Got Pelicans?

[HawgWild]

I do, right outside. (Picture taken from my living room window today.)


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[JaketheSnake]

Saw some arnd Christmas in Dardanelle.  Weird

[old hog]

Seen out on lake Conway in recent weeks. Seems they flock together in cold, icy weather. Similar to deer herding up in inclement winter weather.

[Rzbakfromwaybak]

Must have something to do with the cold, snow, sleet, ice, etc...caused by all this global warming/climate change.....probably be seeing Palm & Coconut trees sprouting up along the highways in Arkansas & Missouri before long....

[HawgWild]

Had three Trumpeter Swans over the weekend and a pair of Bald Eagles hanging out most of the winter as well. It's been like Wild Kingdom out here. 

[PonderinHog]

Had three Trumpeter Swans over the weekend and a pair of Bald Eagles hanging out most of the winter as well. It's been like Wild Kingdom out here. 

Where is "here?"

[XX]

Where is "here?"

Stalking?

[PonderinHog]

Stalking?

Pelicans are tasty.   

[HawgWild]

Where is "here?"

In central Arkansas.

[Frankycottonrow]

Pelicans are here every winter. Mostly stay on River but go to ponds to feed. We have droves on our pond every yr

[HawgWild]

Pelicans are here every winter. Mostly stay on River but go to ponds to feed. We have droves on our pond every yr

I've seen large groups on Lake Conway before but never this many on the lake where I live. Here's another picture of them going after a Commorant that was horning in on their fishing.



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[Hawgon]

I saw three swans last weekend

[HawgWild]

Me too. Three Trumpeters. But this is the best shot I could get of them. They only hung around for one day.



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[titsonboar]

Awesome

[cal34]

Cool, I have been taking pictures with a super telephoto lens of the Pelicans on Lake Conway from my kayak since the fall.  They left around the end of December and came back.  There are a few hundred hanging out in Palarm creek bay and other groups scattered around the lake now.  There's probably 150+ over by Wilhelmina cove subdivision.  There are at least 5 large Bald Eagle nests on the lake and I get pictures of them year round.  I take all my pictures around Lake Conway and Grassy lake, sometimes Maumelle.  I even got some of a banded Pelican Dec.12th on Conway.  I reported the band number & emailed the pictures and the biologist that banded the bird as a chick in North Dakota emailed me back.  It was banded in the summer of 2000.  I have thousands of close ups of them doing just about anything. Here's one of the shots of the banded one.

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[Rzbakfromwaybak]

Cool, I have been taking pictures with a super telephoto lens of the Pelicans on Lake Conway from my kayak since the fall.  They left around the end of December and came back.  There are a few hundred hanging out in Palarm creek bay and other groups scattered around the lake now.  There's probably 150+ over by Wilhelmina cove subdivision.  There are at least 5 large Bald Eagle nests on the lake and I get pictures of them year round.  I take all my pictures around Lake Conway and Grassy lake, sometimes Maumelle.  I even got some of a banded Pelican Dec.12th on Conway.  I reported the band number & emailed the pictures and the biologist that banded the bird as a chick in North Dakota emailed me back.  It was banded in the summer of 2000.  I have thousands of close ups of them doing just about anything. Here's one of the shots of the banded one.

Wow...great picture of those 3 birds.

Did you ever get back to those beaver dams that had all the bones on top?  Interested to hear more about that place. 

[cal34]

I went out there last week and took duck and heron pictures but the water was to low to get in there where the lodge was.  After this snow and rain it should be fine.  I will try to get out there this weekend if its nice out.  I'm about to get a gopro and put it out next to the beaver lodges while i'm out there taking pictures then pick it up at dusk.  I might buy a cheap trail cam and leave it out there.

[HawgWild]

Great picture cal34. What was your lens? I was shooting with an old Nikon 500mm, f8 fixed aperture reflex. Which GoPro are you looking to get?

[cal34]

Thanks, Im using a Canon 300 2.8L IS with the 2x extender. Haven't figured out which Gopro to get yet,  I bounce back and forth between the black and silver.  I like the wide angle photos they take and I have to look at more photos taken by the Silver edition to decide.  I have a Galaxy s4 so I can use the app for the remote.  I stopped at the small lake at Wilhelmina Cove subdivision today and the Pelicans were swimming within 15 feet of the boats.  I also got some shots of one eating a big fish.  I take alot of pictures on lake Conway.  I might post one of them with the fish.

[cal34]

Hard to believe they can swallow fish this big.  Im ready for some sunny weather,  i always catch birds doing something cool when the light sucks lol.  There are quite a few hanging out by the Big dam bridge if anyone is interested in seeing them.  Hawgwild;  that is funny about them chasing off the Cormorant,  i like watching the Pelicans fight over stumps to perch on and once the gulls start diving for fish all the Pelicans rush over there.  The Herons, Egrets also bicker all day but spend the night in the same tree, pretty funny. You are lucky to live on a lake so you can see the birds regularly.  Great thread!

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[HawgWild]

Another nice photo!

I'm surprised the Pelicans let you get so close. Every time I walk out of my house and down towards the lake they paddle off; and they can paddle pretty fast.

Yes. it is convenient to be able to view them from inside our home. We also have a pair of Bald Eagles nearby which make regular appearances.

I'm thinking about getting a GoPro to place down on a small cove where ducks and Great Blue Herons hang out.

Post more

[cal34]

It just depends on what they are doing if they will let you get close.  The ones that feed at the hwy 89 bridge will swim right around the people fishing.  Most of them out on the lake that I get from the boat will let me hang out at about 20 yards all day if I wanted.  The Blue herons and egrets are pretty easy to get around Brannon Landing during the summer.  There's also a Heron rookery in Grassy lake that I visit & i can paddle right under them all day.  You could set up a Gopro on one of those stumps in the cove and probably get all kinds of birds beside it.  I'm ready for the little green herons to get back here.  This picture is from the big bay beside Tokusen off I-40.  They are slow so they are pretty easy to get flying shots of.  I downsized it some but it should still look ok.

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