I awake early this morning to a nearly cloudless night blue sky. The sun is still below the horizon as I gather up my camera gear and head for the dock. A faint orange glow begins to gleam like gold behind a cloud bank on the horizon before the sunrise bursts through. It has been nothing but rain and overcast all week. Finally going to see some sunshine. Heard some sad news last night though. Dozens of Brown Pelicans have been found on the local Mayport beaches, apparently dead of starvation, malnutrition and cold weather. Similar reports are in the news all up and down the Florida coast. If only they had signed up for OPelicare.

A Great Egret glides to the distant old dock. As I slowly approach for a photo opportunity, lo and behold a familiar beak (a local Brown Pelican) glides onto the dock (albeit not as graceful as the Egret). They say birds of a feather flock together. Must be true because the Egret turns and gives the Pelican a look of disgust and seems to have said something to hurt the pelican's feelings. The poor pelican then hung its head and flopped into the river. Walking back to the dock I discover that there, sitting on the Jon boat, is my Pelican pal. I start talking to the pelican and tell it there is no truth to whatever the Egret said. The Pelican looks up at me as if to say thanks for understanding. Not wanting to leave it alone, and moving ever so slowly, I join my feathered friend sitting on the floating dock. Beckoning the bird closer, after a short while the pelican seems sure no harm is meant and comes out from behind the Jon boat and just relaxes in the sun with me. It then just plops down and begins to preen and scratch while stretching that neck this way and that way. The direction of the sun’s morning light makes for less than optimum backlit photos. There is little that can be done without scaring the bird away so the doohickey gets pushed as best I can before letting it alone to snooze away the morning. I don’t want this Brown Pelican to end up like those poor ones on the beach so I tell it all about where to sign up for OPelicare.

The late John Lennon penned in his utopic song “Imagine all the people”, about Living life in peace. This all sounds great on the surface but it is difficult to “imagine” after reading the news. The Pelicans are starving and freezing to death. The old “Cold War” is hot again. No imagining required there (just ask the people of the Ukraine). Mr. Lennon’s lyrics state that if there were “no heaven or hell or religion” to worry about we could all just “get along” and “the world will live as one”. It seems that most of the world has already rejected the notion of Heaven and Hell. That Living life in Peace thing is not working out so well then is it Mr. Lennon? There is a reason Birds of feather flock together (safety, security, survival of the species). And just like humans they don’t always seem to get along together with other birds who are different. But that pelican and me, we get along just fine. We share the same spirit (IE feather) in some regards. Maybe we should all be that way. Think about it. Be Blessed. Harry

A Brown Pelican lands  under the wary eye of the Great Egret. — **A Brown Pelican lands under the wary eye of the Great Egret.**

**The Egret seems to chide the poor hapless pelican..**

**The Pelican plops into the river and swims away rejected..**

**The Turkey Vultures have no problem getting along,,,they are birds of a feather after all...**

**I find the Brown Pelican sitting on the Jon Boat...dejected looking..**

**I assure the Pelican I mean no harm and it comes out from behind the Jon Boat..**

**It begins to relax...I mean really relax...**

Reflections on Broward is now "Mountain Musings"

Birds of a feather...