{"id":33832,"date":"2015-11-30T05:34:50","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T11:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=33832"},"modified":"2024-11-17T05:38:12","modified_gmt":"2024-11-17T11:38:12","slug":"a-trio-of-brown-pelicans-over-the-gulf-of-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/30\/a-trio-of-brown-pelicans-over-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"Trio of Brown Pelicans Over The Gulf of Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brown Pelicans are nearly as common in coastal Florida as Canada Geese<\/span><\/a> are here in Utah but they are birds and I find them all<\/em> appealing. I photographed Brown Pelicans often when I lived in Florida but looking back I know I wish I would have taken more images of them before I left the Gulf Coast to move out west.<\/p>\n

\"BrownBrown Pelicans and a Laughing Gull in an early morning flight – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 195mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Brown Pelicans plunge dive<\/span><\/a> to fish and it can be quite dramatic to see dozens of pelicans diving into the Gulf all at once. The morning that I created the image above was a bird photographer’s delight, or at least it was to me.<\/p>\n

Schools of small fish were running just off of the shore of Fort De Soto County Park<\/span><\/a> on a January morning and it caused a feeding frenzy for the pelicans, gulls and terns along with wading birds on the shoreline. I remember the sounds of the gulls calling, the pelicans splashing into the water and the smell of the salty breeze.<\/p>\n

I did take quite a few full frame images of individual birds but I also wanted to capture what some people call birdscapes by zooming back to capture several birds in a frame with the cloudy sky in the background. Some of those images didn’t work because I would have out of focus birds in the foreground but some did work out quite well.<\/p>\n

In this frame I only had one out of focus tern on the left side of the frame but it was in the distance and appears tiny so it doesn’t distract at all from the trio of Brown Pelicans and the single Laughing Gull. I know I could clone out the tern but I like it there because it was there<\/em> and I am not fond at all of the cloning brush.<\/p>\n

I have been very fond of this image of the trio of Brown Pelicans and the Laughing Gull since I first saw it on my screen and nearly six years later I still find myself quite pleased with it.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Brown Pelican photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brown Pelicans are nearly as common in coastal Florida as Canada Geese are here in Utah but they are birds and I find them all appealing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,143,25,704,2000],"tags":[4004,3994,4052,4122,4077,3995,4160,4158,4,706,373],"class_list":["post-33832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-brown-pelicans","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-brown-pelican","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-laughing-gull","tag-leucophaeus-atricilla","tag-pelecanus-occidentalis","tag-pelican","tag-pelicans","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelicans-feeding-mia-mcpherson-3718.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-8NG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":77420,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/06\/brown-pelicans-and-memories\/","url_meta":{"origin":33832,"position":0},"title":"Brown Pelicans And Memories","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Eleven years ago this morning I had an amazing time photographing flocks of Brown Pelicans plunge feeding in the Gulf of Mexico.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brown Pelicans in flight with gulls, terns and skimmers, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-skimmers-gulls-terns-mia-mcpherson-3638.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-skimmers-gulls-terns-mia-mcpherson-3638.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-skimmers-gulls-terns-mia-mcpherson-3638.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-skimmers-gulls-terns-mia-mcpherson-3638.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15705,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/08\/25\/brown-pelicans-flying-into-the-sunset-and-floating-on-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":33832,"position":1},"title":"Brown Pelicans flying into the sunset and floating on the Gulf of Mexico","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I worked up two older Brown Pelican images to share this morning taken at Fort De Soto in 2009 and 2008.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brown Pelican flying into the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/brown-pelican-sunset-florida-mia-mcpherson-7206.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/brown-pelican-sunset-florida-mia-mcpherson-7206.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/brown-pelican-sunset-florida-mia-mcpherson-7206.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/brown-pelican-sunset-florida-mia-mcpherson-7206.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7576,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/20\/brown-pelicans-on-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":33832,"position":2},"title":"Brown Pelicans on the Gulf of Mexico","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The forecast is calling for snow today and there is already a heavy cloud cover so looked back through my files and found some Brown Pelican images taken on a warm February morning in Florida to post today.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brown Pelicans on the Gulf of Mexico, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6017.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6017.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6017.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelican-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6017.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14546,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/11\/juvenile-brown-pelican-gliding-over-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":33832,"position":3},"title":"Juvenile Brown Pelican gliding over the Gulf of Mexico","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In Florida it was not uncommon for me to see Brown Pelicans gliding just barely above the surface of the Gulf of Mexico like the juvenile shown in my image.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Brown Pelican gliding over the Gulf of Mexico, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/brown-pelican-juvenile-gliding-mia-mcpherson-9129.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/brown-pelican-juvenile-gliding-mia-mcpherson-9129.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/brown-pelican-juvenile-gliding-mia-mcpherson-9129.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/brown-pelican-juvenile-gliding-mia-mcpherson-9129.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4754,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/09\/adult-brown-pelican-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":33832,"position":4},"title":"Adult Brown Pelican In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) were common year round along the Gulf coast when I lived in Florida. I would see them floating in the water, resting on sandbars and beaches, diving for prey and in flight.","rel":"","context":"In "Brown Pelicans"","block_context":{"text":"Brown Pelicans","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/pelicans\/brown-pelicans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Brown Pelican in flight, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/brown-pelican-flight-mia-mcpherson-8600.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/brown-pelican-flight-mia-mcpherson-8600.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/brown-pelican-flight-mia-mcpherson-8600.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/brown-pelican-flight-mia-mcpherson-8600.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15219,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/06\/16\/brown-pelican-double-decker\/","url_meta":{"origin":33832,"position":5},"title":"Brown Pelican Double-decker","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It's Monday and I didn't have any idea what to post this morning so I opted to present this image of two Brown Pelicans flying double-decker style over the Gulf of Mexico.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brown Pelican Double-Decker, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelicans-flight-florida-mia-mcpherson-3671.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelicans-flight-florida-mia-mcpherson-3671.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelicans-flight-florida-mia-mcpherson-3671.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/brown-pelicans-flight-florida-mia-mcpherson-3671.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}