I have a new passion: Brown Pelicans! They are so beautiful, so gracious. I love how they fly in perfect formation and how they plunge-dive to catch small fish, coming very close to the shore, sharing the space with swimmers and surfers. It’s an awesome spectacle. I’m glad they are no longer in extinction!

This is how the Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes the Brown Pelican:

“The Brown Pelican is a comically elegant bird with an oversized bill, sinuous neck, and big, dark body. Squadrons glide above the surf along southern and western coasts, rising and falling in a graceful echo of the waves. They feed by plunge-diving from high up, using the force of impact to stun small fish before scooping them up. They are fairly common today—an excellent example of a species’ recovery from pesticide pollution that once placed them at the brink of extinction.”

I shall improve on my shots of these lovely birds, but for now here’s some I took last Friday in Santa Monica.