Summer Pelicans at Eagle Bluffs

American white pelicans breed on lakes across the Northern Plains and Great Basin of North America.  Come autumn, they migrate southward, often using staging areas along the way.  Pelicans that breed east of the Rockies generally winter along the Gulf Coast or lower Mississippi Valley while Great Basin pelicans head for the Central Valley of California, the Salton Sea, or coastal bays of Southern California and Mexico.  Some permanent, non-migratory colonies inhabit Florida, Texas and Mexico.

American white pelicans are not sexually mature until their third year.  Some of the young, non-breeding birds stay on their wintering grounds for the first two years while others migrate northward with the adults.  In either case, non-breeding white pelicans tend to wander about during the summer months and may turn up at attractive feeding sites throughout much of the U.S.

Indeed, a flock of American white pelicans has been present at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, in Central Missouri, over the past week and, as of this morning, their number had increased to 67.  While this summer flock is rather large (based on my experience), the total population of white pelicans has been steadily increasing over the past 50 years due to DDT elimination, hunter education and favorable habitat development (i.e. fish-stocked reservoirs).  It is thus likely that summer flocks of these magnificent birds will become increasingly large and widespread in the future (unless global warming decimates their breeding and fishing lakes).

A Formal Sendoff

Preparing to leave for Missouri this morning, I heard the distinctive call of an olive-sided flycatcher in the "backyard" of our Littleton, Colorado, farm.  Sure enough, the large-headed silhouette of that summer mountain resident occupied the end of a dead limb; he would intermittently dart out to snare a flying insect before returning to the same perch.  Though formally known as the olive-sided flycatcher, I have long thought he should be called the "tuxedo flycatcher" since his greenish-brown flanks part to reveal a vertical white band on his chest and abdomen.

Passing through the urban corridor on his way to the mountains, this insectivore will spend the summer near forest clearings or along the alpine timberline where he and his mate will aggressively defend their nest (usually placed in a conifer) from all intruders.  Olive-sided flycatchers breed from Alaska to eastern Canada and southward through the Western Mountains and higher stretches of the Appalachians; come September, they will head for wintering grounds in Central and South America.

As for ourselves, we left the farm by early afternoon and enjoyed sunny, mild weather as far east as central Kansas.  There, however, we encountered severe thunderstorms and stopped for the night in Hays, where tornado sirens sent us to the first floor hallway; fortunately, we escaped the brunt of the storms, receiving torrential rain and intense lightening.  Indeed, as I write this post, a spectacular light display continues to our east, promising more stormy weather when we reach Missouri.