Pelicans in Central Texas?

What the heck is a large colony of white pelicans doing in Central Texas?

This large colony of American white pelicans are over-wintering in Texas and will spend a period of time at various inland lakes or on the Gulf Coast. They are avid eaters of small fish and amphibians and will eat up to 4lbs of food per day. They do not dive like grey pelicans and will forage on the surface. The information I read seems to say that these pelicans prefer saltwater over lakes but will venture into lakes seasonally. Its possible that they were simply passing through on their migration south to the coast and we happened to catch them here. This is another one of the great reasons why we need protected wetlands throughout the US so that migratory birds have a safe place to stop on their journey.

White pelican from Wikimedia Commons *Image source*

Lake Somerville State park is over 11,000 acres and 40 miles of trails. This park is a perfect hideaway for migrating birds and historically was a duck conservation park before becoming a state park. Flag pond is a small pond adjacent to the lake that is quite shallow and surrounded by wetlands. It is the ideal place for any waterfowl to hangout. It is open for hunting during part of the season. It also is an incredible place to see Bald Eagles and other wildlife not often seen in the more busy parks.

Camping at lake Somerville is as close as entering the wilderness as you can get. However, no matter what there is always some old person that needs to get up at 6am and run a leaf blower. Honestly the stranglehold leaf blowers have on the boomer generation is unparalleled. Just mulch your leaves with a lawnmower and get on with your life.

There is a 100% chance that there is a wizard at the end of this trail so unless you brought some hornwort to trade maybe turn around.