
Above is a photo of a brown pelican that jumped on this girl's kayak on Lows Lake in the Adirondacks last week. The bird was first seen on Fourth Lake near Old Forge. Birders were very excited because brown pelicans had never been observed in the Adirondacks before. They live in the south, from the Gulf Coast as far north as Maryland. The bird's behavior led some to think something was wrong with it. Eventually, it was captured and taken to a veterinary clinic near Saranac Lake. Sadly, I learned today that it died. There will be a necropsy to determine the cause of death. It has been speculated that the pelican was blown north by a hurricane. It may have had an obstruction in its stomach. Would anyone like to do a story about this pelican instead of the one assigned last week? Or perhaps tackle it for your second story?

btw, here is a link to a blog I posted about the pelican on the Adirondack Explorer site last week.
ReplyDeletehttp://adirondackexplorer.org/out-takes/2009/08/brown-pelican-in-adirondacks/