I confess to never having paid much attention...

to birds before I came here... or before I had a lens that allowed me to get close enough to see their intriguing features. Now I notice them more often. Pelicans, especially, have continued to fascinate me since I first looked up from my wanderings along the shoreline to see one perched on a huge driftwood log not more than thirty feet away. He must have been a good three feet tall. Pelicans do look large, even skimming the water close to the shoreline, but seeing one at close proximity for the first time comes as a shock. Their wingspan can be as wide as ten feet across. Beyond the impact of their size, pelicans seem always to remind me of their ancient roots; there is a very prehistoric, pterodactyl-like look about a pelican in flight.

Sandpipers and snowy plovers feed at water's edge.
It's a constant running game: chase the waves, grab a
few bites and run back before the next wave catches you.

Sea gulls watch the waves, or tuck their heads into
their feathers for a quick nap. The gulls here come in
shades of gray and brown as well as the typical white.

Pelicans often fly low over the water in formation,
like planes in a reconnaissance patrol.

A pelican glides toward a wet landing. The area was
full of fish on this day; this flock spent over an hour
feasting and floating here.

Snowy plovers run from an approaching wave. These
tiny, short-legged birds look like a video in fast-
forward when they're in retreat.

A lone gull braces itself against buffeting winds on
a particularly blustery day. I found only two birds
while walking the entire length of the beach.

Visitors from the far north, these royal terns take a break
from their migratory flight to rest and watch incoming waves.

Four snowy plovers feed at water's edge. With their
meals a constant pattern of advance and retreat,
there's no falling asleep at the table here.

A lone sandpiper wades into the
late afternoon tide.