Rumors of Pelicans …

Written by

jcalberta

in

closer to the bone / Kris

YUP, we get pelicans in Alberta.
Though I’d normally think of pelicans as being Sea Birds
they’ve been around here for a long time.
Pelicans go anywhere there’s fish.
And we’ve got fish.

So when Rose and I  heard about some Pelicans hanging out at a dam
in Wyndham Carseland Provincial Park, East of Calgary
we headed out … cameras in hand.

It’s about a hour’s drive South East of Calgary to the Park.
In this beautiful valley:

One of many beautiful river valleys carved out by the Bow River.

Plenty to do here:

Yet like many of Alberta Provincial Parks it seems
little used and almost unknown?

This is the Dam / Weir where the pelicans like to fish.

Weir: Definition: a dam in a stream or river
to raise the water level or divert its flow.
In this case the diversion is for irrigation canals.

Weirs can be dangerous.
Be aware.

We spotted the pelicans at the canal spillway on the far side.

With no telephoto lens we decide to head over to the other side.

On the other side we see more warning signs.
People have obviously died here.

But we’re going to get our pelicans shots
even if it kills us.

And there they were … completely heedless of the warning signs 
about swimming in the weir.

Never thought we’d get this  close.

They didn’t seem to mind.

These are not award winning shots. We know that.

It’s just fun.

We moved to different angle.

Whew! that’s more than enough for now …

 

 

 

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Comments

8 responses to “Rumors of Pelicans …”

  1. maui1 Avatar
    maui1

    This is a great post about the Pelicans here in our province. These are great pictures of the Pelicans at Wyndham-Carseland provincial park. The weather looks great.

    1. jcalberta Avatar
      jcalberta

      We were lucky on the weather. We went out there twice and it was nice both days.
      The pelicans seem to have a nesting colony out there. You’ll see that in my next pics of them.

  2. Don Ostertag Avatar
    Don Ostertag

    Living proof, their beak can hold more than their belly can. And thanks for the warning, I will be aware of weirs. Good post, JC

    1. jcalberta Avatar
      jcalberta

      I couldn’t see what size – or kind – of fish they were catching there.
      They are an interesting bird. Very graceful in flight.
      There was a weir at a park on the Bow River right in downtown Calgary for many years that caused many calamities. Finally they dismantled it. That has probably saved a few lives.

  3. brigitakmera Avatar
    brigitakmera

    Wow, what a secret gem in the discovery of these Pelicans and the area! You both had some great photos there, thanks! 🙂

    1. jcalberta Avatar
      jcalberta

      We’d seen them on and off over the years, but it never really occurred to us that they would actually be nesting here. But they are. I’ll put up another post right away that reveals they have a colony in that park. I guess they head for warmer climes in the Fall, but they are definitely at home here in our warm months.

  4. Marilyn Armstrong Avatar
    Marilyn Armstrong

    Congratulations! You captured the pelicans. I absolutely didn’t know pelicans lived that far north. I always thought of them as warm weather dwellers — AND I didn’t know they came in white. I’ve only seen variations of grey pelicans in Florida and Louisiana. Really, congratulations. It take some serious determination to track down the birds, drive an hour, find them, AND get the pictures.

    Most of our parks are not used much, except on holidays — Mother’s Day is big for most parks — and official picnic days like the 4th of July. Usually, we get to have the parks pretty much to ourselves.

    1. jcalberta Avatar
      jcalberta

      Thanks Marylyn!
      We didn’t know that we would have any success. We just went up to see what we could find. And got lucky I have a bunch more pics I’m going to show, but the Post was getting too big.
      We always see pelicans when we travel to BC, California, Mexico. We expect that. But not here. Yet they are nesting here for sure.

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