Pelican Grooming

I went to Winchester Bay yesterday with a friend planning to photograph the pigeon guillemots courting...which we did and I'll post shots of them in the days ahead. But I LOVE pelicans. I got a bunch of good BIF shots but I think my favorite is this one of him grooming. The spot he is grooming looks almost like a flower. What a thrill. I also experimented with shooting with my heavy Tamron 150-600 mm lens. It took some getting used to but I liked the shots I got.
Thanks so much for your visits, comments, suggestions, favs and for taking yesterday's big sky shot to the PP.

[Caterina]

Great image. Fav

[4rky]

Really great shot

[sally agnew]

Their plumage is quite different to our pelicans :)

[Graeme Stevens]

excellent as always

[FBailey]

Super sharp shot

[Nadiya Bilovodenko]

Great details

[Sylvia Binch]

So much detail. What a wonderful image. I didn't know pelicans were this colour.

[Jane Pittenger]

@bintal these are brown pelicans not white

[Jane Pittenger]

@hermann brown pelicans

[Sylvia Binch]

Very interesting to see. I've only ever seen white ones.

[*lynn]

fabulous detail

[Pam Knowler]

Fabulous! Fav!

[Margo]

He is very brown!! Ours are very white Good capture

[Maggiemae]

Don't know what a BIF shot is but this looks like a good HDR! Feather detail!

[Linda Godwin]

Beautiful Female preening ,nice capture

[Faye Turner]

Wonderful details! fav

[Jane Pittenger]

@maggiemae bif is bird in flight. This isn’t hdr though...just nice sharp lens

[Jane Pittenger]

@rontu what let’s you know it’s a female?

[Babs]

Your pelicans look totally different to ours here in Australia.

[Milanie]

Fantastic lighting and focus. He's a real beauty. Fav

[Marnie]

Golleee, I've never seen a brown pelican, ours are totally different, mostly white.

[Diana]

A first for me too, ours are also whit. A stunning capture with wonderful details and tones. Fav

[haskar]

Great shot and details.

[Rob Z]

Wow - a great image (as always!) but what a weird pelican! He looks so strange being brown - ours are always black and white with a pink beak.

[elkehochban]

Wonderful texture! faved

[Joan Robillard]

Gotta scratch that itch

[Mallory]

A gorgeous capture!

[Leslie]

what amazing detail on his feathers. He is a very handsome fellow. Love what you captured

[~*~ Jo ~*~]

Super capture

[Kerri Michaels]

nice fav

[tony gig]

Lovely detailed shot...Fav

[Wylie]

beautiful shot and I like the sharp processing. fav

[Ashley]

Fantastic! Pelicans are one of my favorites!

[Vesna]

Great image.