Pelicans are funny. Something about them makes them awkward creatures. Maybe their huge bill throws off their center of gravity? Would that be harder to manage as they age, I wonder? Pelicans are fun to watch, although you may feel a little tender compassion.
At the north end of Cannon Beach, Ecola Creek scours its channel through the sand to the ocean leaving a convenient spit on the ocean side for birds to land where there are few people. The spit also affords easy access to fresh water. Well, easy in a comparative sense.
Flocks of pelicans come winging in to plop down on the spit, or in the creek. The typical pelican touch-down on land looks ungainly as they spread their big wings to slow until they can stick their feet in the sand and flap a couple of times to settle. (Seagulls simply soar in, angle their wings and contact the earth in a prim motion.)
Pelicans love to bathe in the fresh water, and it’s easy to imagine wanting to get rid of salt on their skin. But their landing on water is even more clumsy. They come swooping in and try to slow their descent with their wings, but that only goes so far. At the last second they just have to reach down with their feet and plow into the water the best way they can.
(Seagulls merely glide in and with a twitch of their wings settle on the water without even a ripple. It’s an elegant display, which I suspect makes self-conscious pelicans envious.)
Once a pelican manages to alight on the water, they beat the surface with their wings making loud slapping noises to create a shower for themselves. They do this several times, and some may try to duck their heads too, but most just whip up the water as much as possible.
Then, they have to get up on the bank. Some scramble up the little slope on foot with uncertain balance. Others rely on sodden feathers for an airborne approach. Once on terra firma, they flap their wings and vigorously shake their tail. (Like a wet Retriever if it had wings.) Then they hug themselves and stand around trying to look like a picture of composure.
(Seagulls also flap the water to bathe, but being closer to the surface, it’s easier for them to duck under. Then they just rise up, glide to the bank, and perch. No fuss, no muss.)
Upon reflection, I think I’ve met people who remind me of pelicans.
