Pelicans and Cormorants, Gilbert AZ

American pelicans: I’ve seen them many times at Lockport Dam. I’ve even featured them in a video.

But I had never seen them at the Gilbert Water Ranch. So although I have lots of photos of big white birds standing around and checking the undercarriage, I took a few more.

However, I prefer bird-in-motion shots when I can get ’em. It was a beautiful morning, the pelicans were flouncing about a bit, so I got some of those photos too.

Although I appreciated the flurry of activity, after a while I did begin to wonder what it was all about. My binoculars were at home, so I used my camera for distance viewing.

Interesting. The pelicans seemed to be trailing around after the cormorants. As I watched more closely, I could see that when a cormorant dove, some nearby pelicans would rush over in a great flutter.

Were the big white birds using the small black birds to identify the good fishing spots?

Umm, not exactly . . .

So, what kind of day was it at the Gilbert Water Ranch? That depends on your point of view. For the fish? Unambiguously bad. For the pelicans and the cormorants? Business as usual, I think. For me? One of my best days.