Sometimes you have to wait for a while to get the photograph you’re looking for. The week we spent in Port Macquarie, Dad and I spent a good few evenings chasing pelicans trying to get good flight shots. The pelicans weren’t hard to find, but the flight shots were difficult to get. They would congregate near the boat ramp, and we would scope them out from the opposite side of the little bay. Every now and then some would take off or arrive, and we’d blaze furiously, calling out to each other where the next lot were coming from.

I got caught up in the frustration of having near-perfect shots that just weren’t sharp. I think eventually, we both got some worthy photos.

We discovered that pelicans like to roost on street-light poles, and were rather possessive of them. Quite frequently, we’d hear a grating squawk behind us and turn to see a pelican on a pole waving its beak at another, who either baulked and wheeled off in another direction, or ploughed on and tried to land.  While majestic in flight, Pelicans aren’t the most graceful of creatures on land, or pole.

Other birds we encountered were a rather grumpy Egret and two Darters, who lived up to their colloquial name of Snake-necks by gliding through the water mostly submerged, and bringing up their heads like periscopes every now and then.

Coming back to the same location evening after evening was interesting. We bemused the locals who were out walking their dogs or fishing. We got used to the time the sun would go down, and began to anticipate what the Pelicans would do. It’s enjoyable to carve out a little niche of familiarity while on holiday.