Mike Powell

At this time of the year, the skies are often filled with migratory birds. I live in Northern Virginia, which seems to be a kind of midpoint in the journeys of birds that spend their winters in warmer places and then fly northward for breeding.

The most common birds that I see are Canada Geese, but this past Tuesday I was delighted to spot a couple of less common Species. In the first photo are some members of a large flock of American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos). Although the photo makes it look like the birds were flying in a military-like formation, the grouping was often quite disorganized and was slow-moving. I couldn’t help but notice the “horn” on the upper bill of several of the pelicans that they will eventually shed after the birds mate and lay their eggs.

A short while later, I spotted a small group of Tundra Swans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), as shown in the second photo below. I noted that these swans fly with their necks fully extended, unlike the herons and egrets that I am more used to seeing that fly with their necks tucked in, creating an S-shape.

Tuesday was a warm, beautiful spring day and I managed to spot some additional birds in the trees and in the underbrush that I will feature in blog postings in the next few days.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.