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From: grp@Unify.com (Greg Pasquariello)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Could I Have Seen a Pelican?
Message-ID: <1990Oct2.174924@Unify.com>
Date: 3 Oct 90 00:49:24 GMT
References: <10593@scorn.sco.COM>
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Reply-To: grp@Unify.com (Greg Pasquariello)
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In article <10593@scorn.sco.COM>, jcohen@sco.COM (Jon Cohen) writes:

> 
> I grew up on the South shore of Long Island, where pelicans--to 
> my knowledge--are never seen. Yet, I am almost sure I saw a 
> pelican in my backyard (I lived only a few blocks from the beach) 
> when I was a small child. I looked up in this big chestnut 
> tree--and there it was! I ran inside to tell my parents, but 
> when they came to look, the pelican was gone.
> 
> My family laughs about this story as evidence of my 
> over-active imagination. But I knew what a pelican looked 
> like, and I am still certain I saw one.
> 
> I wonder if anyone knows about the range of pelicans 
> on the Atlantic coast, and whether it's possible that  
> I saw a pelican after all. 

Well, Pelicans have been seen on the south shore of Long Island, 
especially in recent years.  They have been expanding, rather 
dramatically, up the coast. I don't know about historical ref-
erences, but I will check tonite.

The really odd thing about your siting, was that the pelican was
in a tree.  Pelicans don't have feet that are well adapted to
perching on things like tree limbs.  They are usually found
perched on flat surfaces.  Also, even though you were only a 
few blocks from the shore, I have _never_ seen (or even heard
of) a pelican that wasn't immediatly on the water!

What are some other possibilities?  Well, probably the most
likely is a Great Blue Heron.  I can easily imagine a heron
looking like a "pelican" to a small child.  My wife (who is
certainly no birder) once yelled "There's a pelican"... in 
a deep wooded swamp in Northern NJ.  It was a Great Blue.

She's gotten better at it since then. :-)
--

-Greg Pasquariello	grp@unify.com