Florida Birds

SELF | Jan 03,2009 | swampsniper

[Grammy]

It never ceases to amaze me that pelicans can actually fly! They sure don’t look like they should.

Wonderful pictures, as always.

[Maine Mariner]

Seeing this picture reminds me of Hitchcock’s “The Birds”.

[brytlea]

Oh beautiful!

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Thanks!
Put those cameras of yours to work! The snake on your page for ID is a Southern black Racer, Coluber constrictor priapus.

[PGalt]

Great shots. Thanks.

[dixiechick2000]

Beautiful!

I love both pics, but I especially love the pelican.

I have a soft spot for them.
They used to steal my bait. ;o)

[Bertram3]

Thanks SS. The brown pelican disappeared from the Texas coast for a few years because DDT had been thinning their egg shells. They were transplanted back after DDT was banned. The banning of DDT caused a rebound in several declining bird populations and an increase in malaria in Africa, from which many people have died.

Several birds, the brown pelican, geese, cranes, and others, fly in a “V” formation. My Cajun friend patiently explained to me why the “V” is sometimes longer on one side than on the other. “The long side,” he said, “has more birds in it.”