Spending a lot of time at a southern Alberta lake this summer, I’ve been watching white pelicans and various gull species on a regular basis. Noticing some activity in the water near the boat launch one afternoon, I wandered over to see what was happening.
A young white pelican was keeping a close eye on a ring-billed gull that was furiously tugging at something in the water, putting everything he had into it.
The pelican just kept circling the gull as he tugged, and both of us were waiting for him to bring up a tasty morsel. While I was just motivated by curiosity, I’m sure the pelican was anticipating a stolen lunch.
When no food was forthcoming, the pelican decided it was time for a little intimidation, or perhaps a casual stretch of the wings.
The gull wasn’t impressed, although he did stop tugging long enough to watch the show.
After all that action with no reward, the pelican eventually gave up and floated away. I stood there and waited a bit longer to see what the gull was going to do, so he promptly sat there and watched me. I started to feel he was waiting for me to do something entertaining, so I gave up and left.
I’m not sure, but I may have heard the gull giggle as I walked away…