[MDOsprey] White Pelican today in DC
GAIL@UMDD.UMD.EDU
Wed, 18 Aug 99 11:19:47 EDT
Hi all--
Barry and I went down to Jones Point to look for the American White Pelican
which he and Fred Fallon (independently, and apparently simultaneously)
found yesterday.
Actually, I saw it when we drove over the Wilson Bridge -- a huge white blob
in the river north of the bridge, near the shoreline.
Looking out from Jones Point, the pelican was upstream of the large snag/log
which is on the eastern side of the channel near the Oxon Hill side. It was
probably at that time in DC waters. It was sitting on some small stub which
brought it totally out of the water, and we could see all the field marks
well in our scopes. However, it was too distant for video -- it would have
been perfect from the opposite shore but I am not sure of best access there,
if any. (Fred?) This was about 9:45 am.
The bird has a bright yellow bill, no sign of the knob which books say is lost
in July, still has a crest of tuft of feathers at the back of the head. It
spread its wings and you could see the black primaries and secondaries -- not
all of the secondaries are black, only the outer half and these appear less
solidly dark than the primaries. It is definitely American White Pelican.
It soon got into the water and started to swim upstream towards Oxon Creek,
feeding occasionally (we saw it catch at least one fish) and preening a lot
as well. When we left it was opposite the northern end of the 295 bridge over
the creek, and definitely in DC waters. (left it at 10:30)
(Now I have to encourage it to enter Maryland, I need it for a state tick!)
It looks like it is in a perfect spot -- not much disturbance from river
traffic, lots of fish -- it may well stay around a while.
Gail Mackiernan