Thieving Gull

While I was out to lunch with my brother and SIL yesterday, we not only enjoyed our meal, we also enjoyed quite a view--some sports fishermen had come in with their catch and shared a bit with this brown pelican---

A laughing gull saw the transaction and swooped down--

in an effort to steal the remnants for himself---
 

he swooped closer...

and closer---

and then I turned my head and missed it but, according to my brother and SIL, the gull was successful...so the pelican flew off--

"Avast ye land lubbers! Thar's pirates 'round here!"

I just love restaurants on the water. The entertainment can't be beat!

Waterfront Park and Pier

It seems that I mostly take advantage of what our area has to offer when we have out of town visitors with us for a few days. This time was no exception.

The Waterfront Park and Pier has been in my town for about 3 years now. This was my first time going down there. I was not disappointed. We had a view of the underside of the bridge to Charleston.

We had a nice view of the city, the Columbus Street port, and a sailboat---

I love tugboats. I have thought that one of the coolest jobs in the world would be to captain a tugboat since I was a wee little girl.

It was an actual thrill for me to see one in the harbor while at the park.

AND, to top it off, a freighter came along.

It was headed to the port where the husband works so we got to watch it come through the harbor and go around the bend. The tug right along side of it...

And a catamaran.

These three pelicans came flying by- I was able to get one of them in flight.

We had a nice view of the Yorktown also---

And then these guys were gettin' busy under the bridge---rock pigeons, perhaps?

All in all,  a nearly perfect day!

Neglectful

That's me. When it comes to this poor, sweet little birdie blog. But I'm going to try and do better. I've been trying to get my proverbial ducks in a row. Ha! Good luck with that!

We dodged a bullet with hurricane Irene and, instead of running for our lives, we were able to enjoy some lovely skies and sunset.

We also saw some brown pelicans out flying around. INTO the wind for goodness sakes. They made headway, but it was a struggle!

These were taken from Sullivan's Island, SC- at the entrance to Charleston Harbor.

Word Bird Wednesday: Pelican

I really look forward to Wednesday because of Springman's Word Bird Wednesday over at The Pine River Review!  It's a great way to see and share bird photos from all over the world- and the pictures are fabulous!  Come and join in the fun- I assure you that you will not be disappointed.

Yesterday, I saw 23+ Vultures at the ponds--Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures.  It was quite interesting- all those vultures in one place.  Every time we approached, they would fly off and that whomp, whomp, whomp of their wings was almost eerie sounding.  They rarely all gathered together, although, at one point, 19 of them were in the same area.  And, in the midst of them all, a Pelican kept going from group to group.  I think it is an American White Pelican- I am basing this on an internet search (and by internet search I mean I googled pelicans).  You can see the vultures on Monday's post.   

AND NOW FOR THE EDIT:  I got the darn bird wrong.  AGAIN.  Thank you Dixxe and Blobby for helping out and identifying the pelican as a BROWN!  I will get these creatures right.  One day.  I'm sure.  I hope.  Maybe.  LOL