Invasion of the Pelicans

We have lots of birds around the lake.  Egrets and blue herons feed in our little lagoon almost every day.  They stand very still on their long legs in the shallow water and every so often peck at the water, bringing up a small fish almost every time.

Today we had an invasion of American white pelicans, a species usually seen on the Gulf Coast.  I was sitting in the yard with my back to the water watching my step-son Paul and his two sons burning a stump when I heard a whooshing, splashing sound.  I though someone had driven up in a boat, but much to my surprise I found several hundred pelicans landing in Bethy Creek bay next to our property.  They swam back and forth across the bay for about a half hour apparently feeding on the fish.  Suddenly they started flapping and left as quickly as they had come.  It was quite an  unusual sight.

We saw a hawk in the persimmon tree in our back (lakeside) yard a couple of days ago, and I have heard there are bald eagles on the lake.  We'll keep a lookout for them.