Triumph

Pelicans fly through the air, dive into the ocean but sometimes they just want to sit and be.

They are very chilled out birds but it was a triumph for me to capture these images without disturbing their rest.


A pelican having a rest by the Miami Beach Marina
A pelican having a rest by the Miami Beach Marina

Dixon Lanier Merritt (1879–1972) was an American poet and humorist. He was a newspaper editor for the Tennessean, Nashville’s morning paper, and President of the American Press Humorists Association. He penned this well-known limerick in 1910.

A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican,
He can take in his beak
Enough food for a week
But I’m damned if I see how the helican!

or:

A funny old bird is a pelican.
His beak can hold more than his belican.
Food for a week
He can hold in his beak,
But I don’t know how the helican.

The limerick was inspired by a post card sent to him by a female reader of his newspaper column who was visiting Florida beaches. It is often misattributed to Ogden Nash and is widely misquoted as demonstrated above. It is quoted in a number of scholarly works on ornithology, including “Manual of Ornithology: Avian Structure and Function,” by Noble S. Proctor and Patrick J. Lynch, and several others.

Having a rest by the bay
Having a rest by the bay

Moment and Motion

Our lives are made up of big events and tiny moments. Ultimately, life is fleeting, and often it’s these small moments we love to document.

I was so lucky to be facing the right way and have my camera ready just as this heron took flight. Look at all those feathers and the size of his wings.

As there was no planning or set-up – it all happened very fast – it’s not the best focus in the world but I’m still pleased with the results. I would have loved a blue sky too but once I’d looked at the picture, the grey sky actually makes the white bird stand out more.

A heron in the everglades taking off into the sky
A heron in the everglades taking off into the sky

Off he goes

Flying away
Flying away