I’d heard some reports of American White Pelicans visiting Lake Davis in downtown Orlando. When MK confirmed they were there, we agreed to meet last Tuesday morning for a walk and a look-see.
They’re winter visitors in Florida and I often spot them at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge over on the coast. I didn’t realize their stops at our in-shore lakes are as common as they seem to be now. In addition to Lake Davis, Wally Jones writes in his blog about a pod of them in downtown Lakeland on Lake Morton.
White Pelicans are interesting. According to this article, they can have wingspans up to nine and a half feet, making them some of the largest birds in North America. And they often feed together in small groups, herding fish in front of them. Here’s a video MK made of this behavior:
The Pelicans were somewhere else during our walk, but MK has seen them since – so if you don’t catch them the first time, it might be worth another visit. Since I missed them that day, I’ll have to cheat a bit and use a photo of one that I made over in Merritt Island last December:
We did see many other birds that morning including some Mallards:
Many Wood Ducks:
A few Ring-necked Ducks:
And even a family of these strange looking (to me at least) Egyptian Geese.
The Egyptian Goose is native to the Middle East but humans have helped them spread around the world. They’ve been in Florida since the 1960s and as recently as 2009, Florida Fish and Wildlife didn’t think they bred outside of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. See this article for more info : http://wildsouthflorida.com/egyptian.goose.html.
Lake Davis is a lovely surprise hiding in downtown Orlando and a wonderful place for a walk! This search will bring up other posts on the blog about the area: https://edrosack.com/?s=lake+davis.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Take care of yourselves and each other. And if you (peli)can – make some photos!
©2021, Ed Rosack and MK Rosack. All rights reserved
You always share such fun places to explore in the area! Thank you, Ed. very nice images, too!
You’re welcome Dorothy. And thank you for stopping by and leaving such a nice comment!
Lake Davis is a nice find, Ed! Urban parks and lakes can offer some nice surprises.
Very good series of photographs!
Thanks for the shout out.
Thank you Wally, and you’re welcome!