Pelicans in the night........

We all know about Pelicans.....their beaks can hold more than their belly can..... Well we were off out of the boat for an early evening walk the other night and there, behind the boat, in our little basin in the marina, was a Pelican using the most unusual method of fishing! (or so we thought). As we walked around the rim of the marina towards where the Pelican was, we realized it was floundering around in the water because it had a broken right wing.
These birds have at least a 6ft wingspan and are very strong, but not strong enough to overcome the gazillion electric wires that run through this Marina in the Pylon corridor. The wires at the bottom, in particular are dangerous. Since then a 9 yr old boy, who is also resident on this pier has put a large brown Pelican in the trash bin, because it electrocuted itself.
I went and took a couple of photos...not to be macabre, but so that we could have a close up look at the size of this magnificent bird, and to study it's beak.
Since they have come back into the basin, with the advent of Fall, we have watched them flying and feeding with great interest. They are truly fascinating to watch fall out of the sky into the water after a fish, and then they bob back up again. Taking off,  requires extreme effort, as they are such heavy birds.

Not much would escape this hook!

 It is so sad to see these beautiful birds dying because of something man could change so easily. Bury the wires!!

There are five sets of wires, with three wires on each set. The pylons are at least 200ft tall and the birds either have to fly under the wires, or over the top. Some make it through the mess, but so many birds don't make it. A travesty!

Speaking of LIVE Pelicans...

While I was cooking our Roast Lamb (NZ lamb!!!) last night, Waz went out and took some photos of Pelicans fishing. After the Pelicans left, the Terns took over.

As I sit here this morning, a flock of about 30 Pelicans have returned to feed in the basin behind the boat, and seabirds are circling all around us. A beautiful sight:)

I love watching them circle overhead, and how they use their different feathers in flight.

And, just to prove I DID cook Roast Lamb...

At $7.99 per pound this was hard to beat. It was also reduced from $31  to $13...well, you would buy it, right? And it was the most succulent boned leg of lamb we have ever eaten. Would woulda thunk you would be on the other side of the world eating a product that grows almost next to your home in NZ and it was the best you had ever eaten...anywhere!?
I even had to go out and buy a pan to cook it in, in the Micro-convection oven. We have plenty of left overs:) No room for roast taties etc, so I pan roasted those on the induction cook-top.

Our days in the past week seem to all have rolled into one, so I wont try and untangle the mess, but will kind of just write things as they come to mind. I think that is easiest, dont you? Otherwise you might get a bit more confused that I am, about what happened and when.

Read the next post for all that stuff...