About a week and a half ago I was out with a fur-friend I had been taking care of for the weekend, enjoying a stroll down at the reservoir. Walking a dog and being on safety lookout for the cow moose that has been frequenting the neighborhood for a few weeks, I was a bit distracted from the enjoyment of the evening.

As we made our way eastward past the Town water treatment facility, my mind was finally at ease with open lines of sight devoid of any giant neighbors, and my eye finally caught a distinct and unique shape out on the water. Much to my surprise and enjoyment, there was an American White Pelican bobbing along the shore and soaking up the golden evening sunshine.

What often comes as a surprise (to me, too, when I first encountered them here many years ago), these majestic birds are no stranger to Colorado, nor most inland states with an abundance of open water. The mind is so ingrained with visions of their cousins, the Brown Pelicans, soaring and diving for fish along the nation’s shores, it becomes hard to wrap one’s head around any pelican 1500 miles or more from an ocean or saltwater bay.

I have enjoyed their company numerous times, mostly out on the prairie wetlands, and have even photographed a pod (the name for a flock of pelicans) floating on Lake Granby. My surprise in this experience was simply the fact that it was my first sighting on any of our local waters.

I have always wondered why we don’t enjoy their company in the summer, as we do with so many other water birds with a fondness for Colorado mountain trout. It’s not as though the immediate area is lacking in adequate bodies of water, though an overall decline in trout population might be deterring a greater presence. I say “adequate,” as a bird that size requires a long stretch of open water for take-off and landing.

Typically, the white pelicans migrate to a warmer coast in the winter, but if there is open water from which to feed, they may stay year-round. I wrote about them in a previous “Life in Nature” article that focused on a number I enjoyed observing and photographing a few years ago in January at Barr Lake, east of Brighton. Quite a comically ungainly bird in general when it comes to take-offs and landings, this crew was even funnier as they attempted to navigate these maneuvers on the ice surrounding the open water.

When we left the house for the walk, I had decided not to bring the camera, much to my chagrin, as I already know quite well the law of wildlife photography: that if the camera is not with you, you have a FAR greater chance of seeing the unbelievable, from animal behavior to Bigfoot. Thankfully my fur-friend had wrapped up all her essential needs by the time we encountered the pelican, and after a couple of quick (and not very good) phone photos for social media, we hastened home to grab the camera before sunset.

Upon my return, the bird had drifted quite far out on the water, likely avoiding the humans fishing the shores, and seemed to be enjoying a solid nap after what I am sure was a long day of travel.

American White Pelicans are a good bit larger than their brown cousins, and rank right next to the California Condor in terms of wingspan, so a migratory flight tends to involve more soaring than flapping. That said, it takes a LOT of flapping just to get airborne, which can take a lot out of a bird when you are talking about a cross-country trek. They are also “dabblers” – feeding upside down as ducks and geese do – and do not dive from the air like their cousins.

This helped add to my surprise, as white pelicans often live and travel in pods, which aids not only in general protection, but also in feeding. Pods will gather on the water in what is called a raft, herding the fish underneath them to allow for better chances of feeding.

While I am sure this bird was going to continue eastward to join its companions out on the prairie wetlands, it now has me wondering if we might be seeing more in the future. I was informed that there has been one sighted on Barker every year now for a few years (possibly this very same bird), likely enjoying the solitude of its route, but I wonder if it will spread the word about the beauty of its secret refuge that is Nederland, and we might enjoy future summers with more of these great habitants of air and water.

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