As sandhill crane tourism booms, Harlan County capitalizes on pelicans

[Omaha Steve]

X post in Birders



BRENDAN SULLIVAN/THE WORLD-HERALD
American white pelicans stop at Harlan County Lake by the hundreds and thousands every year during their migration. Encouraged by the success of tourism centered on the annual migration of sandhill cranes along the Platte River, promoters in Harlan County launched a pelican festival in 2011.

http://www.omaha.com/outdoors/as-sandhill-crane-tourism-booms-harlan-county-capitalizes-on-pelicans/article_043298a5-a64c-5433-b928-e246adab2e9f.html

POSTED: MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2015 12:30 AM
By David Hendee / World-Herald staff writer

REPUBLICAN CITY, Neb. — It’s the Other Migration.

Just as hundreds of thousands of migrating sandhill cranes flock to central Nebraska’s Platte River each spring, American white pelicans descend on Harlan County Lake by the hundreds and thousands.

And just as tourism promoters from Grand Island to North Platte feather the regional economy with tens of millions of dollars from visitors from around the world during the annual sandhill crane spectacle, Harlan County advocates hope white pelicans will help their communities soar, too.

Bruce Beins provides free pelican-watching tours on a pontoon boat from his North Shore Marina near Republican City. It’s part of a Harlan White Pelican Watch campaign to grab the tail feathers of sandhill cranes and encourage wildlife enthusiasts drawn to the Platte to take part of a day to migrate 55 miles south for close-up views of one of North America’s largest birds.

FULL story at link. Photo gallery: http://odc.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=5002&p=5869

Sizing up the American white pelican
(Both sexes)
Length: About 4 to 5½ feet
Wingspan: 8 to 9½ feet
Weight: 10 to nearly 20 pounds
Relative size: One of the largest flying birds; considerably larger than a bald eagle; smaller than a California condor.
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology

[shenmue]

1. Boids!

[hatrack]

2. Just got back from Kearney yesterday - tail end of the migration, but still awesomely cool

First time with the sandhills - won't be the last.

[HereSince1628]

3. First time I saw White Pelicans was in western IA

Their huge!

Haven't ever seen one in SE WI.

[immoderate]

4. Pelicans -- the coolest fliers of all the birds.

--imm