Friday, November 10, 2023, I took the day off for Veteran's Day. I was exhausted from several weeks of 11-hour days at work, and I needed this day off. I also needed to shoot...but first I needed to sleep. So I did. That afternoon, after taking care of other chores at home, I headed to the Riparian Preserve. It's my sanctuary as much as it is a sanctuary to the wildlife there.
I have a pattern to my visits at the Riparian. I skip the pedestrian bridge, and I always head down by the saguaro circle and make my way to the backside of the preserve. It's quiet, and now that it's winter, migrating birds are back and the reclamation ponds are full and alive with all kinds of birds, but especially my favorite, the pelicans.
The second pond on the path didn't disappoint. A good sized group of pelicans were sitting on a sandbar out in the pond, warming themselves in the glow of the afternoon sun. I stayed there a while, alternating between photo and video. However, this group was content and happy and didn't look like they were inclined to get excited about anything. During this stop, a man and his family walked up beside me, astounded there were pelicans here. We talked for a few, and they made their way up the path. His children were young and excited and not wanting to just observe the birds. I took a few more shots, and decided I would also make my way up the path. I grabbed my cameras, backpack and tripod and moved on.
I came around the bend, and the man I'd just spoken to beckoned me. "What are they doing?" he asked.
This backside of the pond was shady, and there was an opening on the shore. I cautiously walked up, not wanting to scare anything. There was a group of 8-10 pelicans in the water, engaged in a rhythmic circular bobbing in and out of the water. I stood and watched for a few seconds, and then I got my wits about me. I grabbed my Fuji XT-4 with the 100-400mm lens, and made my way closer to the shoreline. The pelicans were oblivious to us. In and out, in and out. Shot after shot, I stood there transfixed and mesmerized through my glass. People were coming up behind me, and I could hear excited whispers. We all felt it.
Occasionally a pelican would break away from the group, and another would join. I kept shooting. Once I realized these birds were going nowhere, I got much more methodical and purposeful about my shots. I looked for their patterns, both in and out of the water. The sun was setting fast, and the water and their bodies was getting bluer and darker with each passing moment.
I photographed them and took some video, staying there for about 30 minutes. People came and went, but all felt as I did, that they had seen something amazing and uncommon.
I came home and did some research. It turns out they were engaged in communal hunting. They gather in a circle, and bob their heads in and out of the water, forcing minnows to the center of the circle so they can feed. I'd heard of Harris Hawks and other birds of prey hunting together, but this was a first for me.
I've visited the Riparian Preserve many times over the years, and I've sat at sunset or in the early morning, photographing the pelicans, the egrets, the black-necked stilts, the herons, and many other feathered residents, but this was a first. I don't know how often people get to see this, but it was an experience I wanted to share. It's awe-inspiring that these birds evolved over the thousands of years, and figured out they were better and stronger as a whole, that they could thrive if they worked as one.
There's a lesson in that for all of us.
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