4 ms·

Why are you obsessed with Pelicans? What’s your story?

• simonw 1y ago
  I'm from the UK originally. On one of my first trips to California I was up on the cliffs in Marin County and a squadron flew by and I was amazed by them - and the Californians I was with were like "yeah, you see them all the time". Now I live in California and I still can't believe I get to see them here. They're absurd - they don't look like they should be able to fly at all. They're also incredibly pretty, especially in their breeding plumage. I live in Half Moon Bay, just south of San Francisco, which turns out to be home to the second largest mega-roost of the California Brown Pelican (my favourite kind of pelican) in the world. We've even rescued two of them (injured birds, we got them in a carrier and took them to the animal rescue place). They make for a fun theme for all sorts of different AI experiments. They're also very photogenic - I had a bunch of photos I've taken on my PyCon poster recently (you have to zoom in quite a bit to see them though): https://static.simonwillison.net/static/2025/poster-full-size.jpeg https://static.simonwillison.net/static/2025/poster-full-siz...
  • ggm 1y ago
    Visit Lake Eyre. In flood, it's home to a flock of thousands. I'm going in August.
    • simonw 1y ago
      In Australia? I just checked Google Image search and WOW. https://www.google.com/search?q=Lake+Eyre+pelicans&udm=2 https://www.google.com/search?q=Lake+Eyre+pelicans&udm=2
  • turbonaut 1y ago
    > I'm from the UK originally. No need to go as far as California for penguins! https://www.royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/st-jamess-park/pelicans-st-jamess-park#:~:text=James's%20Park-,The%20pelicans%20of%20St.,since%20called%20the%20park%20home. https://www.royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/st-jamess-park/pel...
  • pama 1y ago
    Nice image of your poster!
  • sagarpatil 1y ago
    Cool story.