Giant Pelicans At
Roosevelt Lake

Uploaded 3/23/13

 Its been over a decade
            since we have traveled to Roosevelt Lake, about 45 minutes south
            east of Payson and have seen Great White Pelicans. Last time,
            I photographed two of them on the near shore with film and a
            400mm lens. You could just make them out as the large birds,
            and since then we have looked every time we have gone there and
            have not seen even one! Last weekend, we traveled once again
            down there to get some shots of the blooming wild flowers. On
            the way past the marshy end of the lake, I saw on the distant
            far shore a white line of something, either a boat or a line
            of maybe Egrets which are more common and also pure white. After
            shooting some Californian poppies, we returned to the spot, pulled
            over and pulled out the binoculars. Low and behold - a huge flock
            of Gigantic white Pelicans! They migrate through Arizona this
            time of year, and I had my DSLR and most powerful lenses in the
            SUV. There were 48 individual birds here on the sandbar, and
            amazing number of them! Here you can see the images I took of
            the flock, and some others of the lake and other birds in the
            marshy area. 
 

            
This is a view from the middle of Roosevelt lake looking westward.  The water level is very low right now, making marshy 
areas more common and promoting a sanctuary for water birds.
 

This is what we saw, here is an 18mm wide angle shot, with the area on the sandbar marked with a red box.  This closely
 matches the naked eye impression.  Now HERE is a telephoto lens challenge!


The Canon Professional grade 100-400L lens set for 400mm on the sand bar.  Scroll from left to right with your web 
browser to see the whole panorama!


This is with the Sigma 600mm f/8 mirror lens.  While not quite as sharp as the Canon lens, it was fun to play with 
this very special lens. Scroll to see the whole huge 3 part panorama...


Blue Heron in the rear, and Cormorants in the foreground:


More blue Herons with the 400mm lens


Cormorants in the water:


When the Golden Eagle predator arrived,  the flock dispersed rapidly!


Sailboat on the lake, 400mm



Camera:  Canon 10D 6.3Mp Sigma 18-200 zoom
Exposure:  AE
Filters:  UV
Location:  Payson, Az
Elevation:  5200 ft.
Outside Temperature:  32 F
Processing: Photoshop CS
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