Brown Pelicans - Mustang Island State Park (TX) - November 1, 2019

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Four photos of Brown Pelicans taken at Mustang Island State Park (TX) on November 1, 2019. I was able to walk out on a rock jetty past the point where the waves were breaking. The pelicans were congregating in the breaking waves, feeding while swimming rather than after a dive. The waves and foam surrounding the swimming birds seems to add a touch of drama to the images.

Brown Pelican - Mustang Island State Park (TX)
Camera, Lens, and Settings for all four images:
Olympus E-M1X, 300mm f/4 lens + 1.4x teleconverter
1/2000 sec at f/6.3, ISO 200

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David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.