Geronimo!!!!

You can almost hear the pelican yelling this as he prepares to enter the ocean at speed, head first. This is something I've been wanting to photograph but hadn't been quick enough until today. I found myself back at Redington Beach again but with far fewer birds today - perhaps because of a strong wind off the ocean? Anyhoo... I decided to sit for a while and see what developed and I was soon rewarded with several pelicans fishing out over the ocean. This was was flying by and I was following him with the lens when he suddenly stopped in mid-air, hovered for a fraction of a second and then dove. And I got almost all of it on the camera! (And, yes, he was successful and even managed to eat his catch without any pesky gulls on his head.)

I am not sure exactly what it is about pelicans that is so fascinating, but I know that many of you share my feelings about them. They look almost prehistoric and when they are on land, they are so ungainly - but when they take to the air ... oh my! I am sure I could watch them for hours.

I posted 5 other shots on Flickr, starting HERE - a laughing gull, two more shots of the diving peli, a tern and a puffball egret.

Friday ... which means that tomorrow is Saturday and Hubs and I will spend the day together. It's his 53rd birthday so we'll have a nice dinner somewhere. Haven't decided if we'll head north towards Tarpon Springs or south towards Bradenton tomorrow - guess I'll do a bit more research and make a last-minute decision. The high is only forecast to be 65F tomorrow, so rather cool. Which will be nice for a change!

Happy Halloween, people... and thank you, as always, for stopping by.

Debbi