Well, I’ll be! Pelicans in Iowa! Reader Peter Nothnagle sends the details:
I joined some friends this past Sunday, September 21, for a late-season boat ride around Coralville Lake in eastern Iowa. There were countless gulls, cormorants, herons, egrets, and especially, pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchus) to be seen.
The pelicans had an interesting feeding strategy. They would cruise along together, and then suddenly, as one, all stick their heads under water. The three attached photos tell the tale.
Pelicans cruising:
All together now. . .
Reader Joe Dickinson reminds us to notice the beauty in small creatures:
I have for your consideration this morning a lovely snail (genus Helix?) found cruising across a parking lot near my usual spot by Rio del Mar (California). It had been raining and the gold tones in the wet shell reminded me of a green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) that I photographed in the Galapagos a few years ago.
Finally, photos of my favorite urban wildlife, squirrels. Reader Victor Hutchinson, an emeritus professor of biology at the University of Oklahoma, sent me the story of his tamed squirrels (fox squirrels [Sciurus nigra], a native species). Notice the details that only a biologist would include!:
I thought you might be interested in the squirrels I have ‘tamed’ on the University of Oklahoma campus (photos attached).
Over the past few years I have been feeding the squirrels. Now when I call them, using a sound familiar to birders, they come running down tree trunks to get shelled pecans. Some have learned to climb my leg to get the treat. Their claws do not penetrate my jeans and their front feet, when holding on, do not claw my fingers. I hold the pecan between a folded index finger and thumb with the pecan part sticking out. I have only been bitten twice, when another squirrel jumped on my leg to attack one getting the treat. Over time four different squirrels (three females and a male) have learned to come up to me while I sit on a bench and sit on my knee to get the food (see attached photo). I recently have been able to stroke their head and backs, which they seem to enjoy.
Surprisingly, some squirrels have learned to recognize me among thousands of people walking on campus, even when I am not calling them nor have food displayed. Some will actually follow me for some distance until someone says something like, ‘there is something following you.’ How they can pick me out on a campus full of students is unknown.
Students often ask if they can feed the squirrels. My answer is always: ‘Yes, but only if you drop the food near them and do not try to hold the food for them to take. They have sharp claws and teeth and can hurt.” The local squirrels do not ‘beg’ for food from passing persons. Only when they see food being offered do they approach.
The female squirrel in the photo and pictured on my knee is an unusual brown, not seen in the other fox squirrels on campus.
He can pet them! Dr. Victor must be flush, and a great lover of squirrels, to feed his charges shelled pecans. Not only are those nuts hideously expensive, but the squirrels don’t even have to crack them!
Very cool, love the squirrels!
What will happen if mice have flashy furry tail? 🙂
I wonder how birds synchronize their moves – when flying or when diving. Maybe they just follow one guy & the ones in the back follow the others.
The snail is very nice & I wonder what kind it is…I often move them off places where they can be stepped on.
What cute squirrels! Chipmunks can be fed as well and they only bite if they clumsily miss the nut you feed them. They have very sharp teeth!
His beak can hold more than his bellican:-)
A wonderful trio of themed photos! Joe’s appreciative comparison of the beauty shared by two separate species is admirably perceptive.
(I would do that to get pecans too! :-))
Great postings.
The synchronized feeding behavior of pelicans is probably one that maximizes the chances of catching fish. When the dip their beaks, the schooling fish will flee but some will flee right into the maw of a neighboring pelican.
The land snail used to be classified in Helix, but it has since been bumped to a different genus. Wikipedia sez it is Cornu aspersum.
It is actually an introduced species from Europe, and although edible it is generally not eaten in California as far as I know. I wonder what they taste like?
I know we’re not supposed to comment on the ethics of feeding wild animals, but…
If you don’t think he should feed the squirrels, write to him directly.
I was feeding pecan halves to a female rock squirrel sitting on my knee when she bit my finger. Not even a painful nip, but she immediately jumped down and gave me a contrite look. I did not know squirrels could look contrite. I showed her another pecan, and she hopped back up and all was well.
I’ve been watching that behavior of white pelicans in a lake near a busy freeway onramp in Novato, CA. When they approach the shore, egrets and a heron sometimes hurry to that area to try for the fish that escape to the shallows. I’ll send a photo if I get anything worthwhile
I’ve never seen pelicans synchronize their feeding; that is neat-o.
Nice to see the snail and also rain in Cali!
Thanks for the squirrel pics and background story. Amazing how they recognize you.
Coralville Lake also has a Devonian fossil bed nearby, exposed by floods in 1993(?) and 2008ish. Love the pelicans, too 🙂
What a treat to see those synchronized pelicans!
Very nice set of shots of the snail and sea turtle and their subtly beautiful shells.
Thanks to Dr. Hutchinson for showing us the good side of squirrels…and people. 🙂
How adorable. And how sad that the world is often a hostile place for those little creatures.