For the bird lovers out there... - Wild Texas Forums: Parks, Travel & Recreation

Shannon · 07-08-2002, 08:59 AM

Check out this news article.

I really like the line “Another amazing thing Bill told us is that it was not one bird there were several working together.” This bird is not working alone!

It begs the question, though, what in the WORLD the birds are doing hoarding all this change…

ploddinTod · 07-21-2004, 07:12 AM

I was down on South Padre Island over last weekend and one of the most enjoyable wildlife encounters was watching the brown pelicans soar in formation. I counted 20 in one group and a dozen in another. They fly with such grace and effortless motion.
By the way, in my opinion the beaches here are the best Texas has to offer. I was briefly chatting with a beach patrol officer and he said that the beaches are scraped daily of seaweed by dozers. I haven't seen this much on the beaches of the upper Tx coast.

Shannon · 07-21-2004, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ploddinTod

I was down on South Padre Island over last weekend and one of the most enjoyable wildlife encounters was watching the brown pelicans soar in formation. I counted 20 in one group and a dozen in another. They fly with such grace and effortless motion.
By the way, in my opinion the beaches here are the best Texas has to offer. I was briefly chatting with a beach patrol officer and he said that the beaches are scraped daily of seaweed by dozers. I haven't seen this much on the beaches of the upper Tx coast.

Cool. We flew over Padre Island National Seashore and Mustang Island on the July 4th weekend and I must say the beaches looked better than I've seen them in a LONG TIME. No seaweed at all (except maybe a tiny ridge near waterline in isolated areas), absolutely perfect driving conditions (thanks in part to storms that packed the sand down; we saw family sedans way out where they usually don't venture down-island due to deep, wind-blown sand). Just looked gorgeous from the air, and judging by how many people were out enjoying the beach it must have looked equally splendid on the ground.

I love those pelicans, too, btw. I especially like watching the brown pelicans dive into the water -- it looks like they're doing a death dive at full speed, yet they emerge (with a bill full of fish and water) unscathed and ready to do it all again! It's also awesome watching them soar just above the waves -- I swear their wingtips occasionally graze the tops of the waves as they float by.

OutdoorPhoto.com · 07-22-2004, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shannon

I love those pelicans, too, btw. I especially like watching the brown pelicans dive into the water -- it looks like they're doing a death dive at full speed, yet they emerge (with a bill full of fish and water) unscathed and ready to do it all again! It's also awesome watching them soar just above the waves -- I swear their wingtips occasionally graze the tops of the waves as they float by.

Brown Pelicans remind me of World War II fighters by the way they fly. The low cruising just inches above the ocean and breaking waves or the screaming dive to capture fish.

It is fascinating to see how different bird species and the way their bodies develop have very different flight characteristics.

The pelicans are so cool because they can coast for long periods of time without flapping - again, a quality that makes me think of little brown airplanes flying around... they make flight look so effortless...

ploddinTod · 07-23-2004, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ploddinTod

I was down on South Padre Island over last weekend
By the way, in my opinion the beaches here are the best Texas has to offer. I was briefly chatting with a beach patrol officer and he said that the beaches are scraped daily of seaweed by dozers. I haven't seen this much on the beaches of the upper Tx coast.

I also wanted to add that the water temperature was considerably cooler than the muddy brown, bath-water temperature of the Galveston-Bolivar area of the coast. I don't know why that is but took advantage of it while we were there.