Pond Pelican

At around 5 p.m. this afternoon I noted a Steve Charbonneau post on ebird about an American White Pelican hanging out at McGeachy Pond, just outside of Erieau. It had been reported a bit earlier to Steve by Dana Cofell. Although it was a dull, heavy overcast day with the threat of rain, I decided there was time to head out and see it, even if I didn't get any photos. It might be gone by tomorrow!

McGeachy Pond typically has one or two big white birds present throughout the year when it isn't frozen: Mute Swan. My initial scan of the pond showed these. But a large white bird was resting on a muskrat house with its back to me, and it wasn't apparent first what it was in the distance and dull light. It didn't help that it had its head down and its back to me. It could have easily been passed off as a Mute Swan.

Taken with Canon 5D3, Canon 500mm II lens and 1.4X converter

It eventually stuck its head up and looked around, giving a decent view. It was very late on a very dull overcast day and the rain was beginning. I had to turn the camera's ISO up to 6400 to get this photo. In film days, one hardly ever went above 200 ISO unless one was satisfied with a poor quality record shot. Digital photography has made photos like these possible at unreal ISO settings!