Day after Thanksgiving is the start of pelican season in northwest Pennsylvania. “Season” meaning, of course, highly unlikely to see any pelicans here since both North American species (American White and Brown) are rare. So, a lot of excitement the last couple weeks with repeated reported sightings (general public + eBird) of a Brown Pelican all over Erie bayfront – East Ave, N/S Piers, Dobbins Landing, and so on. And with that, with the holiday over and little/no precipitation Friday, it was time for a pelican hunt!
From BirdingPI.com staff, proposed methods for pelican hunting: (i) pelican decoys on the back bay; (ii) broadcasting pelican calls over a car stereo or ‘boombox;’ (iii) network of aerial drones; (iv) bloodhounds; & (v) Amber Alert. In the end, it was decided to go with a more advanced investigative technique: go where the bird was last seen.
Starting with, East Ave Boat Launch under cold and extremely (!) windy conditions. Different views towards South Pier and Presque Isle State Park and North Pier:
Play a game of “spot the pelican:”
Finally at East Ave, “Cormorant Island,” where there was a gull or two and, well, cormorants:
No pelicans sighted at East Ave Boat Launch. With that, and in light of the bad weather, it was time to move on to stage 2 of the search.
This Team Member saw it, just after the Team Leader headed to the coffee shop! Too bad, Team Leader. It was really big and brown. And it looked just like one! Or was that a dirt spot on the lens?
Hummm
But you gave it a good go!
Do not mock! The hunt is on! Stay tuned for amazing pelican content.