The Pelicans of Pelican

I am sitting in my study looking out the window at gale force winds, intermittent sunshine in between heavy rain squalls and a temperature of 11 degrees celsius. I have my fav tibetan beanie on to warm my bald pate! We are in winter here in Australia but, yesterday was the most gloriously mild day with clear blue skies from horizon to horizon and I am so glad that I made the most of yesterday afternoon for a couple of hours.

I visited Pelican. A small community on the eastern shore of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales. It has lovely parkland along the shore complete with free public BBQs, boat ramps and a to die for view across the lake.

I am always drawn to the Lake on Sunset. The gorgeous golden hues and haze that hangs over the distant hills. Each set of hills casting its' own shadow as it approaches the far shore before meeting the water which glows from the reflection of the gold in the sky.

And then, there are the Pelicans at Pelican.

If you hadn't noticed, I love Pelicans. So ungainly waddling around on shore with their short stumpy legs and huge beaks. But, get them into water and they are so graceful as they swim. Put them in the air and they are even more graceful still, gliding lazily on updrafts with large outstretched wings.

I met up with these as they sunned themselves on the park boat ramp. I approached slowly and quietly but a couple were spooked and took off; much to my excitement, as I was able to aim and shoot to get a couple of wonderful take off shots. I walked up the shoreline a short way to a clump of trees where I used the trees to frame a couple of shots across the water.

When I returned to the boat ramp, there was a fisherman there cleaning his catch and throwing the fishguts and cut off bits to the Pelicans. It was inevitable that we were joined by some seagulls 'mine....mine....' who were doing their aerobatics to catch the fish as he was throwing them. I managed to get a couple of awesome silhouette shots of the seagulls in mid flight against the glow of the sunset.

I hope you enjoy this series, and that you are all well as am I.

Regards

 Jordy

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