A lone swimmer…
Another Pelican…
A lone swimmer…
Tag: art
Pelicans
No, I have not gone pelican mad. But I still enjoy drawing them.
Find the odd one out of this group!
Leave me Alone…
… or is he just hungry? I am not sure. What do you think?
Prey of the Pelican II
Although not being considered dangerous, pelicans are quite big and you wouldn´t want to mess with them!
The diet of pelicans usually consists of fish, but occasionally amphibians, turtles, crustaceans, insects, birds, and mammals are also eaten. The size of the preferred prey fish varies depending on pelican species and location. Apparently pelicans have even been observed eating smaller birds, sometimes scooping up water in order to drown them before swallowing.
Flight of the Pelican II
Did you know that pelicans fly at an average speed of 25 km/h but they have been record with top speed of up to 65 km/h?
Their wing span ranges from 183 cm – 350 cm depending on the species. So yes, they are quite massive and you rather don´t mess with them.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Pelican and their Fish
An adult pelican may eat up to 1.8 kilograms of fish per day!
The brown pelican is a keen-eyed predator that can spot a fish swimming under the ocean’s surface even while flying almost 20 m above.
Its bigger cousin, the Peruvian pelican, also has great vision. Once a target has been spotted from above, the pelicans plunge into the sea bill-first at high speeds—and often from great height. When they collide with the prey, the impact force usually stuns the victim and it is then scooped up in the pouch.
Pelican Landing
The brown pelican is a unique feeder that makes impressive dives from above the surface. They fly just above the surface of the water, then circle high, and when ready dive headfirst, plunging under water to catch fish.
They are able to dive from as high as 30 meters! The deeper the meal the higher the dive.
This pelican landing turned out purple for artistic expression.
Pelican Offspring
Who has seen a baby pelican? I haven´t. Something unusual about the populations of coastal pelicans is that baby pelicans are never seen.
Pelicans nest far away in inland or remote locations in large breeding colonies. The pair chooses a relatively flat nest site on gravel, sand, or soil near other pelicans at the same stage of the breeding cycle. In southern, drier regions, they nest amongst sparse vegetation. In forested regions, sites may be under shrubs or trees.
Both parents feed their young.
From about 25 days old, the young pelicans gather in “pods” or “crèches” of up to 100 birds. The parents recognise and feed only their own offspring.
Pelican Hangout
Pelicans are very social birds. They live in large colonies composed of several hundreds of birds. A group of pelicans has numerous collective nouns, including pod, scoop and squadron.
Happy Sunday everyone!
Pose like a Pelican
Pelicans are a characterised by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before swallowing.
There are 8 different living pelican species. You can find them ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone, though they are absent from interior South America and from polar regions and the open ocean.
Prey of the Pelican
This one just caught his dinner.
The diet of pelicans usually consists of fish. The size of the preferred prey fish varies depending on pelican species and location.
But did you know that occasionally they also eat amphibians, turtles, crustaceans, insects, birds, and mammals?
Plight of the Pelican
I am currently doing a study of pelicans for an image making course I am taking. After months of absence from drawing I am getting into it again. That means you can expect more pelicans.
This pelican is hungry.
Flight of the Pelican
The last couple of months just flew by. As they say, time flies when you are having fun and things are all over the place.
After spending the last 4 months enjoying life in Greece and Switzerland due to multiple flight cancellations, I am finally back on the island. As drawing came rather short the last months I am eager to take it up again.
One of the fondest memories of recent years is when we were watching pelicans surfing the waves of the Pacific Ocean in Guatemala. It looked like they where having a blast!
Curious Crowd of Huskies
I just discovered two Inktober drawings that I forgot to post.
This one is titled Husky. I love how it turned out. I´m still a dog person. What could they be looking at though?
Merry Christmas
I’m wishing you all a happy holiday, and may Santa or Mr Fox bring you lots of lovely presents.
Window Shopping in Edinburgh
Went on a stop over to Edinburgh last month. I enjoyed the city just as much as the first time I was there for a long weekend. And it seems I spent too much time drawing foxes the last month, as I started to see them everywhere.
I took the opportunity to stock up on sketchbooks and pens, as those things are rather pricey in Iceland. And of course I had to use them right away.
Inktober 2019 Day 31 – Ripe
Last but not least. Almost forgot to post this one, the last of the inktober prompts.
Happy first advent everyone!
Trying to catch Mr Mouse turned out to be too exhausting. Therefore little Mr Fox stuffed his face with ripe grapes instead.
Inktober 2019 Day 14 – Overgrown
I wanted to draw another dragon. This one went to take a nap in the forest. After a long slumber he woke up only to discover that he was surrounded by forest flora and fauna.
Cat Yoga I
Lazy Saturday morning. Trying to get up to do some yoga… I found this drawing that I did back in May when I was still in Athens and enjoying the sun. I really miss Greece….
Inspiration was the two cats they have at the pole studio, where I went for aerial hoop training in Athens. Whenever you put the mat down on the ground to stretch, one of the cats would come and lie down on it and claim the space or sharpen its nails on the mat. It was actually a lot of fun to have them around as entertainment.
Melanie Franz 