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White pelicans make a splash in waters around Keokuk
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| Gerald "Jud" Harmon of Keokuk has been impressed by the relatively sudden appearance of white pelicans like these in Keokuk. Migrating flocks stop at Lock 19 in Keokuk to feast on fish between their journeys to Canada for the summer and Mexico and other places for the winter. |
By Cindy Iutzi/Gate City Staff Writers
White pelicans moved into the Tri-State Area about 10 years ago, much to the delight of people who live, work and enjoy life along the Mississippi River. The migrating flocks stop at the dam at Lock 19, Keokuk, and bulk up on fish, readying for their long journey to Canada for the summer and south to Mexico and places in between for the winter.
Gerald "Jud" Harmon of Keokuk is impressed by the relatively sudden appearance of the birds in his hometown. Like the bald eagle, the pelican, a protected species, has found this area hospitable, moves in on a regular schedule and seems to be increasing in numbers.
Harmon was a member of the Keokuk Fire Department from 1951 through 1981, serving as fire chief for the last five years before retiring. He was born and raised in Keokuk and spent a great amount of time at the Mississippi River during his childhood. He doesn't remember ever seeing pelicans on the Mississippi during his youth and in the years that followed up to 1990.
"Why hasn't someone done something on the multitudes of pelicans?" Harmon asked. "They're here in the spring and back again in the fall. They tell me the pelicans winter in Texas. I've seen flocks of them in April, flocks as many as 50. In the spring they stay around two to three weeks, go to the dam and get their fill of fish after that long flight from Texas. Then most leave and go as far as Canada."
Most of the pelicans may take off in the spring, but Harmon knows of a flock that stays in Nauvoo, Ill., for much of the summer and then returns in September.
"They come to the dam and get shad near the spillway," he said. "They go in with their bills and scoop them up."
Harmon would like to see a tourism event like Eagle Days, but built around the comings and goings of pelicans.
So would Kirk Brandenberger, executive director of the Keokuk Area Convention and Tourism Bureau.
"I think it's a great idea," he said. "I'm looking for people who are interested enough to help create an event, six to eight people, and then follow through with it. I'm not sure the tourism bureau as a one-man outfit would be able to take on another event. Typically, tourism bureaus aren't event coordinators. They typically promote and market an area."
A pelican-centered festival is put on at the Saylorville reservoir and dam near Des Moines, said Tom Buckley, executive director of the Lee County Conservation District. With pelicans numbering in the 10,000 to 12,000 range several weeks ago, that locale has capitalized on its influx of pelicans.
Buckley has noticed up to 150 to 170 pelicans in the Mississippi River's backwaters behind the conservation offices at Heron Bend feeding on minnows, adding that 20 to 40 have been seen feeding behind the Climax Molybdenum plant, also in Montrose. The birds are often seen in the air there and over the Mississippi, circling over the water looking for fish activity.
"They will fish in groups, like cowboys herding cattle," Buckley said. "They form a half-circle shape and force schooling fish into a small area to get enough fish to eat."
When Buckley moved into Lee County in 1990, he had several calls from people and noted 17 pelicans in the area in March and April. It had been the first time anyone in the local office had ever heard of pelicans in the Tri-State Area.
He theorized that the waterfowl's flight deviation from the Central Flyway (from central Texas through Oklahoma, West Central Kansas and Nebraska and points north through Canada) was caused by the drought of 1988.
The flyway follows open water in the Cheyenne Bottoms near Great Bend, Kan., Buckley said. He added that reports of pelicans following the Des Moines River before 1990 are lending some credence to the drought theory.
For whatever reason, by 1992 the number of pelicans feeding here have increased and now 10 years later it seems that pelicans have put Keokuk and the surrounding area on their permanent travel itinerary, Buckley added.
Pelicans breed in the Canadian provinces but are being disturbed in that habitat by "an increasingly mobile society," Buckley said. "People go into such areas for hiking, hunting, fishing and even looking at the birds. We start loving them to death. We need to start managing the impacts."
In their migration to the south, pelicans may pick up chemicals in South America, Central America and Mexico where regulations on toxins are not as stringent as they are in the United States, he said. This could be having adverse effects on breeding numbers.
Buckley said white pelicans generally have two to three eggs in a clutch and spend "a fair amount of time with their young getting them more comfortable in the water."
Gerald "Jud" Harmon of Keokuk is impressed by the relatively sudden appearance of the birds in his hometown. Like the bald eagle, the pelican, a protected species, has found this area hospitable, moves in on a regular schedule and seems to be increasing in numbers.
Harmon was a member of the Keokuk Fire Department from 1951 through 1981, serving as fire chief for the last five years before retiring. He was born and raised in Keokuk and spent a great amount of time at the Mississippi River during his childhood. He doesn't remember ever seeing pelicans on the Mississippi during his youth and in the years that followed up to 1990.
"Why hasn't someone done something on the multitudes of pelicans?" Harmon asked. "They're here in the spring and back again in the fall. They tell me the pelicans winter in Texas. I've seen flocks of them in April, flocks as many as 50. In the spring they stay around two to three weeks, go to the dam and get their fill of fish after that long flight from Texas. Then most leave and go as far as Canada."
Most of the pelicans may take off in the spring, but Harmon knows of a flock that stays in Nauvoo, Ill., for much of the summer and then returns in September.
"They come to the dam and get shad near the spillway," he said. "They go in with their bills and scoop them up."
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So would Kirk Brandenberger, executive director of the Keokuk Area Convention and Tourism Bureau.
"I think it's a great idea," he said. "I'm looking for people who are interested enough to help create an event, six to eight people, and then follow through with it. I'm not sure the tourism bureau as a one-man outfit would be able to take on another event. Typically, tourism bureaus aren't event coordinators. They typically promote and market an area."
A pelican-centered festival is put on at the Saylorville reservoir and dam near Des Moines, said Tom Buckley, executive director of the Lee County Conservation District. With pelicans numbering in the 10,000 to 12,000 range several weeks ago, that locale has capitalized on its influx of pelicans.
Buckley has noticed up to 150 to 170 pelicans in the Mississippi River's backwaters behind the conservation offices at Heron Bend feeding on minnows, adding that 20 to 40 have been seen feeding behind the Climax Molybdenum plant, also in Montrose. The birds are often seen in the air there and over the Mississippi, circling over the water looking for fish activity.
"They will fish in groups, like cowboys herding cattle," Buckley said. "They form a half-circle shape and force schooling fish into a small area to get enough fish to eat."
When Buckley moved into Lee County in 1990, he had several calls from people and noted 17 pelicans in the area in March and April. It had been the first time anyone in the local office had ever heard of pelicans in the Tri-State Area.
He theorized that the waterfowl's flight deviation from the Central Flyway (from central Texas through Oklahoma, West Central Kansas and Nebraska and points north through Canada) was caused by the drought of 1988.
The flyway follows open water in the Cheyenne Bottoms near Great Bend, Kan., Buckley said. He added that reports of pelicans following the Des Moines River before 1990 are lending some credence to the drought theory.
For whatever reason, by 1992 the number of pelicans feeding here have increased and now 10 years later it seems that pelicans have put Keokuk and the surrounding area on their permanent travel itinerary, Buckley added.
Pelicans breed in the Canadian provinces but are being disturbed in that habitat by "an increasingly mobile society," Buckley said. "People go into such areas for hiking, hunting, fishing and even looking at the birds. We start loving them to death. We need to start managing the impacts."
In their migration to the south, pelicans may pick up chemicals in South America, Central America and Mexico where regulations on toxins are not as stringent as they are in the United States, he said. This could be having adverse effects on breeding numbers.
Buckley said white pelicans generally have two to three eggs in a clutch and spend "a fair amount of time with their young getting them more comfortable in the water."
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