BENICIA PELICAN LOG

2008

Text Box:

September 12, 2008 (12:38pm)

Have not seen any pelicans off First Street or on Southampton Bay for about 2 weeks.  Gone for the season?

September 4, 2008 (12noon)

3 floating in circles over 9th St. Park.

Many sightings 8/19 - 8/30 went unrecorded, as pelican-presence on LPI became normal and expected.

August 19, 2008 (1:08pm)

R saw 2 on LPI.

August 12, 2008 (11:30 am)

5 on LPI.

July 31, 2008 (3:00pm)

15 on LPI, and 1 in flight.

July 31, 2008 (1:00pm)

14 on LPI, and 1 in flight over MPI.

July 31, 2008 (9:15am)

13 on Southampton Bay.

July 29, 2008 (5:15pm)

3 on LPI.

July 29, 2008 (9:00am)

1 in flight high over Carquinez Strait.

July 28, 2008

7 white & 3 brown on LPI, 2 on MPI, 3 at end of pier, 1 mid-strait around 4th St.

July 13, 2008 (9:03am)

R saw 12 on LPI, then 9 more slowly circling above the islands to land.  3 landed on Middle Island, and 6 landed on Little Island.  Gorgeous in the morning sun.

July 12, 2008 (6:00pm)

R saw one among a dozen gulls on LPI.  Stretching and flapping its wings.  Very high tide.

July 12, 2008 (2:45pm)

R & MS saw 2 or 3 on LPI.

July 12, 2008 (9:20am)

R saw 16 on LPI, and one more making a slow landing from the east.

July 11, 2008 (11:50pm)

From 1st Street in front of Mike & Gayles’ restaurant, R saw two flying east over lower 1st Street.  At noon, R counted 12 on Little Pelican Island.

July 10, 2008 (1:14pm)

From Jerry Page’s dining room at 1250 West L, R saw two flying west over the Strait.

July 9, 2008 (9:45am)

R saw 4 floating mid-Southampton Bay, lined up north to south and spaced out evenly like buoys.  Also 2 more floating near the far shore.

July 9, 2008 (7:33am)

MS saw 6 flying low overhead, coming east to 9th Street Park and turning south to fly over the water.

July 8, 2008 (10:10am)

R saw 4 on Little Pelican Island, then at 10:14am 2 more flying east at First Street along at East E Street.

July 8, 2008 (6:36am)

R saw 7 on Middle Pelican Island.

July 7, 2008 (10:00amm)

R saw one flying west over the Strait off W. 9th, and another 10 or so floating off the far western shore of Southampton Bay.

July 3, 2008 (8:15am and again at 9:00am)

Passing by on West K Street, R saw about 2 dozen spread out on the waters of Southampton Bay, and a few in low flight.

July 2, 2008 (4:45pm)

R saw about a dozen flying low over the water, west to east, while sitting in Susan and Brent Street’s dining room on East B Street.  (I imagined this might be a daily migration, from Little Pelican Island to wherever they spend the night?)

July 1, 2008 (10:30am)

R saw 13, mostly on LPI but also spread out on the string of rocks to Middle Pelican Island.  First one more landed from the east on LPI, and then another 2 came skimming from the east to land on LPI.  Total of 16 when I left.

June 30, 2008 (4:15pm)

R saw NONE off the foot of First.  First time in several weeks.

June 30, 2008 (10:45am)

R looked out from 9th Street Park to see: 1 mid-Southampton-Bay, 3 near the far western shore, and 6 or more on the tiny island off 10 Street.

June 29, 2008 (3:10pm)

R saw at least 26 on Little Pelican Island

June 26, 2008 (3:30pm)

R saw 23 or more on Little Pelican Island.

June 25, 2008 (10:53 am)

Text Box:  R saw 20 or more on Little Pelican Island, and another one alone on the water mid-Strait.  Another took to flight from the center of the little bay off the promenade, and circled out and over to the area near the entrance to the marina, where it joined several others on the water.

June 25, 2008 (10:00 am)

R saw a total of 8, all on the water: 2 off the 9th Street pier, 1 near the 10th Street overlook, 2 off 12th Street (Matthew Turner Park), 1 in the center of Southampton Bay, and 2 near the far western shore of Southampton Bay.

June 24, 2008 (10:15am)

R saw 26 on LPI and 4 swimming or fishing nearby.

June 23, 2008 (7:30pm)

R saw 25 or more on LPIsland.

June 23, 2008 (12:55pm)

Text Box:  R saw 15 or more on LPIsland.

June 23, 2008 (9:55am)

R&MS saw 4 in flight and 4 on the water on Southampton Bay.

June 22, 2008 (9:30am)

R saw about 18 on far west shore of Southampton Bay.

June 21, 2008 (9:22am & 10:00am)

R& MS saw 7 on LPI at 9:22am.  Then R saw 10 there at 10am, and an 11th circling in for a landing.  R also went to 9th Street, and counted at least a dozen on the far western shore of Southampton Bay, including 2 in flight.

June 19, 2008 (11:59am)

MS saw 23 floating on Southampton Bay.

June 19, 2008 (9:21am)

MS saw at least 7 on the water between W. 12th and the Benicia State Park.

June 18, 2008 (4:30pm)

R saw 9 of them on Little Pelican Island, and a very distant swooping of 6 or 12 at the far end of Southampton Bay.

June 18, 2008 (11:05am)

R saw 3 on Little Pelican Island, and a few minutes later looking out from 9th Street Park, saw about 2 dozen floating on Southampton Bay and another 6 to 10 dancing in the air above the Bay.

June 17, 2008 (10:30am)

Driving down West K to the freeway, Roger saw about 2 dozen floating on Southampton Bay.

Text Box:  June 16, 2008 (3:00 pm)

R saw 2 on Little Pelican Island.

June 15, 2008 (9:55am)

MS & Z (& Vaughn?) saw 13 on Little Pelican Island, then 2 more came flying in from the east, total 15.  Then (10:03 a.m.) saw 10 more of them flying in v formation over the Tannery Building heading southwest.

June 12, 2008 (3:00 pm)

R & MS, after noting the closure of Café Voltaire, saw about 12 on LP Island, and 2 more flying west on the Strait near the Marina.  (Afterwards, R & MS went to Concord for Roger’s basal cell surgery on his leg – so didn’t get out to look for Pelicans on 6/13 & 6/14.)

June 12, 2008 (9:12am)

MS saw 4 floating in the Strait a little west of the West 12th Street Matthew Turner Shipyard park.

June 11, 2008 (4:00 pm)

R saw 2 of them on LP Island.  One hopped up and floated a bit, landing at the eastern end of the Island.

June 11, 2008 (7:49am)

MS saw 3 floating on Southampton Bay, off toward the state park.

June 10, 2008 (4:00 pm)

R saw 9 on Little Pelican Island, and a 10th one sailing in low from the east to join them.

June 9, 2008 (11:02am)

R saw 3 of the 4 still on LP Island, 2 near the center of Southampton Bay, and another one flying high to the east, near the Benicia Bridge.  (6 totsl)

June 9, 2008 (10:40am)

R saw 3 on Little Pelican Island; another one coming in from the east, circling and landing near the boat entrance to the Marina; 3 more flying over the Strait from the west and circling farther and farther southeast, toward Martinez; and one more, from the west, circling and landing on the LP Island.  (8 total)

June 5, 2008 (11:35am)

MS saw 11 of them floating on Southampton Bay.

June 4?, 2008

R&MS saw 3 on Little Pelican Island, then another came swooping overhead, across the spit and landed with the others on the island, then another came sailing down the strait from the east and landed on the back side of Middle Pelican Island.  We saw a 6th in shallow water near the eastern tip of Big Pelican Island (the westernmost of the islands).

June 3, 2008

The June 5 edition of the Benicia Herald published a photo taken June 3 of three on Southampton Bay.

June 2, 2008 (4:00pm)

R saw two on Pelican Island.  MS wasn’t positive they were pelicans, but saw big white blobs on the Bay. 

May 28, 2008 (9:59am)

With Vaughn in the carseat, I saw a single white pelican flying in low from the East, and landing on the littlest Pelican Island (easternmost), off the tip of First Street.  (Also saw a sea lion.)  Later, talked with barista Kathleen at Café Voltaire, who said she saw a white pelican on Southampton Bay yesterday.  Also talked to a dog-walker named Elizabeth, who said she had seen one on Pelican Island yesterday.

April 13, 2008 (10:46am)

Driving west down J Street, R saw 8 of them in formation, circling high above West 6th.  Slowly moving west, they continued in gorgeous wheeling patterns for a long time.