Beware of the Pelican!
I’ve always had a deep respect for the pelicans of this world. Sitting on a park bench quietly eating my picnic lunch (a meat pie from a wonderful bakery across the road) it was quite disconcerting to have an Australian Pelican waddle up and stand only a metre in front of us and eyeball us – or at least our lunch.
Snail over at A Snail’s Eye View writes poetically about pelicans. Then she goes and shatters the peace by including a video of a London park dwelling pelican with a taste for pigeons!
Check it out here:
- A Wonderful Bird is the Pelican. Be warned – the video clip is not for those with delicate stomachs.
A related article I have written about aggressive birds can be found by clicking here.
Favourite Birding Spot #5 St Kilda
1 Comment »9th September, 2006; Category: Favourite Birding Spots, Herons and Egrets, Migratory birds, Pelicans, Seabirds, Shorebirds, Spoonbills, Stilts and Avocets, Waterbirds
Black-Winged Stilt
I have only recently visited St Kilda and Barker Inlet north of Adelaide for the first time, but already it is becoming a favourite birding spot of mine. Access to the area is very easy being just a few kilometers off the main highway heading north from Adelaide (the Port Wakefield road). There is a large car parking area, a large lawned picnic area, an interesting Adventure Playground (for the ankle biters – teens might even like it), a fast food outlet, boat ramp and a well kept clean public toilet block.
At low tide the tidal mudflats stretch for many kilometres along the coast. On top of the rock wall protecting the boat channel out to deeper water is an excellent walking path. This enables one to walk far out from the beach, perhaps nearly a kilometre. This allows one to get close to the birds feeding on the mudflats.
On my few visits I have observed many Black Winged Stilts (see photo above), Sooty and Pied Oystercatchers, Australian Pelicans, White Ibis, Great and Little Egrets, Black Swans and Royal Spoonbills. On my visits I have seen, far out from the shore, what looked like thousands of Grey Teal. I also recorded several Chestnut-Breasted Shelducks.
An added bonus for the birder at St Kilda is the Mangrove Boardwalk nearby. I have written about this here. Of course, my visits have been in early spring. I dare say, as the weeks progress, many migratory waders will arrive here for the summer months.
Related articles:
Updated Nov 2013.
Pelican Attacks
While watching the local news last night I was interested in one item relating to birds. At Waikerie in the Riverland area of South Australia two people were on the river bank fishing. According to the report one of the local pelicans came up and attacked the person fishing from his wheelchair, knocking him into the water. The victim’s friend came to the rescue, holding his head out of the water with one hand while ringing for an ambulance with his free hand.
This is not an isolated incident. Years ago I heard of a rogue pelican at Renmark, about an hour’s drive upstream from Waikerie. This pelican had been harassing people have picnics on the lawns in front of the hotel. There was even a report of a small dog being eaten by this pelican.
More recently, my daughter-in-law nearly lost her lunch when confronted by a pelican on the riverfront lawns at Mannum, which is further downstream. It was quite scarey for all of us sitting on the picnic seat. A fully grown pelican is quite a confronting beast about a metre from your face!
Australian Pelican
Related articles:
- Beware of the pelican
- Pelicans, Shelducks and Teal
- Australian Pelicans
- Pelicans – a list of articles about pelicans from my archives.