It was just shared this past week that American White Pelicans were discovered nesting on Charity Islands by Dr. Keith Grasman, Biology Professor at Calvin College. His bio reads, "Dr. Grasman studies the effects of environmental pollutants on the health of fish eating birds - gulls, terns and herons of the Great Lakes and loons in the Adirondack Mountains. Funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wildlife Conservation Society."
Dr. Grasman emailed Shiawassee NWR staff to report his finding along with images of his discovery. He wrote, "Little Charity Island - In 2015 we saw several adult pelicans on or around the east spit or in the water on the north side of the island on 2 June and 21-22 July. However, we did not encounter any nests on the island until our last visit on 28 July (to work on the chicks of the Caspian terns that re-nested after the seiche event of 30-31 May). After we were done with the Caspians we thought that this would be a good time for a quick tour of the island since the gulls, cormorants, egrets and herons were all past fledging. As we approached the northwest side of the island we saw 6 adult pelicans swimming in a small embayment. That prompted me to investigate the beach of the bay, and sure enough we found 6 pelican nests clustered around some bushes. There were 5 chicks ranging in age from 1-4 weeks (by my best estimate), and 2 unhatched eggs. - Keith Grasman
To my knowledge, this is the furthest east that American White Pelicans have nested. The following images were taken by Dr. Grasman and/or staff. Amazing discovery! J. Soehnel
Dr. Grasman emailed Shiawassee NWR staff to report his finding along with images of his discovery. He wrote, "Little Charity Island - In 2015 we saw several adult pelicans on or around the east spit or in the water on the north side of the island on 2 June and 21-22 July. However, we did not encounter any nests on the island until our last visit on 28 July (to work on the chicks of the Caspian terns that re-nested after the seiche event of 30-31 May). After we were done with the Caspians we thought that this would be a good time for a quick tour of the island since the gulls, cormorants, egrets and herons were all past fledging. As we approached the northwest side of the island we saw 6 adult pelicans swimming in a small embayment. That prompted me to investigate the beach of the bay, and sure enough we found 6 pelican nests clustered around some bushes. There were 5 chicks ranging in age from 1-4 weeks (by my best estimate), and 2 unhatched eggs. - Keith Grasman
To my knowledge, this is the furthest east that American White Pelicans have nested. The following images were taken by Dr. Grasman and/or staff. Amazing discovery! J. Soehnel
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