Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
Huge thanks to Cie who gave me this wonderful Sunday Selections image.
The meme was then continued by River at Drifting through life.
Sadly she has now stepped aside (though she will join us some weeks), and I have accepted the mantle.
The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent. Post
some
photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to me.
Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.
I usually run with a theme. Last week (on my birthday) I demanded an outing which did not involve doctors or other medical professionals. A kangaroo fix was the obvious answer.
So we headed down to the lake. It was a warm day and there was not a roo to be seen. However there were pelicans. Two of them, totally oblivious to the mad woman with a camera and her partner. Pelicans, silver gulls and the occasional duck. Bliss.
I was fascinated by just how dexterous their grooming was - and loved the 'upside down' poses.
And, just because, I am going to finish with another begonia which is decorating our front veranda.
I hope your week is packed with colour and with treats.
Love pelican's. My mother taught me this:
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful bird is the pelican. Its bill holds more than it belly can. It can hold in its beak enough food for a week and I'm damned if I know how the hell he can
The Blog Fodder: I grew up with that ditty too - and for many years thought that my father had invented it. I do love the pelicans and seeing them is always a treat.
DeleteSo much fun today 🙂
ReplyDeleteCloudia: Aren't they beauties? I really liked that while they knew we were there they didn't give a rat's fundament...
DeleteGorgeous photos, I would love to sit un your lakefront. Have a good week.
ReplyDeletee: It is a beautiful spot and I would be more than happy to share it with you.
DeletePelican are amazing birds. They have a built net to catch fish. I've never seen a close up pelican, only in pictures and on the web.
ReplyDeleteThat begonia is so beautiful.
I hope that you are feeling much better today.
Hugs, Julia
Julia: They are fascinating birds aren't they? For some reason (particularly in flight) I think that their dinosaur heritage is very, very evident. I am feeling a smidge better but have another week (I hope) of medical appointments to come.
DeleteThere are more tuberous begonias coming out each day - and I am loving them.
Laurie: We are in a heat wave at the moment so I am turning to images from your side of the world for relief. I am very glad to be able to reciprocate.
ReplyDeleteThey are really extraordinary birds; I wish we had them in the UK.
ReplyDeleteJohn "By Stargoose And Hanglands": They are very beautiful and I am always happy to see them - but do suffer from rather a lot of bird envy for birds that you see and we don't.
DeletePelicans are such interesting birds. Like the baleen whale of the birds with its giant scooping mouth.
ReplyDeleteAlex J. Cavanaugh: They are - and I was fascinated by how skilfully they use that giant scoop while grooming.
DeleteI love pelicans...what amazing birds they are. We used to have them hang around the floating restaurant we managed (my then husband, Randall and me) at Noosaville..."The Laguna Belle"...I loved seeing them there on the jetty every day.
ReplyDeleteI hope the heat disappears soon down your way, EC. And I also hope you're feeling much better and the coming week is kind to you. Cuddles to Jazz. :)
A Happy Belated Birthday to you, too. :)
Lee: Thank you. We have a few hot and horrid days ahead but I am really hoping it finishes with the promised rain. More medical appointments this week. And probably next.
DeleteHooray for pelicans who never fail to lift my spirits. I hope you and your furry overlords have a great week.
Your fauna is always interesting and exotic. Pelicans are almost (but only almost) as good as kangaroos. And that flower! It is a beaut! We saw a couple of white swans at the swamped fileds today, but they had flewn away when I fetched my camera - lesson learned: ALWAYS bring a camera along - also when just out for recycling.
ReplyDeletefileds should be fields. And I'm happy you're feeling a little better, so do I - should we not just keep on getting better in tandem?
DeleteCharlotte (MotherOwl): Getting better in tandem sounds good to me. Very good. As do your swamped fields. I am really, really hoping for rain later this week.
DeleteWhite swans are exotic to me. Ours are black and I haven't seen them by the lake for a while. And yes, I have missed more than one photograph I would have loved to take because I didn't have my camera with me.
They were posing for you EC! Those pictures are so adorable! Love them! Thanks for sharing the beautiful begonia photo!! I hope you are feeling better! Big Hugs and lots of love!
ReplyDeleteMagic Love Crow: They were posing weren't they? And so very well.
DeleteMany thanks. Hugs and love are flowing back to you too.
Fantastic pelicans! These pics are just wonderful. We don't have them here - too cold, maybe? I would love to see them - just hanging around, relaxing, enjoying the lake... I'm jealous.
ReplyDeleteA smidge better is better than no better :) - hope you keep on improving.
Alexis: It could be the temperature. We rarely see pelicans at the lake in our wimpy winter, and always welcome their return.
DeleteA smidge is indeed better - but I am hoping for a flood. Sadly it sounds as if medical (possible surgical) intervention will be needed.
Oh dear - fingers definitely crossed here, then.
DeleteI neglected to say how beautiful that begonia is!
Alexia: Thank you - that is a truly lovely begonia isn't it? First cab off the rank next week is finding another GP. I have known it was desirable but the neurologist made it clear that it was imperative. Fingers and toes crossed.
DeleteHmmm - having a GP whom one trusts and has confidence in is crucial, isn't it. Best wishes for a good outcome.
DeleteAlexia: I neither like nor trust my current GP but have postponed the difficult search for another. Postponed it for too long it seems.
DeletePelicans are very watchable, especially if they are fighting over a fish. Great photos.
ReplyDeleteAndrew: They are. This pair was totally 'laxed and still held our attention. I missed some wonderful stretching shots though.
DeleteYou brought back a pelican memory for me. We were in Florida on a pier where they sell fish to feed the pelicans. Apparently the pelicans know when someone is buying fish. 30 seconds later I was surrounded (I couldn't move) by ten to fifteen pelicans all with their beaks open. I feed them as fast as I could and threw the last fish far away from me.
ReplyDeleteMike: That would have been an amazing sight. I suspect that our coastal birds behave in very similar ways. Here they know that visitors are unlikely to have anything for them - and ignore us.
DeleteHow serendipitous that we both featured Australian Pelican today, Sue. If these birds are ever seeking a publicity agent I think we would make a great team! How could you ever tire of these wonderful creatures? I never could and I know that you couldn't either.
ReplyDeleteDavid M. Gascoigne: I cannot imagine tiring of them - but the same is true of almost all of our native birds. And indeed some of the interlopers too.
DeleteLove the pelican balancing an outsized underside on the fence rail.
ReplyDeleteJoanne Noragon: I was amazed that it could settle there - and look perfectly comfortable too.
DeleteAwesome pelican photos
ReplyDeleteAndrew R. Scott: I was so happy that they treated me with virtually complete ignore.
DeleteI can sit and watch the pelicans for a very long time. It makes me happy. :)
ReplyDeletemail4rosey: Me too.
DeleteI've only seen pelicans in photos, and yours have got to be the best I've seen. I also loved seeing how they groomed themselves and how they behaved even though you were near. These were simply stellar photos. That begonia is pretty stunning, too! Hope your birthday was great. It looks like you enjoyed the day, at least.
ReplyDeleteBleubeard and Elizabeth: I was so very grateful that they paid absolutely no attention to us - and yes, it was a truly delightful outing.
DeleteGorgeous pictures!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't even remember when I saw a pelican up close...
Hope you are doing well.
Caterina: We don't see them over winter, but in summer we are often lucky enough to see one or two. Such majestic and beautiful birds.
DeleteI love pelicans, they are beautiful and I wish I was able to bend my neck like that. I like the gentle ripples on the water too. The begonia is breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteRiver: Wouldn't it be lovely to be that supple. The lake is always beautiful and treats like this make it even more so.
DeleteI have a very big soft spot for tuberose begonias and most years I buy another variety. Not this year. Yet.
I remember meeting them for the first time in Costa Rica. Fascinating birds. I'm glad you ambled forth on your birthday and all the best in your fresh journey around the sun.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
Wisewebwoman: Thay were a lovely birthday treat - and thank you.
DeleteEvery single photo is fabulous! Pelicans are stunning aren't they? As are begonias.
ReplyDeleteI hope you find a good gp, there has to be one somewhere
kylie: I hope I find a decent GP too. I have had my doubts about the current one for a while but the neurologist made his opinion very, very clear.
DeleteAnd I do love pelicans - and begonias.
Beautiful begonia there.
ReplyDeletethe pelicans are a beautiful bird, large yet graceful and intelligent.
Hope you are feeling ok now :)
Margaret D: I agree with you about the begonia and the pelican. Both delight me.
DeleteStill a way to go yet, but thank you.
I remember when I first saw some pelicans flying over a hidden beach on a former military post just north of San Francisco--- They looked like mini-747's to me. (747's were still fairly new then).
ReplyDeleteBill: In flight particularly I think that their dinosaur heritage is very evident. And yes, I can see the 747 analogy too.
DeleteHi EC - so pleased you had a happy birthday and were able to escape to the lake. Lovely photos of the pelicans, gulls and ducks ... then the beautiful begonia - stunning ... I hope you feel easier ... stay safe and take care ... with hugs - Hilary
ReplyDeleteHilary Melton-Butcher: It was a really lovely short outing - as all our trips to the lake are. Thank you. You stay safe and well too please.
DeleteI love Pelicans, they look prehistoric. Beautiful images EC.
ReplyDeleteBob Bushell: I agree. I think that pelican's dinosaur ancestery is very clear, and I love them.
DeleteDear EC
ReplyDeleteI hope you managed to have a Happy Birthday and enjoyed some treats. Great photos of the pelicans - they may not be the most beautiful of birds, but there are some of the most interesting. The begonia is lovely.
Best wishes
Ellie
Ellie Foster: Thank you. You pulled me up short with your comment, and then I thought about it. I suppose that pelicans aren't precisely beautiful but they definitely are fascinating. I do like that begonia and more (in different colours) are coming out each day.
DeleteOh I'm so happy you had a good birthday by the lake...and those beautiful birds! Must've really lifted your spirits!😊😊
ReplyDeleteAnd that begonia is the most beautiful one I have ever seen! WOW!! Such a gorgeous colour.😊😊
Have a fabulous day...and stay safe, my dear friend.
All my love and hugs ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Ygraine: Any trip down to the lake lifts my spirits and I do love pelicans.
DeleteIsn't that begonia a beauty - watch this space for more. Thank you - and you stay safe, well and happy too please. Which is an order rather than a request.
The pelicans are fascinating birds. I love the beautiful begonias. Happy belated birthday and I hope you continue to have a glorious year. Take care my friend.
ReplyDeleteMason Canyon: Thank you dear friend.
DeleteI saw a wild pelican when I was in Australia all those years ago - amazing looking birds.
ReplyDelete:o)
Cheers
PM
Plastic Mancunian: They are aren't they? And a joy each and every time we see them.
DeleteWow, I love the pictures of pelicans, I have never seen them in nature!
ReplyDeleteNatalia: Some day I hope you can see pelicans. They really are wonderful birds.
DeleteLove the pelicans. Thank you for sharing your begonia with us. She,s beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're feeling better. Have a great week.
Myrna R.: Thank you. Slow and steady(ish) on the health front. You have a wonderful week too.
DeletePelicans are marvellous, ours are brown, though.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite a begonia!
messymimi: I knew that your pelicans were brown - but their species is unmistakable whatever the colour isn't it?
DeleteYes, they are unmistakeable. The brown ones are our state bird, in fact.
DeleteMy selections are over here.
messymimi: I have seen and very much enjoyed your Selections - as I do every week.
DeleteOh you took some great shots of the birds.
ReplyDeleteMary Kirkland: Thank you. Seeing pelicans is always a treat for me.
DeleteBelated best wishes. I hope this is a wonderful year for you!
ReplyDeleteThe pelican photos are beautiful. Such a huge beak, like a fishing basket.
Marie Smith: Thank you. I was fascinated at just how delicately and precisely they used that huge beak while grooming.
DeleteWhat an elegant bird! Your pictures are wonderful. I love the pretty begonia, too :-)
ReplyDeleteDJan: I missed (of course) other photos of the pelicans I would have loved to display like them stretching their huge beaks. We love the begonia (and its relatives) too.
DeleteLove the pelicans! They are truly the only party animals you needed anyway. ;) I'm glad you got a break from the stress and medical mumbo-jumbo.
ReplyDeleteRiver Fairchild: It really was a lovely interlude - and I am grateful for it as the medical mayhem recommences this week.
DeletePelicans look so awkward with those long beaks and beak pouch. How in the world can they groom too? Your begonia is absolutely stunning. Medical is so hard to deal with. Lately I had a positive test result, but inconclusive for anything else, so I have to have the regular real test, which is more invasive and now complex, due to covid.
ReplyDeleteStrayer: I was blown away at their precision in grooming. A big sigh on medical issues. It ought to be easy - and rarely is.
DeletePelicanos y begonias..todo una maravilla de fotografÃas!!
ReplyDeleteAprovecho para desearte un Feliz cumpleaños!!!
abrazo fuerte y que todo lo mejor llegue a tu vida!
Un post precioso lleno de naturaleza, vida y color.. Felicitaciones
eli mendez: Many, many thanks for your kind words.
DeleteFirst let me say Happy Belated Birthday! I just love those pelican photos. I hope you have a great new week.
ReplyDeleteRasma Sandra: Thank you - on all counts.
Deletehaha - I have never seen one sit on a fence. That is a first for me!
ReplyDeleteTruedessa: That fence is around a children's swimming area and the pelicans seem to like it.
DeleteI love pelicans. I often imagine the beak looks like a bucket .., once I grabbed a lot of food catch.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the pictures of pelicans with various styles like this photo model, friend.
Himawan Sant: Thank you - I am glad you liked them.
DeleteThank you for the lovely photos. They all are amazing!
ReplyDeleteNas: And many thanks to you too.
DeletePelican are so interesting to watch especially if they are preening . As you did not get your birthday fix, now you have another excuse to go see some roos Sue.Hope you are feeling much better and have a good week ahead.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Birding For Pleasure: I never need an excuse to head down the lake for a roo fix. Of course we will go again - and today is a possibility. Health issues continue, but some positive steps have been made.
Deletegreat photos as always... these pelican ones may inspire a sculpture in the hopefully not too distant future.. glad you managed a non-medical day out..
ReplyDeleteAnna: A sculpture of yours? I would LOVE to see that.
DeleteLovely post, found you on Elizabeth's blog [altered book lover] and your post has my fav makes of nature, the pelican. We have a place here in Australia not far from us where they are fed with fish every day at 3pm and gosh we wonder where they come from. Following your blog now too. xx
ReplyDeleteaussie aNNie: Welcome and thank you. I will head over to visit you shortly - and would love to see a pelican feeding frenzy.
DeleteUff! A bit late to this pelican party. Lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteAnd my best wishes for your next sun-orbit you started last week.
Sean Jeating: There is no time limit - and you are welcome whenever you stop by. And thank you.
DeleteA belated happy birthday to you!!
ReplyDeleteI've always thought that pelicans looked like lost pteradactyls when they fly. We had brown ones in Florida, and I missed them in Wisconsin.
Cindi: I have a huge soft spot for pelicans and miss ours when they are absent during our (wimpy) winter.
DeleteI just love those pelicans, something you won't see here in Hawaii.
ReplyDeletegigi-hawaii: They are lovely birds aren't they? I am quite certain that you see birds on a regular basis that would fill me with awe (and a little envy).
DeleteWow, a bird that we have in the northern hemisphere also! They are the funniest looking creatures but so beautiful also.
ReplyDeleteI hope this comment gets to you, Sue. I have been having some big computer problems and one of them is that when I publish, it goes to outer space, never to be seen. My Retired Man put in a new security program and it has shut me up. Some things have been fixed and I hope that is the end of it.
Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe: Your comment DID arrive and was very welcome. The changes to blogger mean that I have been having difficulties commenting on some blogs when/if I am required to prove I am not a robot. Hiss and spit.
DeleteOur pelicans are a different colour to yours, but unmistakeably the same species - and a delight.
Oh my, the begonia is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I see a pelican I am reminded of a verse my dad would quote each year when we saw the first pelican on our first beach trip of the summer.
"A wonderful bird is the pelican.
His beak can hold more than his belly can.
He can hold in his beak enough food for a week.
But I’ll be damned if I can see how the helican."
Anne in the kitchen: My father recited that too. I think that many fathers did. I do love them, and the verse reminds me of him.
DeleteMore begonias will feature here in the week(s) to come.
I LOVE these pictures! How cool is it that the pelican can twist his head around like that? Amazing! Thank you for sharing the picture of the begonia. I can't wait until it's warm enough here for our flowers to start blooming again!
ReplyDeleteElsie
Elsie Amata: I know. I have often envied the flexibility of cats but added penguins to the envyfest that day.
DeleteI hope your warmer weather comes - and that ours leaves.
I guess it wont be long before the males are thrusting their beaks at each other to establish who's going to be the courting winner of this female.
ReplyDeleteSpacer Guy: I am pretty certain that their breeding season is over for the year. The clash of those beaks would be an incredible sight though.
DeleteHappy Belated Birthday.
ReplyDeleteThat pelican is amazing. I don't think I've ever seen one in the wild.
Hena Tayeb: Thank you. We count every day with a pelican in it as a good day.
DeleteGrooming with such a long beak, no mean feat. Lovely photos. And, also, a belated birthday wish or two.
ReplyDeleteJ Cosmo Newbery: I was super impressed at the grooming - and thank you.
DeleteI haven't seen a pelican since I was on Sanibel Island (a little piece of Heaven *sigh*) and it will be months before there's any color in our gardens here. We do have some nice cut flowers--pink carnations, roses, and baby's breath--to brighten the front hall which is nice and cheery. Can't complain too much about winter yet as we haven't had much snow nor has it been terribly cold. Two months 'til spring!!!
ReplyDeletemshatch: You are hanging out for spring - and I am hanging out for autumn.
DeleteWe still have 'some' colour, but the hills we can see have turned brown as the grass dies off, and the fire danger is high.
I didn't know you also have a January birthday - so do I! Maybe we're even birthday twins? Mine is on the 16th.
ReplyDeleteI love the pelicans andyou took such wonderful photos of them. We have brown pelicans here, they are amazing as well, but not quite as beautiful as your whiter ones.
Carola Bartz: Not quite twins - mine is the 18th. Pelicans are beautiful birds aren't they - whatever their colour.
DeleteDo pelicans really keep dead fish in their bills for emergency snacking? If I had such an ability, I would keep chocolate in my bill. Your photos are lovely.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Janie Junebug: To the best of my knowledge no, pelicans don't use their pouch to store anything - but do use it to catch their food. I am not certain that chocolate stored so close to my mouth would last long.
DeleteAt least you have the great outdoors and such astonishing birds to keep you sane. (Never mind about the previous post, I don’t believe a word of it)
ReplyDeleteStay well.
Friko: I need them both to stay saneish. Andthe previous post is completely true.
DeleteSuperb bird photos! The pelican is a cheering sight, isn't it? And the begonia is, as always, lovely. Hope your week is going well.
ReplyDeleteNilanjana Bose: Thank you. My week is, like the parson's egg) good in parts. I am grateful for those parts.
DeleteWondrous.
ReplyDeleteHugs and more hugs.
Sandra Cox: Thank you. As always.
DeleteEllas se muestran tranquilas, sin tener constancia de quie las estén fotografiando.
ReplyDeleteBuenas instatáneas.
VENTANA DE FOTO: They knew I was there, and didn't care - which was lovely.
DeleteLove the pelicans, so striking, so beautiful, as is that begonia.
ReplyDeleteDeniseinVA: Aren't they lovely?
DeleteI adore pelicans! Even though I grew up in a land-locked province, there were quite a few big lakes nearby. We'd often look up from our prairies and see the pelicans soaring aloft on those giant wings. Your begonia is lovely, too. :-)
ReplyDeleteDiane Henders: I really love it when the pelicans find their way to our lake. I adore them too. And thank you on the begonia front too. I do like the tuberous begonias. A lot.
DeleteWow! You got some great close-up pics of the pelicans, and they are so lovely and fun to look at. Hugs, RO
ReplyDeleteRO: Wasn't I lucky that they allowed me to come so close? Privileged and lucky. Hugs received and reciprocated.
DeleteWow - fabulous pelican shots!
ReplyDeleteLady Fi: Thank you. I think that they are fabulous birds.
DeleteI've never been that close to a pelican! Fascinating birds!!!
ReplyDeleteJemi Fraser: This pair was obviously a) comfortable and b) used to people. They weren't going anywhere and it was a privilege and a delight to be able to go so close.
DeleteBeing a water bird has got to be the best of both worlds. They can fly and swim.
ReplyDeleteHope you are having a good day.
Sandra Cox: I hadn't thought of that, but you are right. Except penguins of course who cannot fly, but take swimming to a whole new level.
DeletePoor penguins.
DeleteSandra Cox: I thought that - until I saw them in the water. They are sooooo at home in that element.
Delete"Pelicans, silver gulls and the occasional duck. Bliss."
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, so pleased you were able to get out and about for your birthday.
Your photographs are all so lovely.
All the best Jan
Lowcarb team member ~Jan: Thank you so much. It really was a lovely interlude.
DeleteYour begonias are just breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteSandra Cox: Thank you. We love them too.
Deletealways thought that pelicans look as though they were assembled by left over parts at the end of the shift!
ReplyDeletedaisyfae: You think? I have never looked at pelicans that way. I see them as older than time and am always surprised at their efficiency. One of the first cabs off the rank.
DeleteBoa noite. As fotos ficaram maravilhosas, parabéns.
ReplyDeleteLuiz Gomes: Thank you. Have a truly lovely weekend.
DeleteBeautiful shades in this begonia. And amazing photos!
ReplyDeleteLove Affair with Food: Thank you. The begonias brighten each and every day.
DeletePelicans are interesting birds and your photos are fantastic. I like to go to the coast and see them on the piers and watch them follow boats with fish. My husband used to take loads of photos of them when we went down to Florida. Please take care of yourself and I am happy you had a nice birthday. Good luck with your medical issues. I have some to deal with next week and will be happy when they are done.
ReplyDeleteGlenda Beall: Thank you. I hope that both of our medical issues can be quickly and completely erased.
DeleteBeautiful pelican bird
ReplyDeleteSteve: That they are. Very, very beautiful.
DeleteI love pelicans. The American White Pelican variety lives here in Montana. And I love this glimpse of summer in another hemisphere.
ReplyDeleteSusan - of every moment. I love them too. I am enjoying seeing winter on your side of the world. I am over summer. Completely.
DeleteI only have seen pelicans in a zoo, they are strange creatures !
ReplyDeleteGattina: Unusual yes, but such an efficient design. I do love them, and welcome them when I see them.
Delete