Pelicans and Other Shore Birds

This gallery is a collection of pictures of shore birds from several trips during July and August 2011 to South Carolina. On the first trip, professional photographer Eric Horan took my friend Ernie Kale and me on trip down the Calibogue Sound. We left the Pinkney Wildlife Bridge at Hilton Head at sunrise and traveled down the sound to Tomkins Island, which is a bird sanctuary/rookery near Tybee Island. Literally thousands of pelicans, royal and sandwich terns, gulls and other birds nest on the island. We saw white pelicans there. Eric indicated that it was unusual to see them there at that time of the year. We also crusied along Daufuskie Island while returning to Hilton Head. Second, Ernie and I took shots on Fripp Island as part of our tour of rural South Carolina (see gallery). Finally, I was in Hilton Head with my daughter and her family. My daughter and I rode bicycles out to the eastern-most end of the island at low tide. There were several hundred pelicans gathered there on sand bars exposed by the low tide. We were able to wade out and get close to them. I have also included a few pictures we took on Hilton Head at the docks near Hudson's Restaurant and a few osprey pictures from the Jordan Lake area.

I have always admired the gracefulness of brown pelicans in flight, It was a joy to be able to get close to the and take some shots other than the ones you can get while on the beach. It is also fun to see all the other birds and appreciate their beauty and complexity up close.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.