Pelicans, Turnstones, Monarchs and Masses of Fish

There was quite a gathering of wildlife this morning at Ft. Morgan Beach. Just offshore from the point of land where Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico meet, more than 300 pelicans gathered as large schools of fish swam in the shallows. Snowy egrets, gulls, terns, turnstones, sanderlings, and humans fishing, made for quite a beautiful experience at the beach.

So many pelicans were dive-bombing fish schools that it appeared to be a tangle of wings, feathers and pouches as they feasted. Monarch butterflies were launching from the beach probably hoping to ride the north wind to Mexico. I don’t know how they dodged the mass of brown feathers and webbed feet whirling through the sky but they did. I watched as they fluttered furiously, miraculously missing what I thought was certain dunking from ravenous birds.

About 85% of the mass of pelicans was first-year birds. Very few adults were present. It was Fishing 101 for young pelicans.

Other shorebirds in attendance didn’t get in the way of the pouched-wonders. Sandwich and royal terns, laughing gulls, great blue herons, snowy egrets and ruddy turnstones all enjoyed the buffet but stayed carefully out of the way of the mass of large birds.

One of the humans present threw out a cast net and completely filled it with fish. So many that he couldn’t bring the net to the beach. I’m not sure what was the cause but something was creating this mass of fish in shallow waters. But birds and humans weren’t the only ones enjoying it. Several bottlenose dolphin arrived to claim their fare share.

I sat quietly on the beach, photographing in amazement. I finally stopped and just watched, witnessed the unique experience. It was great seeing so many pelicans and fish and I truly hope that chemical exposure from the oil spill won’t kill future generations as it moves through the DNA. We don’t know what the future holds really. But for today, I enjoyed the absolute beauty of this beach and its lively residents.