Feathered Friends - Pelecanus onocrotalus.
Our knowledge largely depends on the country in which we were born.
This cannot be an excuse for ignorance, because there are many books, but some aspects can slip out of our attention.
I was born in Moldova, this is a small country that has no outlet to the sea.
This is a beautiful country and its nature is diverse, but it is always interesting to find out. something new.
I have always been attracted to birds, I had many encyclopedic reference books, including those dedicated to birds.
Probably, I did not go too deep into the geography of bird ranges and thought that pelicans are exotic birds from the African continent.
I am not ashamed to talk about the mistakes of my youth, because these are just small gaps. which have been replenished long ago.
With family, in the summer, every year, in the summer. we went to the Black Sea coast, to the Crimea.
I knew well the birds that lived there, but, among them, never, I have not seen pelicans.
But, many years later, we decided to go to the Black Sea coast, near the Danube estuary, I was surprised.
Huge, yellow-pink flocks of pelicans, gracefully floated on the surface of the water.
Apparently, they were attracted by the fact that there are many anadromous fish species.
Here, fresh water of the rivers mixes with sea water and river fish feel great here.
Pelicans are known to love fish.
They are, like me, passionate fishermen.
Usually, pelicans are very cautious birds, but, in the zoo of the city of Rivne, I was able to communicate with them from a close distance.
I think pelicans are very intelligent and thoughtful birds who love to explore the world.
Their only drawback is heavy, or, I would say, unbearable for a close distance, breathing. Fish, their diet, makes themselves felt.
Everytime. when I look at this photograph. I can't help smiling, this pelican is very cute.
Pelicans may not be very graceful like ballerinas, but their movements can be compared to ballet, lol.
This shot looks magical in black and white, with sunbeams running over the pelican's body.
Someone considers fishing to be a rest. but, only those who are not fond of fishing very seriously.
Usually, fishing is a serious job, after which, a real fisherman needs to sleep for several hours, I always do this lol.
On a postage stamp from my collection, issued in the USSR in 1964, you can see a pink pelican that caught a fish, I respect him!
Photos taken with a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 camera
I edited a photo in the program PhotoDirector, which I also installed on my smartphone.
Author @barski
Ukraine
For my publications, I do not use stock photographs, it is fundamentally important for me to use photographs that I have made with my own hands for publication and I can name them - authorial work.
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