Such a joy to watch! One morning recently, at a long lefthand point break down here in Kiwiland, surfing alone, I saw a big gannet come gliding in on an unbroken wave, tack in towards the curl then do a big swooping turn, one wingtip just skimming the glassy surface. Cheers Maz
One down in Half Moon Bay I watched from a bluff this flock of pelicans "surfing" the waves for about an hour. The waves were really walled up and the pelicans would come in at full speed just skimming the surface and pull out right before the wave closed out. Then they would circle around and repeat. I was really taken back by how knowledgeable they were about “surfing” the wave. You could really tell how much they enjoyed it. Great post.
Thanks for the snapshots of your close encounters of the bird kind in your neck of the woods.
I love it when they drop into a wave and cruise along with a trajectory just inside or outside of where I'm sitting. It reminds me of the beauty of riding waves.
definitely some of the best surfers around. not only that, it's pretty amazing that they don't brake their long necks with those high plummeting dives for fish. one was sitting next to me after such a dive in the line up yesterday. we were silently eyeing each other and i realized... i don't know if i've ever heard a pelican make a vocal sound. do they have any sort of call to each other like other birds do? or are they beyond that?
California...
Brown
Pelican.
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Such a joy to watch!
One morning recently, at a long lefthand point break down here in Kiwiland, surfing alone, I saw a big gannet come gliding in on an unbroken wave, tack in towards the curl then do a big swooping turn, one wingtip just skimming the glassy surface.
Cheers
Maz
One down in Half Moon Bay I watched from a bluff this flock of pelicans "surfing" the waves for about an hour. The waves were really walled up and the pelicans would come in at full speed just skimming the surface and pull out right before the wave closed out. Then they would circle around and repeat. I was really taken back by how knowledgeable they were about “surfing” the wave. You could really tell how much they enjoyed it. Great post.
Thanks for the snapshots of your close encounters of the bird kind in your neck of the woods.
I love it when they drop into a wave and cruise along with a trajectory just inside or outside of where I'm sitting. It reminds me of the beauty of riding waves.
definitely some of the best surfers around. not only that, it's pretty amazing that they don't brake their long necks with those high plummeting dives for fish. one was sitting next to me after such a dive in the line up yesterday. we were silently eyeing each other and i realized... i don't know if i've ever heard a pelican make a vocal sound. do they have any sort of call to each other like other birds do? or are they beyond that?
I love California pelicans. They almost went extinct when I was a kid, now there are thousands surfing up and down the coast.
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