A Pelican Launches on Estero Bay

A real visit to a spot of ‘Jurassic Park’

Photo of Brown Pelican by John Dean

I was already 27 years old when I saw my first Pelican. I was in Fort Lauderdale, my first trip to Florida, and saw several squadrons fly by my 12th-floor balcony. I was mesmerized. They looked like something from prehistoric times. At around 4 feet in length, these are huge birds. I’d never seen any bird that large, except for a few Ostriches in a zoo.

Photo by Tomas Castelazo, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia

Since that first encounter, I welcome every Pelican I run into. If nobody is around, I even whisper a “thank you” to them just for showing up.

Last week I had another encounter. I was in a kayak on Estero Bay, on the west coast of Florida in Bonita Springs. The bay hosts an island called “Bird Island,” which is protected as a critical wildlife habitat. During the right times of the year, that island hosts hundreds of Pelicans, Roseate Spoonbills, Herons, and Egrets.

Photo of Bird Island, Estero Bay, Florida by John Dean

The Pelican I saw was not on Bird Island. Instead, he was floating on the water by himself (herself?). Best I could tell…