Saturday, January 9, 2010

Food Fight in the Wild Kingdom!

New Year's Day I was on the balcony with Denny and shot a series of photos worthy of the "food fight" scene in Animal House. If you like nature - and pelicans - you'll love this ...

It all started when a fisherman left a partially filleted fish on the side of the dock. The first seagull grabbed it, but the fish was so heavy it dropped him head first into the water.



Here is the object of desire, surrounded by seagulls in flight.




Another seagull makes an attempt before trouble arrives ...




Brown pelican chases the seagulls away. They're not happy - you can see the back seagull's mouth open.




Check out the wake behind this big white pelican as he lands. I wish I could have gotten the shot with his feet extended as he hit the water.




Another brown pelican moving into position.




He's got a bite of something in his "pouch" and the other is eyeing it.




"Give me that!" More participants arrive on scene.




Lead white pelican has a piece of fish and is being pursued by the others!




Too late! Down the hatch.




Meanwhile, back at the dock, a dual has broken out over the remaining pieces of fish.




"You won that battle, but not the war."




At it again - it's two against one with the hopeful seagull hovering overhead.




This is getting ugly. The others stand back while the lead competitors tear the fish apart.




"I've got mine!"




Remaining contestants working on the last piece.




Oops ... down the hatch again!




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