Say what?

Yes, those are pelicans. We were a five-hour drive away from even the SMELL of salt water, and yet we saw lots of sea birds this week, catfish-loving cormorants, a young bald eagle, and a whole cadre of pelicans.

These were at Enid dam spillway, another of the flood-management sites we're learning about this week and holder of the world record for the largest white crappie ever caught (5lbs 3 oz, 1957).

At left: a squadron* of pelicans riding thermals over Enid dam.  Dr. Phillips asked us to watch and count how many times we saw any of them flap their wings. We got tired before we saw a single flap.

*I looked it up. “Squadron” appears to be the most commonly used collective noun for a group of pelicans. There are plenty of others, though, including my favorite: a brief.