BENICIA PELICAN LOG

2012

Acrobats high over Benicia
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Pelican Islands in Benicia, CA
Islands off the Foot of First Street, Benicia, CA
I gave Pelican names to the islands at the foot of First Street. Click here to open a larger image.

Benicia, California, USA
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July 13, 2012 (1:03pm)
1 brown and 2 white pelicans on Little Pelican Island.

July 9, 2012 (5:56pm)
1 white, 2 brown on Little Pelican Island, high tide.

July 9, 2012 (11:30am)
12 white pelicans on Little Pelican Island.

July 9, 2012 (6:50am)
35 white pelicans crowded onto Little Pelican Island! 1 brown afloat east of the island, paddling past to land at Middle Pelican Island. After a minute, 2 more whites, flying in from the east to LPI, and another brown flying east to west mid-strait. A lot of activity, too much to record.

July 8, 2012 (2:57pm)
1 brown pelican on west end of Middle Pelican Island.

July 7, 2012 (12:10pm)
1 white on rocks beyond the mud flats at low tide. 1 brown took off from a hidden position behind the rocks of Little Pelican Island, flew east low over the Strait, then circled back toward the south shore.

July 7, 2012 (10:53am)
18 afloat on Southampton Bay.

July 6, 2012 (6:21pm)
Very unusual: 5 brown on Little Pelican Island and another brown afloat just off the island.

July 6, 2012 (11:00am)
At least 17 white on Little Pelican Island and 1 brown in mud flats at very low tide.

July 5, 2012 (1:51pm)
10 white and 1 brown on Little Pelican Island. Another brown landed on water midstrait. Then we saw a huge flock of 18 doing circles and V-formations very high over the Strait east of First Street, almost to the Benicia Bridge. At first they headed further southeast toward Mt. Diablo, but then they changed course, and made their way back west along the Strait, until they were directly overhead just off the Spit and then beyond toward Southampton Bay. All the while they remained very high playing on the westerly winds. Breathtakingly beautiful!

July 2, 2012 (5:42pm)
2 white, 1 brown on Little Pelican Island.

July 2, 2012 (7:16am)
4 afloat mid-Southampton Bay, seen from West K.  Also 1 afloat off 9th Street boat launch and 2 afloat off Dillon Point.

July 2, 2012 (7:05am)
2 white on mud flats between Little Pelican Island and Middle Pelican Island at low tide.

July 1, 2012 (4:41pm)
At least 13 on Little Pelican Island. Also 1 in flight landing out of sight on back side of Middle Pelican Island.

June 30, 2012 (4:57pm)
At least 17 white and 1 brown on Little Pelican Island. Also, 1 white flying high over the Strait.

June 29, 2012 (5:59pm)
1 on Little Pelican Island.

June 27, 2012 (2:17pm)
1 in flight, 11 on Little Pelican Island.

June 26, 2012 (1:52pm)
2 on Little Pelican Island.

June 25, 2012 (3:51pm)
1 brown on Little Pelican Island, joined 3 minutes later by another brown.

June 24, 2012 (2:04pm)
At least 4 in flight, circling high over Southampton Bay.

June 24, 2012 (1:38pm)
At least 6 on the water, Southampton Bay.

June 23, 2012 (3:49pm)
At least 17 on Little Pelican Island. A few minutes later, a jetski approached and caused mass flight - what I thought was 17 turned out to be 26 in flight! They circled and returned to the island, and then the jetski returned causing another mass takeoff. This time, only 14 returned to the island. The other 12 flew off toward Martinez.

June 22, 2012 (6:19pm)
2 brown on Little Pelican Island.

June 22, 2012 (11:00am)
9 on Little Pelican Island and 5 more in the strip between Little Pelican Island and Middle Pelican Island. Very low tide.

June 18, 2012 (6:17pm)
7 on Little Pelican Island. At 6:19pm, 2 browns came flying mid-strait east then west. Soon after, 3 whites flew off the island & joined 3 other whites on the water off the marina in midstrait.

June 15, 2012 (6:12pm)
Biggest flock of the season - 24 white and 1 brown, on Little and Middle Pelican Islands.

June 13, 2012 (6:39pm)
Four brown pelicans on Little Pelican Island.

June 12, 2012 (5:42pm)
Two on Little Pelican Island.

June 12, 2012 (9:45am)
4 in flight low over Southampton bay, 2 on the water there, as seen from West K Street.

June 10, 2012 (3:00pm)
2 brown, 1 white on the strip between Little Pelican Island and Middle Pelican Island. Low tide.

June 10, 2012 (2:34pm)
One white and one brown on Little Pelican Island.

June 10, 2012 (2:11pm)
1 flying from Southampton Bay, east over the islands at end of First Street & toward the marina (seen from upstairs at Sailor Jacks Restaurant).

June 9, 2012 (5:28pm)
27 on Little Pelican Island, 5 on Middle Pelican Island.

June 9, 2012 (5:24pm)
30 on Little Pelican Island! One more flying over east to west, then circling west to east.

June 9, 2012 (4:59pm)
One more joined the huge flock on Little Pelican Island - 19!

June 9, 2012 (4:57pm)
18 just about covering Little Pelican Island!

June 8, 2012 (2:40pm)
1 on Little Pelican Island.

June 6, 2012 (4:06pm)
12 or 13 on Little Pelican Island.

June 3, 2012 (2:45-3:00pm)
A single White Pelican in flight circling on the gentle winds high over the Strait. [Note also ... we saw a sea lion swimming against the current east to west between the spit and Little Pelican Island off the foot of First Street. Seems early in the season for a sea lion!]

June 3, 2012 (1:26pm)
Four White Pelicans nesting on Little Pelican Island off the foot of First Street.

June 3, 2012 (11:30am)
As I mowed my lawn, I saw four White Pelicans ... and an airplane the same size! :-) ... in straightline flight west to east high out over the Strait.

June 1, 2012 (11:40-11:45am)
Returned, watched again for awhile ... eight white and one brown on Little Pelican Island. 11:44 - three whites flying east, one circles and joins the others on LPI while the other two continue east toward the Benicia Bridge. 11:25 - the brown pelican jumps into the water off the east end of LPI, fishes for a minute but catches nothing, then flies off east toward the Benicia Bridge.

June 1, 2012 (11:00-11:08am)
Watched for a spell ... 6 white on Little Pelican Island, fairly high tide. 11:03 - one more white lands on LPI, flying from east. 11:05 - a brown pelican joins them, also flying from the east. 11:08 - the brown flies out low and over Big Pelican Island, then returns to LPI.

May 31, 2012 (1:43am)
Six on Little Pelican Island.

May 30, 2012 (10:58-11:37am)
Read my book and watched for awhile ... 16 white pelicans on Little Pelican Island, AND 4 whites and 2 brown pelicans on Middle Pelican Island, AND 1 white swimming east in the channel west of MPI, total of 23 at mid-to-high tide. 11:04 - 1 flies from LPI across Strait, then weest along south shore, landing at pier opposite Big Pelican Island. 11:25 - 3 flap off of LPI into the water just off the island, swim west to the sandy tip of LPI. 11:26 - a 4th joins the 3 at west tip of LPI. 11:27 - 3 fly off from LPI: 2 to MPI, and 1 high over the Strait to the west, then circling back to MPI. Also at 11:27 - 2 flying from Martinez join the group on LPI. 11:29 - 1 takes off from MPI, across the Strait then east a bit, then west at the south shore. 11:33 - 1 joins the flock on LPI. Also at 11:33 - one brown swims slowly with the current east from MPI, joins the flock on LPI at 11:35. 11:37 - 1 white flies from LPI low to the west, past MPI and out over the Strait continuing west.

May 29, 2012 (11:45am-12:12pm)
Read my book and watched for awhile ... 12 to 15 white and 3 brown pelicans on Little Pelican Island off foot of First Street. A somewhat low tide. 11:55 - 1 white flies off alone across the Strait and west, then north toward Dillon Point or Southampton Bay. 12:00 noon - 1 flies briefly to the mud between islands. 12:05 - 2 fly off to Marina and then Martinez. 12:09 - 1 from LPI and one from the mud between islands fly low around the Spit and toward Southampton Bay. 12:10 - 1 flies around Big Pelican Island and toward Southampton. 12:12 - remaining on LPI: 6 or 7 white and 2 browns.

May 25, 2012 (6:00pm)
Two Brown Pelicans in flight, then landing on Little Pelican Island off the foot of First Street.

May 25, 2012 (11:25am)
A Brown? Pelican, alone standing on eastern tip of Big Pelican Island off the foot of First Street. It appeared from a distance to be grey brown with a black neck - hard to be sure, but it had the decidedly long beak of a pelican.

May 24, 2012 (9:48am)
One alone on Little Pelican Island off the foot of First Street.

May 21, 2012 (2:17pm)
Six (or maybe 7?) on Little Pelican Island off the foot of First Street.

May 21, 2012 (9:50am)
Thirteen floating, and another one in low flight middle of Southampton Bay.

May 21, 2012 (9:40am)
Two at rest on Little Pelican Island off the foot of First Street, low tide.

May 20, 2012 (2:26pm)
Two in flight overhead on West J Street between W. 8th and W. 6th.

May 20, 2012 (11:23am)
Vaughn and I were sailing a balsa wood airplane when two flew overhead on West J Street between W. 8th and W. 6th.

May 20, 2012 (10:58am)
Ten in one group floating, and another two in another group floating on Southampton Bay near western shoreline.

May 18, 2012 (1:43pm)
Four on Little Pelican Island, foot of First Street.

May 14, 2012 (7:15am)
A lone pelican descended and landed on Little Pelican Island off the foot of First Street.

May 13, 2012 (6:45pm)
A small flock (5-15?) afloat in water on the south side of Rte. 37 at top of Mare Island as I traveled east, just before Walnut Ave. exit. (Seen briefly from the car heading from Novato back to Benicia.)

April 4, 2012 (3:10pm)
A lone white pelican in flight halfway across the Strait off the foot of First Street, circling and drifting toward the Contra Costa hills.