Pelicans
On
September 16th 1998, a Great White Pelican arrived on the River
Dee in Aberdeenshire.
At the time I was sure it was an escapee from a captive collection.
Usually this happens at the time of the annual moult in August/September.
What I hadn't anticipated was just how far this particular bird
had travelled.
I ran through in my mind a list of possible collections it might
have come from and I decided it must have come from a non-publicised,
private collection.
Last Friday, just when the SSPCA were about to send the bird south
from Glasgow Airport to Regent's Park Zoo in London, he was claimed
by the Ballaugh Wildlife Park in the Isle of Man.
Pelicans in London Behaving Naturally
Anyone
visiting the southern states of America , such as the Carolinas, Florida
or Louisiana, will see more pelicans than they ever thought existed.
They
sit around on the sand banks in herds like flocks of seagulls we
are more used to seeing over here in Scotland. They eat virtually
anything thay can catch, skimming over the waves like Pterodactyls
.
That's
why the fuss caused when Percy one of the Queen's pelicans
in St. James's Park, London, devoured a moor hen in front of a group
of American tourists from Louisiana, amazed me.
At
the zoo, our pelicans regularly caught doves and sparrows and there
was nothing you could do to stop them as they found anything small
passing by irresistible.
Pelicans have been kept in St. James's Park since the 1660s when
the Russian ambassador presented a pair to Charles II.
At
least 40 have been kept in the park this century and most live 20
or more years. Each receives about 5lb of fresh fish daily.
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