A Christmas Gift

Two days before Christmas, residents along Harbor Island’s Motts Channel were treated to a unique sight. A flock of more than 30 American white pelicans landed in the protected waters near Seapath Yacht Club.

Puzzled residents at first thought they were Airlie Garden’s beloved white swans, an infrequent guest in the creek when the pond water at Airlie becomes too hot during the summer. On closer inspection, this flock was definitely pelicans, not brown like coastal pelicans, but larger, snowy white with black wingtips.

White pelicans have an 8 to10-foot wingspan, second largest of any American bird after the California condor. Unlike the smaller, diving coastal brown pelican, white pelicans prefer to hunt in shallow, slow-moving fresh water off brackish bodies of water. They spend summers in the inland waters of the northern United States into Canada, migrating south during the winter months.

With a winter storm barreling across the United States the week of Christmas, this flock settled in the creek for a rest, swimming together in a tight formation before majestically taking off, circling to gain altitude.

Previously, a large flock was photographed on Masonboro Island in June 2018.