I've previously seen American white pelicans in southern Florida. We recently saw them swimming individually, then standing in large groups on land and flying, at the Tule Lake NWR in northeastern California, near the Oregon border.
The Klamath Basin IBA (Important Bird Area) includes Tule Lake NWR, Lower Klamath NWR, both on the floor of the Klamath Basin, and Clear Lake NWR on the edge of the Modoc Plateau, to the east, which drains into the basin. It includes both of California's last remaining colonies of American white pelicans.
I've included some of my photos.
I hope they are doing OK with all the fires
ReplyDeleteIt was so fun to see the large group. I've only seen one or two pelicans at a time before this sighting. It's nice to know they live in a group, but very sad that there are only two colonies left in California.
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