It was a little too windy for this Brown Pelican to just glide over the water…
Brown Pelican Flying Low Over Water
…he was working it the whole way I watched him across the harbor.
Brown Pelican Flying Low Over Water
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.
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.
Brown Pelican ChicksBrown Pelicans and ChicksBrown Pelican Chicks
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.
Brown Pelican Chick Under Adult
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.
Brown Pelican nests don’t amount to much and if this is all you can deliver at one time it is a good thing.
Brown Pelican Flying In With Nesting Material
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.
Brown Pelican Bring Mate Nesting Material
Hmm, which one is MY mate?
Brown Pelican Bring Mate Nesting Material
A very delicate pass-off maneuver with those big beaks.
Success!
Brown Pelican Bring Mate Nesting Material
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.
Brown Pelican Bring Mate Nesting Material
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.
Brown Pelicans, Look Close to the left of the center bird to Spot a Laugh Gull
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.
Some of the Pelicans were nesting at the base of Castle Pinkney. The fallen bricks weren’t a deterrent.
Brown Pelican Chicks
On another side of the castle the remnants of a pier had been reinforced with stone, also not a deterrent to the nesting birds.
Brown Pelican Chicks, A Snowy Egret chick to the left of the center post
A few other birds, including some Snowy Egrets were also using this rookery.
Brown Pelican Chicks, Snowy Egret flying By
The chick in the center of this image has started to change color from the all white at hatching to brown.
Brown Pelican Chicks
Another view near the pilings.
Brown Pelican Chicks
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.
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.
Brown Pelican Chick
An adult Pelican, sporting the dark brown breeding plumage on its neck, wasn’t far off, keeping an eye on the chick.
Brown Pelican Adult and 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.
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.
Brown Pelican Landing in Palm TreeBrown Pelican Landing in Palm TreeBrown Pelican Landing in Palm Tree, Laughing Gull Cruising ByBrown Pelican Landing in Palm TreeBrown Pelican Landing in Palm TreeBrown Pelican Landing in Palm Tree
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.
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.
Adult Brown Pelican, Laughing Gull Flying In, Pair of Brown Pelican Chicks, ANother Adult on nest to the right
The guide on this trip thought these two chicks had probably hatched within the proceeding 24 hours.
Pair of Brown Pelican Chicks
As we slowly went by I captured the pair with different backgrounds.
Pair of Brown Pelican Chicks
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.
Pair of Brown Pelican Chicks
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.
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.
Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor
Birds are very adaptive, several of the lookout windows were occupied by Snowy Egrets.
Snowy Egret Nesting in Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor
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.