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Bermuda fits the bill for visiting pelican

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Photo by Andrew DobsonThis visiting adult brown pelican has been making itself at home oini the Little and Great Sounds of Bermuda.

The vagrant visitor probably travelled from the US south east coast — the home of the nearest brown pelican populations — and was first spotted on Friday around the enclosed waters of the Little and Great Sounds.

Andrew Dobson, of the Bermuda Audubon Society, said it was rare for the species to call on Bermuda, and even more unusual for adults to stray off course.

“We only get brown pelicans on average once every two or three years and very rarely do we get an adult pelican so this is quite unusual,” he said.

“Their nearest breeding areas are in the south east of the US, places such as Georgia and Florida. This is a vagrant that had probably strayed off course but there’s no reason why it shouldn’t stay here for a few months or so. It feeds only on fish and there are plenty of those around. It’s a delight to see.”

Photo by Andrew DobsonThis vagrant brown pelican is shown swooping low near a magrove patch on a shoreline in the western parishes.