I’m shooting the La Jolla pelicans often this winter; see recent blog posts about La Jolla Pelicans as well as a gallery of my favorite brown pelican photos.
Our wonderful weather and bird activity continues. It’s the day after Christmas and the rest of the country remains freezing and in misery, travel is stubbornly difficult, yet Southern California has near-perfect weather for the Christmas holiday. I spent a few hours at Goldfish Point in La Jolla photographing California brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) again, to practice my bird photography. I bumped into a few buddies and it was nice to catch up. I thought Christmas Eve morning was good for bird photography on the cliffs — it was exceptional — but this morning may have been a little better, although I could have done without so many people. The near constant flight activity of the birds was a lot of fun and great to photograph, some of the best ops I have seen in 30 years in La Jolla. It has been getting better almost on a daily basis over the last several weeks. I was recently photographing in Bosque del Apache which is famous for huge numbers of birds, and this morning felt a little bit like BdA with hundreds of pelicans flying around in addition to thousands of cormorants returning from the ocean to the cliffs above the caves. Here are some of the images I was pleased with and kept from my efforts this morning. Click any one to go big. Cheers, and thanks for looking!
California brown pelican in flight, Goldfish Point, La Jolla
California brown pelican portrait, winter adult breeding coloration, Goldfish Point, La Jolla
California brown pelican, head throw, Goldfish Point, La Jolla
California brown pelican in flight, Goldfish Point, La Jolla
California brown pelican, adult winter breeding coloration, Goldfish Point, La Jolla
California brown pelican in flight, immature coloration, Goldfish Point, La Jolla
California brown pelican, preening, Goldfish Point, La Jolla
California brown pelican in flight, Goldfish Point, La Jolla
California brown pelican in flight, Goldfish Point, La Jolla
California brown pelican, adult winter breeding coloration, Goldfish Point, La Jolla
California brown pelican in flight, with tags on each leg, Goldfish Point, La Jolla
