Squadrons soaring above us
American White Pelicans in flight
Photo: Carroll Henderson
This is often a melancholic time of year, at least for this Phenologist and a certain donkey. Summers abundance of and exuberance for light and life is slowly but steadily giving way to darkness and lethargy of the season that shall not be named lest it be interpreted as a premature summons to appear. It is therefore with a certain amount of ambivalence that I watch squadrons of pelicans, mostly soaring, travel down the river valley. They are poster birds for the Snowbird phenomenon. American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) winter along the Gulf Coast and many (possibly 20% of the worlds breeding population) travel to Minnesota to raise their young. Pelicans begin to breed in their third year, are monogamous and are colonial nesters. This means that they nest in large colonies, sometimes consisting of thousands of birds.
It is with a sense of awe that I watch these large birds soar with a grace that I have never attained by foot or mouth. To watch a squadron of 60 pelicans soaring in formation, turning in amongst themselves, still in formation, emerging and continuing downriver is a sky ballet that the Navys Blue Angels could never hope to duplicate. I love watching them even though I know they are helping to pull the season closed behind them.
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