Tree Swallows and White Pelicans

There I was, just casually heading to the store when they made me, made me, have to stop and get out into the wind. 14 American White Pelicans were floating on Lake Davis and feeding in the shallow water. They were so close I couldn't get the whole flock in the frame so I decided to just focus on one bird.



I walked down the bank and the whole flock decided to fly to the other side of the lake like something caught their attention. But I was now being surrounded by zooming little jewels. Tree Swallows were everywhere.



We had a strong cold front moving in and the wind was steady out of the Northwest. It is amazing that these little bird can find insects in such a wind, let along navigate against the 30 mph gusts pounding through every couple of minutes.



So they made me stop and stand in this cold, windy afternoon and try to capture their flashing colors. THey were easily using the gusts to perform hard banking moves to go back into the their foraging loops. Round and round.



The pelicans moved back around the lake and took some time out to preen directly in front of me. I couldn't tell if this guy was swallowing or regurgitating that head.



From out of the cypress trees a Yellow-rumped Warbler hopped along the sand for a couple seconds, grabbed a bug, and disappeared again.



It got so I could almost time some of the birds if I focused on a single bird and planned a little pre-focus. Still, it was hard to ignore the ones flying right past me.



Sometimes they even flew between by legs as I stood with feet wide apart to get some steadiness again the wind.



A couple hundred shots would have to be enough. I was getting too cold and I still had shopping to do. Plus, I will have to take time to look through all of these shots...