Utah Lake PELICANS

[Tim Avery <tanager at timaverybirding dot com>]

Colby Neuman and I decided to head down and see what was going on after Leilas
email.  We immediately spotted a "brown" Pelican or 2 in a flock of about 10,
1000 yards north of the harbor.  Unable to decide what the bird was, afterall
it had field marks reminiscent of both birds, we headed norht throught the
fields and mud.  I can honestly say this was one of the biggest birding
dissapointments of my life.  I did not come prepared to hike, wearing
flip-flops, and the further we went the worse it got.  About every hundred
yards we stopped an looked, digiscoped a few images and kept going.  The whole
time we were back and forth, I thought it was he thought it wasn't, then he
wasn't sure, and I ws positive it wasn't, and this was the hour leading up to
the final decision.  At about a udred yards the birds finally took off which
was what we needed.  The brown bodied and necked bird was literally a "brown"
Pelican bodies bird, with American-white wings.  The back was dark, the belly
was lighter, the shoulders were dark, however the wings were white with black
primaries and secondaries.  What a let down, and a mess.  Here is the kicker,
and nothing to either KC or Eric, but I don't believe this bird was coverd in
dirt, mud or oil.  This bird feathers appeared to actually be brown, it may be
something generic, who knows.  I spent the last week seeing many Brown Pelicans
and have seen plenty of American-white in my time, and this bird definately had
charachteristics of both birds.  For starters, this individual appeared to be
smaller than the AWPE it was with, now this may have been my mind, but the
pictures seem to suggest the same thing.  Next teh color of the legs and the
bill were about a mix between that of a BRPE and an AWPE.  The back was
definately a darker brown than the buffy belly, and the shoulder contrast was
very high.  However as stated the wings tell a different story.  I wouldn't say
this is a hybrid, but it definately is one MESSED UP "brown" AMERICAN-WHITE
PELICAN.  Ina ny event thanks to everyone that took a look, I will post my
pictures this eveing so people can see.  For now I think a shower is due for
the mud and smell, YUCK!

good birding.

Tim

Salt Lake City, UT or Beloit, WI
http://www.timaverybirding.com

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