Would You Run Away From a Pelican?
We were out walking the other day when a woman came running towards us. She was on her phone, laughing and almost shrieking as she hurried past.
Paul and I looked at each other, wondering what on earth she was running from. We couldn’t see anything behind her, so we kept walking towards whatever had caused all the excitement.
Outside Charis Seafoods, we found the culprit.
One lone pelican was standing on the land.
A prehistoric-looking suspect
The pelicans are fed beside the lagoon every day at 1.30 pm, but this was much later, around 3.30 pm. Perhaps this one was still peckish and hoping somebody had a spare fish.
If you have only seen pelicans floating peacefully on the water, they look quite different when they are standing directly in front of you. They are enormous, with huge beaks, and they look slightly prehistoric on land.
I could understand why the woman had been startled. Seeing one unexpectedly coming towards you would be a little intimidating.
Paul and I are used to seeing pelicans around the Broadwater, so we walked past him without any shrieking. We did wonder whether we would have run if he had started coming towards us.
Probably not, unless we were carrying fish and chips.
Pelicans aren’t the real problem
Seagulls are more likely to steal your lunch. If you have chips (fish or pretty much food) anywhere near the water, they seem to know about it before you have even opened the packet.
Pelicans are big, but they don’t worry me in quite the same way. I also have a soft spot for them because I like to think my dad visits me in pelican form.
Geese and white swans are another matter entirely.
The birds I would avoid
When I lived in Nottingham, I was always wary of the white swans near Trent Bridge. There were plenty of geese at Wollaton Park too, and I never trusted them.
They look perfectly pleasant from a distance, but they have a reputation for becoming territorial. If one of those started marching towards me with purpose, I would probably move out of its way rather quickly.
Black swans don’t seem quite as fierce to me, although I still wouldn’t deliberately annoy one to test the theory.
Everyday stories are everywhere
This Pretty Way Walk doesn’t contain a business lesson or a carefully constructed moral. It is simply something funny that happened during one of our walks.
That is part of why I enjoy recording these videos. Some days I talk about creative business, storytelling or my art. On other days, a woman runs past us while escaping a hungry pelican.
Both belong in the story.
Would you have run away from the pelican, or is there another bird that would send you in the opposite direction?
