Penguins aren’t the only birds drawing a crowd, writes Geoff Ellis.
By Geoff Ellis
THE car park’s full. Hesitant seagulls watch families head for the sand. Some people are meandering from the Fisherman’s Co-Op building and there are a lot of eager children in the gathering throng.
On the beach, orange bollards linked with red rope mark out a triangle from the access ramp to the water’s edge. A ranger guards three plastic tubs of fish frames near the top of the triangle.
THE car park’s full. Hesitant seagulls watch families head for the sand. Some people are meandering from the Fisherman’s Co-Op building and there are a lot of eager children in the gathering throng.
On the beach, orange bollards linked with red rope mark out a triangle from the access ramp to the water’s edge. A ranger guards three plastic tubs of fish frames near the top of the triangle.
That patch of sand soon becomes a waddling strip for the big birds winging it in from the Mud Islands of Port Phillip Bay. Graceful in the air, they come in under the bridge and glide down to splash land in the shallow water of Western Port.
As the clock trudges toward noon, the last of the school buses releases another load of students. They rush through the playground to fill the rare gaps beside those bollards. The older kids clutch clipboards and pens as they push their way through.
The ranger starts talking about the rare nature of pelicans, as the birds jostle for a clear spot in expectation of the snack they are about to receive. She reaches into the tub for a fish, pauses, and then the show begins.
When a pelican catches something, it manipulates it in its bill until the prey’s head is aimed at the pelican’s throat. Then the pelican jerks its head up and swallows the thing whole.
That bill and pouch play an important role. The bill is sensitive so it can locate fish in murky water. There is a hook at the end of the upper mandible which is useful for gripping slippery food.
A pelican bill can hold up to 13 litres though the pouch doesn’t retain food for any length of time, it’s used as a collecting organ. It can also function as a catching net and there have been sightings of pelicans collecting rain water in their open bill.
Out in the wild, a flock of pelicans will work collectively to catch their prey by beating their wings to drive fish into shallow waters or surround them in ever decreasing circles.
Here in San Remo, The Fisherman’s Co-operative has been feeding pelicans near the wharf for over 20 years. Decades earlier, sea birds realised the fishing fleet was a good source of food. When the cleaning operation moved indoors the noon feeding was born.
Today, members of the wildlife rescue group run by Phillip Island Nature Parks feed the birds while checking for fishing line entanglement, hooks around their wings, other injuries and identification tags.
The number of pelicans turning up for this feast varies from a few to several dozen. This shows they don’t rely on this feeding, they just regard it as a daily snack option.
The ranger keeps the pelicans, and the humans, on their toes. She artfully tosses fish into the air to punctuate her words of wisdom and tales of adventure. Once a bird catches something it lumbers through the gauntlet of hungry birds, which includes the odd heroic seagull, into the water to swallow in relative calm.
Quizzical stingrays often gather on the water’s edge.
When the three tubs are clearly empty the pelicans start to wander into the water but kids of all ages can’t get enough. The ranger enthusiastically lingers until the last question is answered.
As people head for the fish and chippery, the birds form convoys in the water before lumbering into the air. As they clear the bridge they bank to the west and head back to that bay as San Remo turns back into a sleepy fishing village. Those school buses were last seen crossing onto the Island.
As the clock trudges toward noon, the last of the school buses releases another load of students. They rush through the playground to fill the rare gaps beside those bollards. The older kids clutch clipboards and pens as they push their way through.
The ranger starts talking about the rare nature of pelicans, as the birds jostle for a clear spot in expectation of the snack they are about to receive. She reaches into the tub for a fish, pauses, and then the show begins.
When a pelican catches something, it manipulates it in its bill until the prey’s head is aimed at the pelican’s throat. Then the pelican jerks its head up and swallows the thing whole.
That bill and pouch play an important role. The bill is sensitive so it can locate fish in murky water. There is a hook at the end of the upper mandible which is useful for gripping slippery food.
A pelican bill can hold up to 13 litres though the pouch doesn’t retain food for any length of time, it’s used as a collecting organ. It can also function as a catching net and there have been sightings of pelicans collecting rain water in their open bill.
Out in the wild, a flock of pelicans will work collectively to catch their prey by beating their wings to drive fish into shallow waters or surround them in ever decreasing circles.
Here in San Remo, The Fisherman’s Co-operative has been feeding pelicans near the wharf for over 20 years. Decades earlier, sea birds realised the fishing fleet was a good source of food. When the cleaning operation moved indoors the noon feeding was born.
Today, members of the wildlife rescue group run by Phillip Island Nature Parks feed the birds while checking for fishing line entanglement, hooks around their wings, other injuries and identification tags.
The number of pelicans turning up for this feast varies from a few to several dozen. This shows they don’t rely on this feeding, they just regard it as a daily snack option.
The ranger keeps the pelicans, and the humans, on their toes. She artfully tosses fish into the air to punctuate her words of wisdom and tales of adventure. Once a bird catches something it lumbers through the gauntlet of hungry birds, which includes the odd heroic seagull, into the water to swallow in relative calm.
Quizzical stingrays often gather on the water’s edge.
When the three tubs are clearly empty the pelicans start to wander into the water but kids of all ages can’t get enough. The ranger enthusiastically lingers until the last question is answered.
As people head for the fish and chippery, the birds form convoys in the water before lumbering into the air. As they clear the bridge they bank to the west and head back to that bay as San Remo turns back into a sleepy fishing village. Those school buses were last seen crossing onto the Island.