quite as adept at catching its prey like a great bird, and the Falcon represents the ideal size for most. Eagles play a large part too, but eagles require a much stronger man with a much stronger will. The larger the bird, the more dominant it becomes, and so Falcons played a much larger part in history.

Today, Kazakhstan has revived their Falconry practice by holding various competitions. 

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Prizes include big screen TVs, electronics and other reasonably small prizes, but the show is quite impressive to tourists. Some tourists go so far as hire a guide, complete with bird for an entire day of hunting."

Quite a way to spend about $5000 in one day!

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DAY 298: THE POLAR OWL

The Polar Owl is the biggest bird in the Arctic. 
Females are larger than males. They have a body length of 55-65 cms, a wingspan of 150-160 cms; and a weight of 1.5-2 kgs.

Owls are the only birds that can see the color blue.

Hmmm, I wondered if that last sentence really contained truth, so I googled it and found the following answer: 

"This ludicrous myth was spread via an email chain letter, notorious for misinformation & general silliness. The idea behind most of them is to see how many of your friends are gullible enough to forward them without checking to see if they are true, then having a good laugh.

Not only can birds see blue but some varieties of birds can see into the UV spectrum, allowing them to detect colors that humans cannot perceive.

Owls are nocturnal and have poorer color vision than their diurnal counterparts like harks or eagles.

The reason bluebirds, blue jays, blue herons, blue parrots & all sorts of other blue-plumaged birds attract mates with their blue feathers is because birds CAN see blue." 

DAY 297: WAXWING BANTER

Meet the Waxwing - 

This beautiful bird is unable to split the berries it finds, and so swallows them whole instead. 

Waxwings can eat so many berries in one day that they double in weight.       That's a lot of berries.

Convert it into the type of food we eat - I know lots of people who could double their weight in one day, but then we should rather do some 'banting'!! 

DAY 296: GUTSY KINGFISHER

Yet another froggie bites the dust, or rather has been bitten by a hungry Kingfisher looking for it's lunch.  

The Kingfisher will stab its prey, either with the bill closed or open, depending on the size of the prey. Kingfishers kill their prey by beating them on the ground or perch to shatter the bones. Then they work the fish into their mouths, head first, so that they won’t get cut up by the bones or scales as they swallow it whole. They will even consume snakes in this manner! 

Many Kingfishers can eat prey that seems too large to fit in their mouths. Some species feed primarily on fish, frogs, crustaceans, crabs, crayfish, worms, mollusks, insects, spiders, centipedes, reptiles and even birds and mammals.

I would call this rather a varied diet, or alternatively, grab what you can when you can!

DAY 295: HAPPY YELLOW BITTERN

The Yellow Bittern is known to forage in shallow waters, catching small fish, prawns, frogs and other vertebrates. In the image above, the bittern is shown in the act of catching a frog along a patch of water weeds. Another bittern was seen ‘frogging’ in watery grasslands & was so focused on catching its breakfast that it did not seem to be bothered by close approaches from birders/photographers.

How pleased the bird must have been with its catch of a fat juicy frog.  How sad for the frog! 

DAY 294: DALMATION WITHOUT BLACK/WHITE SPOTS

The huge Dalmation pelican is the largest of all the pelicans and one of the largest living bird species. It measures 160 to 183 cm in length, 9–15 kg in weight and 290–351 cm in wingspan.  

The bones of this pelican are hollow and light — the weight of its skeleton makes up only 10 percent of its body weight. Its mean weight of around 11.5 kg makes it the world's heaviest flying bird species, although the largest individuals among male bustards and swans may be heavier than the largest individual Dalmatian pelican. It also appears to have one of the largest wingspans of any living bird, rivalling those of the great albatross.

When the Dalmatian pelican is in flight, unlike other pelicans, its wings are solid grayish-white with black tips. It is an elegant soaring bird. When a whole flock of Dalmatian pelicans is in flight, all its members move in graceful synchrony,  It is said to be the largest living creature that can fly.

DAY 293: KIWI

Kiwi are flightless birds. They have strong leg muscles with sharp claws. 

The bird is the national symbol of New Zealand. Its image is on the national emblem and the New Zealand dollar. 

There are no live Kiwis left in the wild. In the past 100 years, kiwi numbers have decreased from several million to several thousand.

Out of all the birds I have posted on this blog, the kiwi is probably the least glamorous!  I am reminded of the Kiwifruit - its also very brown and uninteresting on the outside, but the fruit inside is delicious.

DAY 292: THE OXPECKER & THE GIRAFFE

The title sounds like the beginning of a poem, but its not!

These little oxpeckers are actually doing the giraffe a service, cleaning him up
from lice and all sorts of other goggas that like to live on the neck of a giraffe.
There is, of course, plenty of room for them, evidenced by the number of oxpeckers having lunch!

However, it is a mutual thing between these species of God's fascinating creatures - the giraffe is a walking take-away shop for the oxpeckers, as this is the food upon which they thrive.