Pelicans Cache La Poudre river            click to enlarge

Many times an image is more about feeling than detail. Such is the case with this picture of a squadron of pelicans heading west to the nights roosting on the Cache La Poudre river or one of the many small ponds and lakes in the area.

The sun is rapidly setting turning the sky a golden-yellow and the silhouette of the birds leaving the frame gives you a sense of days end. These guys are just passing through our area on their way north to places like Yellowstone in Wyoming, and Montana, Idaho, Utah and the great salt lake and other areas you wouldn’t think had pelicans but do.

Usually you’ll see these birds gliding along effortlessly, saving their energy for the long trip ahead but tonight the air is still and they have to do a lot of wing flapping to get where they’re going. In the morning when the sun rises and heats things up they’ll be rested, probably have a belly full of fish, then they will spiral up on a thermal until they’re the barest little black specks in the sky, then head off towards the north in a long slow glide, eating up the miles, their inner compasses pointing them towards journeys end until they are out of sight.

They’re silent fliers and will often coast pass you without notice. Tonight the atmosphere was so still though you could hear the air passing through their wingtips as they worked to get to the evening’s resting place. They had descended from a place up high where it was still partially day and were acclimating to the sudden darkness. The river would still be lit up with the sun’s reflection, a beacon of gold shining through the evening ‘s darkness, the last of the suns rays guiding them in so it will be a safe landing and still leave time for dinner.

Travel is over for today but tomorrow they start again until they reach their destination. Tonight they’re just a silhouette against the glow of the sky, a moment in time remaining in our memory until the image fades. But for now while the image is strong everything is golden.