Pelicans

The Weather Underground website predicted afternoon rain today.  So I shied away from a hike in the foothills and kept close to home by walking beside the nearby reservoir.  When I arrived at water's edge, I saw two majestic pelicans on the wing.  To my vexation, by the time I fumbled to retrieve my digital camera from my day pack and take aim, the only picture I could capture was of one of the birds departing.

For this small, grainy, and generally amateurish image, I apologize to my far-flung readership (especially my loyal blog followers from Ukraine, who deserve much better in their time of turmoil).  It's difficult to tell head from tail in this picture.  The picture could just as well be showing a headless bird with a skinny, white tail -- or perhaps a sort of strange bird-like drone -- flying to the left.

As I circled the reservoir, I came across a whole flock of pelicans.  From Wikipedia: "American white pelicans like to come together in groups of a dozen or more birds to feed, as they can thus cooperate and corral fish to one another."  Three of the birds had finished their meal and were ready for a bit of exercise.

 Here is a close-up photo from the Internet that shows a pelican showing off.

As I was returning home from the reservoir, I passed by a school parking lot and discovered a different kind of pelican.