One of the more unexpected fallouts of Hurricane Sandy were a significant number of White Pelicans reported in New England – one in ME, 3 in NH, 2 in MA, and several sightings of at least 1 in CT. I’ve only had White Pelican in MA, so all those other sightings are pretty exciting. But most are of flybys or are otherwise not readily chaseable. But one seemed to be quite reliable at Rocky Neck State Park in CT. So I called my NH birding buddy Denny Abbott early in the morning and told him of the pelican sighting - he needed it for CT too. So we hatched a plan that if the bird was seen again that morning we would make the trek south. And sure enough the bird was reported early in the morning on the listserve, so within a few minutes Denny, Davis Finch, and I were heading south.
With excellent directions from some local birders we went right to the correct spot in the park and instantly saw the bird. It was sleeping in the marsh, apparently in the same spot it had been for a couple days. Was it sick or injured due to the storm? I’ve inserted below a couple less than exciting phone-scoped photos.
I’ve seen White Pelican in most central and western states where it’s pretty easy to find (but what’s up with OR?), and I’ve seen it in a number of eastern states where it’s a regular wanderer.
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