Description

I was visiting the tide pools at Crystal Cove State Park as the sky started turning color for the sunset. I was standing and balancing on two points of rock to get a photo of the sun as it dropped below the horizon of Santa Catalina Island. I saw several groups of Brown Pelicans gliding over the tops of the waves, headed north. I twisted to my right to see a large flock of pelicans and 2 dolphins diving into a small area of the ocean right off shore, so I assumed there was a large school of fish located just below the surface. This continued for about 15 minutes, with me taking photos while balancing on the two rock points, hand-holding my camera and zoom lens at maximum magnification as the light decreased. This was the best photo I could get. Unfortunately the dolphins were not visible in this shot. I counted 50 pelicans in one of my other still shots, but there were definitely more than that in the air and floating on the water.

Category

Category 5: Birds in Flight

Species

• Brown Pelican

Tags

• fish
• sunset
• pelicans
• diving
• school
• dolphins
• Newport Beach
• Santa Catalina Island
• silhouettes