By Bruce Stambaugh
February 5, 2022
A note from Bruce Stambaugh: As part of showing some friends from Ohio around Fernandina Beach, my wife and I drove to Old Town on January 27. We parked in the small parking lot that overlooks the Amelia River. Suddenly, a small flock of American While Pelicans landed along the edge of the river at the bluff’s base. Being an avid birder, I was thrilled to find these normally allusive beauties floating right before us.
I snapped these photos of the birds five seconds apart. In that short time, a seventh pelican joined the original group. Their synchronized feeding captured our attention. Soon, more white pelicans arrived, formed a wedge, and swam up and down the river in their synchronized foraging pattern.
Editor’s Note: Bruce Stambaugh is a retired Ohio public school administrator who lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia, with his wife, Neva. She is a retired teacher. Bruce also recently retired from writing a weekly newspaper column after nearly 23 years. They frequently spend several winter weeks on Amelia Island. Bruce enjoys hiking, birding, and photography on Egans Creek Greenway and Crane Island, and they both enjoy the fresh Mayport shrimp and other fresh seafood served at several local eateries. We thank Bruce for his contribution to the Fernandina Observer.
Nice sequence of photos showing the intelligence and collaboration of these beautiful animals. A few weeks ago, I saw egrets, ibises, and herons all working together at Spoonbill Pond to school small fish into shallows to then gobble up. We have a lot to learn from the natural world.
Reflected on Marks comment…..seems the builders and the Town/County Fathers are doing a very nice job schooling and gobbling up the transplants with all the new housing(15,000 houses soon out at Wildlite~~~NOT a typo folks……15,000 houses!!) Just remember……sitting in endless traffic…..Greed is Good!