I’ve been on bit of a quest the last few years - capturing images of the American White Pelican during its migration through Ohio in Spring and Fall.

First, a little about American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos). They are one of the largest birds in North America, at a height of 5 feet and a wingspan of 10 feet. They spend their Summers in Western Canada and Western US where they nest and breed, and then migrate South for the Winter to their non-breeding grounds in the extreme Southeastern US, Mexico, and Southern California.

American White Pelicans Range Map - provided by Birds of the World

So as you can see, Ohio is not necessarily in the range for these birds. However in recent years due to climate change, storms, etc, they have been spotted on their way through in Spring and Fall. Like most migratory birds, they don’t follow the same exact migration route in the Fall that they use in the Spring, and both of them vary. So just because you see them in a certain place in the Spring does not mean they will stop by there in the Fall.

2 years ago I had my first decent spotting (meaning, not 2 miles away) of a squadron of them that landed at Caesar Creek State Park one morning while I was photographing Egrets and shore birds. They were SUPER far away but at least I got a quick image for reference, my best to date then.

Squadron of American White Pelicans - Caesar Creek State Park near the Young Road boat ramp, October 2019. Note the Great Blue Heron in front of them for a size comparison.

In 2020 I didn’t get out to shoot wildlife as much as I had hoped for some reason, so I missed their appearance at Cowan Lake in the Spring and Grand Lake St. Marys in the Fall. However, I rectified that this Spring by being there when they stopped by Cowan Lake near Wilmington, Ohio. They were still far away, but closer than I had seen them at Caesar Creek. And this time I had some nice, warm morning light.

“The 12 Apostles” - Squadron of American White Pelicans at Cowan Lake near Wilmington, Ohio just after dawn. Spring 2021. These are in their breeding plumage - note the spikey head feathers and the vertical hump on the beak.

Fast-forward to this Fall. A week or so ago I got word that some were hanging around Grand Lake St. Marys again, and then Friday 10/1 I saw a report that there were approximately 300 of them there on the West side of the lake. So with Renee in tow, I head up there on Saturday morning. We first went to the Wildlife Preserve area on the Southwest side, and saw 11 Eagles sitting in trees around the perimeter. There was a Mute Swan, several Mallards, Great Blue Herons, Egrets, etc. But way off in the distance with the binoculars I saw a few Pelicans flying about, so we packed up and headed to the West side of the lake.

There I was not disappointed. There were two very large groups of them, with numbers I’m guessing somewhere around 350-400. This is the most I have ever seen in one area. And, they were very active - eating, flying, drinking water, etc. A few shots below:

GETTING LOW

One of the things I have been working on this year is getting low to the ground when shooting wildlife in the water or on the ground. Not only does it make for more intimate imagery, the images are sharper and have better subject separation. Why is that?

Think about your sensor in your camera - that is the plane of focus. When you are standing up, looking down at an angle at something, that plane is also at an angle - depending on the distance from subject and height difference it can be somewhere between 25 degrees and 75 degrees. This means that the sliver that is the plane of focus includes PART of your subject (hopefully the eyes), some of the background, and some of the foreground. Also its obvious in the image that you were above the subject.

Getting low, really low, on their level means that the plan of focus is closer to 90 degrees and puts that sharp area directly on your subject, while blowing out the foreground and background for better separation. Here’s a great example of two nearly identical images, one taken with the camera about 10 feet above the water (bank height plus my height), and one taken with the camera about 6 inches above the water:

Of course, getting low comes at a price. Laying on the sharp rocks, with the camera positioned on a log to steady it, all while being pelted with splashing water as the waves crashed on the rocks meant that I was extremely dirty, wet, and sore afterwards.

Hopefully you’ve learned a few things about Pelicans from this post and are interested in reading more about them. Check out All About Birds for more info if you are interested.

As of this writing today on 10/4/2021 the Pelicans are still there, so if you have some time and can get out, I highly recommend making the trip to the West side of Grand Lake St. Marys in Celina, Ohio. Just bring a long lens and maybe some padding for the jagged rocks!

Thanks for reading,

Jeremy