- Southwest of Decatur, Illinois, a two-lane highway between small towns, running alongside the railroad tracks. Big blue sky, the fields shades of tan and brown, the trees bare, their branches black against the blue of the sky. Something flashes off to the west, dozens of white specks flash in the sky, swirl for a second, disappear, flash again black this time, disappear, and the cycle continues. A deep bowl of very large birds turning slowly high over the fields, each one tilting so as to keep turning with the rest. They turn as a huge cluster for maybe ten minutes, then three or four dozen peel themselves off, form into a V and head roughly south. A few more minutes of the great bowl turning, still many dozens of birds flashing black, then knife-thin disappearing, then white, and again. Then these too break the bowl and form into a long, wavering V, slowly finding a more regular shape as they too head south. I guess these were American White Pelicans, not sure.#
- Southwest of Decatur, Illinois, a two-lane highway between small towns, running alongside the railroad tracks. Big blue sky, the fields shades of tan and brown, the trees bare, their branches black against the blue of the sky. Something flashes off to the west, dozens of white specks flash in the sky, swirl for a second, disappear, flash again black this time, disappear, and the cycle continues. A deep bowl of very large birds turning slowly high over the fields, each one tilting so as to keep turning with the rest. They turn as a huge cluster for maybe ten minutes, then three or four dozen peel themselves off, form into a V and head roughly south. A few more minutes of the great bowl turning, still many dozens of birds flashing black, then knife-thin disappearing, then white, and again. Then these too break the bowl and form into a long, wavering V, slowly finding a more regular shape as they too head south. I guess these were American White Pelicans, not sure.#