jcohen@sco.COM (Jon Cohen) (10/02/90)
I grew up on the South shore of Long Island, where pelicans--to my knowledge--are never seen. Yet, I am almost sure I saw a pelican in my backyard (I lived only a few blocks from the beach) when I was a small child. I looked up in this big chestnut tree--and there it was! I ran inside to tell my parents, but when they came to look, the pelican was gone. My family laughs about this story as evidence of my over-active imagination. But I knew what a pelican looked like, and I am still certain I saw one. I wonder if anyone knows about the range of pelicans on the Atlantic coast, and whether it's possible that I saw a pelican after all.
grp@Unify.com (Greg Pasquariello) (10/03/90)
In article <10593@scorn.sco.COM>, jcohen@sco.COM (Jon Cohen) writes: > > I grew up on the South shore of Long Island, where pelicans--to > my knowledge--are never seen. Yet, I am almost sure I saw a > pelican in my backyard (I lived only a few blocks from the beach) > when I was a small child. I looked up in this big chestnut > tree--and there it was! I ran inside to tell my parents, but > when they came to look, the pelican was gone. > > My family laughs about this story as evidence of my > over-active imagination. But I knew what a pelican looked > like, and I am still certain I saw one. > > I wonder if anyone knows about the range of pelicans > on the Atlantic coast, and whether it's possible that > I saw a pelican after all. Well, Pelicans have been seen on the south shore of Long Island, especially in recent years. They have been expanding, rather dramatically, up the coast. I don't know about historical ref- erences, but I will check tonite. The really odd thing about your siting, was that the pelican was in a tree. Pelicans don't have feet that are well adapted to perching on things like tree limbs. They are usually found perched on flat surfaces. Also, even though you were only a few blocks from the shore, I have _never_ seen (or even heard of) a pelican that wasn't immediatly on the water! What are some other possibilities? Well, probably the most likely is a Great Blue Heron. I can easily imagine a heron looking like a "pelican" to a small child. My wife (who is certainly no birder) once yelled "There's a pelican"... in a deep wooded swamp in Northern NJ. It was a Great Blue. She's gotten better at it since then. :-) -- -Greg Pasquariello grp@unify.com
sandee@sun16.scri.fsu.edu (Daan Sandee) (10/03/90)
In article <1990Oct2.174924@Unify.com> grp@Unify.com (Greg Pasquariello) writes: >In article <10593@scorn.sco.COM>, jcohen@sco.COM (Jon Cohen) writes: == I grew up on the South shore of Long Island, where pelicans--to == my knowledge--are never seen. Yet, I am almost sure I saw a == pelican in my backyard (I lived only a few blocks from the beach) == when I was a small child. I looked up in this big chestnut == tree--and there it was! I ran inside to tell my parents, but == when they came to look, the pelican was gone. == I wonder if anyone knows about the range of pelicans == on the Atlantic coast, and whether it's possible that == I saw a pelican after all. Both Brown and White pelicans are accidental in New York. Within a few blocks of the coast, a Brown Pelican is much more likely. You should be able to remember if it was brown or white. [Greg:] > >The really odd thing about your siting, was that the pelican was >in a tree. Pelicans don't have feet that are well adapted to >perching on things like tree limbs. They are usually found >perched on flat surfaces. Also, even though you were only a >few blocks from the shore, I have _never_ seen (or even heard >of) a pelican that wasn't immediatly on the water! Brown Pelicans habitually sit on power lines. They kind of wrap their feet around them ; a common sight along bridges on Florida coasts. I once saw a White Pelican sitting halfway up an Australian Pine - a weird sight but the bird seemed to like it. The only unlikely part of the story is that a Brown Pelican would go sit in a suburban tree even a few blocks from the beach. There must have been a gale or something. > >What are some other possibilities? Well, probably the most >likely is a Great Blue Heron. I can easily imagine a heron >looking like a "pelican" to a small child. My wife (who is >certainly no birder) once yelled "There's a pelican"... in >a deep wooded swamp in Northern NJ. It was a Great Blue. And Great Blues are often called cranes by dumb tourists, as well as pelicans, and even flamingo's. Daan Sandee sandee@sun16.scri.fsu.edu Supercomputer Computations Research Institute Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4052 (904) 644-7045
hammy@bagheera.ctt.bellcore.com (John G. Smith) (10/04/90)
I was in Florida recently (Lorien posted about 6 zillion lines of trip report :-), and among other things, went to the Miami Seaquarium. I have several photos from there of a group of Pelicans flying into and out of some trees near the shark enclosure. I guess with all the people walking around they felt that a tre was sfare than the ground, but they seemed perfectly at home up there. John. _____ anyway.... So - how's fall migration? We were down in Cap May a couple of weeks ago and saw over a hundred species (ok, the actual count was 101). The best by far was a sora out on Cape May meadows, on the left just before the beach. On friday evening it was pointed out by people from what seemed to be some king of organized trip (anyone recognize themselves?). It (the rail, not the group) just casually strolled out of the reeds barely ten feet from the path, pecked around for ten minutes or so, and then strolled back into the reeds. I went back there on the sunday, hoping for another look, and to give Lorien a chance to see it, and sure enough, after a few minutes, it came out of exactly the same location in the reeds - chasing a marsh wren - and stayed out for quite a while. The light was perfect - 11 am, bright sunshine. When it went back in the reeds all you could see was the yellow beak floating around in the gloom. By far the best sighting of a rail I've ever had. John (again) ------------ John G. Smith email : hammy@ctt.bellcore.com RRC 1H-213 phone : (201) 699-4530
grp@Unify.com (Greg Pasquariello) (10/04/90)
In article <896@sun13.scri.fsu.edu>, sandee@sun16.scri.fsu.edu (Daan Sandee) writes: > Brown Pelicans habitually sit on power lines. They kind of wrap their > feet around them ; a common sight along bridges on Florida coasts. I've never seen this! I guess you learn something new every day. As usual, I forgot to check on historical records of pelicans on Long Island. > I once saw a White Pelican sitting halfway up an Australian Pine - a weird > sight but the bird seemed to like it. I once saw a Peregrine Falcon swimming. It had downed a teal over Brigantine Marsh, and followed it right into the water! I didn't know that though, until it left the water... all I saw was a big falcon trying to stay afloat. Yet another weird sight. > Daan Sandee sandee@sun16.scri.fsu.edu > Supercomputer Computations Research Institute > Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4052 (904) 644-7045 -- -Greg Pasquariello grp@unify.com
jlevy@cbnewsd.att.com (janet.levy) (10/05/90)
In article <1990Oct2.174924@Unify.com>, grp@Unify.com (Greg Pasquariello) writes: > > The really odd thing about your siting, was that the pelican was > in a tree. Pelicans don't have feet that are well adapted to > perching on things like tree limbs. They are usually found > perched on flat surfaces. Also, even though you were only a > few blocks from the shore, I have _never_ seen (or even heard > of) a pelican that wasn't immediatly on the water! > I'd just like to say that your statement about pelicans in trees is probably usually true, but when I visit Ding Darling on Sanibel I often see pelicans in trees. The trees are very bushy, so maybe they have fairly good platforms to stand on - they are probably partially supported by their bodies as well. Janet Levy jsl@ihlpm.ATT.COM
rim@csadfa.cs.adfa.oz.au (Bob McKay) (10/05/90)
> In article <896@sun13.scri.fsu.edu>, sandee@sun16.scri.fsu.edu (Daan > Sandee) writes: > >> Brown Pelicans habitually sit on power lines. They kind of wrap their >> feet around them ; a common sight along bridges on Florida coasts. > There was an incident at Urunga in northern New South Wales ten years ago or so: the main power line supplying Northern NSW crosses a fairly wide estuary there, right next to a train line. A large flock of pelicans was sitting on the river when a train went by and frightened them. They took off and headed for a safe perch: yes, the umpty squillion kilovolt line. Well a couple of hundred full size pelicans weigh a lot - sufficient to bring the power lines down and black out northern NSW for quite some time. Must have been rather exciting for the waterskiers who also frequent that estuary. Bob McKay Phone: +61 6 268 8169 fax: +61 6 268 8581 Dept. Computer Science ACSNET,CSNET: rim@csadfa.cs.adfa.oz Aust. Defence Force Academy UUCP: ...!uunet!munnari!csadfa.cs.adfa.oz!rim Canberra ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA ARPA: rim%csadfa.cs.adfa.oz@uunet.uu.net