It was a little too windy for this Brown Pelican to just glide over the water…
…he was working it the whole way I watched him across the harbor.
Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to Charleston Harbor and the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.
Other posts from this adventure
Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023
Another few Brown Pelican chick pictures… I’ve run out of things to say about them other than they are so interesting to see and I’m rooting for their survival.
The chicks need to be protected from the sun so the adults take turns providing shade. The darker brown on this adult’s neck is part of their breeding stage look.
Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to Charleston Harbor and the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.
Other posts from this adventure
Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023
Brown Pelican nests don’t amount to much and if this is all you can deliver at one time it is a good thing.
I try to avoid “the hand of man” in my nature images, but the closeness of this sign and the blurred boat above show how intimately entwined these birds are with humans.
Hmm, which one is MY mate?
A very delicate pass-off maneuver with those big beaks.
Success!
The bird on the nest didn’t get up so I suspect there might already be eggs or new chicks under her. From a bobbing boat you don’t always get to see the full story.
Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to Charleston Harbor and the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.
Other posts from this adventure
Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023
Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to Charleston Harbor and the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.
Other posts from this adventure
Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023
Some of the Pelicans were nesting at the base of Castle Pinkney. The fallen bricks weren’t a deterrent.
On another side of the castle the remnants of a pier had been reinforced with stone, also not a deterrent to the nesting birds.
A few other birds, including some Snowy Egrets were also using this rookery.
The chick in the center of this image has started to change color from the all white at hatching to brown.
Another view near the pilings.
Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to Charleston Harbor and the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.
Other posts from this adventure
Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023
These bricks are on the Castle Pinkney grounds, maybe an old wall that fell, or debris from the castle itself. This older chick could walk around and had started to change into the adult brown colors.
An adult Pelican, sporting the dark brown breeding plumage on its neck, wasn’t far off, keeping an eye on the chick.
Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to Charleston Harbor and the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.
Other posts from this adventure
Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023
They may not have been nesting, but this is the type of terrain American Oystercatchers make their nests, as seen from a boat on my recent excursion into Charleston Harbor.
This section of Shutes Folly, an island in Charleston harbor, is mostly shells, with a depression in the middle where some grass has managed to grow.
Their nests are difficult to spot, just a divot in the ground, which is one of the many reasons nesting grounds are closed to humans during breeding season.
Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to Charleston Harbor and the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.
Other posts from this adventure
Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023
In one of the passes we made on the boat tour past Castle Pinkney I noticed this pair of adult Brown Pelicans resting in a Palm Tree. There didn’t seem room for a third, but he made it work.
Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to Charleston Harbor and the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.
Other posts from this adventure
Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023
This structure is part of Castle Pinkney in Charleston Harbor. Brown Pelicans are using the land around the castle as well as the castle itself for nesting.
The guide on this trip thought these two chicks had probably hatched within the proceeding 24 hours.
As we slowly went by I captured the pair with different backgrounds.
I researched Castle Pinkney when I got home wondering how thick that wall is. I did not get a definitive answer, but it is likely 2 to 3 feet (1 Meter) so these two young birds weren’t in immediate danger of falling backward. Forward of course looks like a huge risk.
Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to Charleston Harbor and the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.
Other posts from this adventure
Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023
I went on the Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions on Friday, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.
Shutes Folly is a small island in the Charleston harbor channel, easily seen from the Charleston Waterfront Park and from Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant. The island has been various things over the years with the first fort constructed in 1810. The island is slowly being washed away by storms and the existing brick structure, Castle Pinckney, is falling apart.
Birds are very adaptive, several of the lookout windows were occupied by Snowy Egrets.
The mature adult Brown Pelicans have white heads, the all white youngster in the middle of the next image is this year’s chick. The parents and other adults in the community keep a close watch on the chicks that do not fly until they are at least nine weeks old.
Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023
