Pelicans on point

One of the big news items late last week on D’Arbonne was the sighting of several groups of white pelicans. Hey, don’t laugh. I’d rather that be the headline than most of today’s news, wouldn’t you?

I spotted the big white pelicans last week on the mud flats exposed by the drawdown just north of Folly Beach, but their presence in other areas of the lake have also been reported. Just how long they stay is up to them. It could be a day, or it could be a month. And every time you see them, it may not be the same birds. It could be a new flight, just like with ducks.  Either way, it’s another beautiful sight that makes life on the lake fun.

The pelicans appearance in the early winter isn’t that rare on Lake D’Arbonne, but some years there are more than others. I’m no birdologist, but it seems like they are a bit earlier than usual this year. Someone asked why they were here and my answer is simple: it’s a great place to be. Obviously these are very smart white pelicans. Why would they want to be anywhere else?  Plus, they probably heard somewhere that this is the “Pelican State”, named so after our state bird, the brown pelican. Huge flights of the birds are regularly spotted on Toledo Bend as well. A few years ago big flights of the birds landed in downtown Baton Rouge on the University Lakes at LSU and they made headlines there, too.

But to seriously answer the question:  The pelicans come to D’Arbonne for the same reason I go to the 50‘s Diner or LBK’s — they are following the food. They like open lakes with sand-bar type shallow water with good populations of small fish and shad. Unlike brown pelicans, they feed in shallow water and don’t dive for their dinner. They often circle up the prey and feed in groups. They don’t like close contact with humans (unlike the brown pelicans, who are more approachable). With the drawdown this year, the lake will probably more attractive than normal to the white pelicans.

Louisiana is the stop of choice for the white pelicans as they migrate south down the Mississippi Flyway area. They migrate to states all along the Gulf Coast every year and are attracted to open lakes along the way. Studies have shown that the rapidly changing Louisiana Gulf Coast, where so much marsh is now open water, also makes Louisiana more attractive for white pelicans.  The large number of commercial fish operations in the southern Mississippi River region also give the birds good stopovers on their trip south.

Duck Dynasty quote of the day (3 days and counting until Season Two):
“Ducks are like women. They don’t like a lot of mud on their butts.” — Phil