There's a bit of a tragic story that goes with this photo. The pelican had
begun to hang out around a neighbor's deck and to get right up to their
sliding door and look in. They couldn't figure out such behavior from a
wild bird, but thought it nothing more than an oddity.

One evening as I walked by, they called me over because the bird was
there and everyone around here knows I'm always looking for new things
to photograph, so they thought I'd be interested, which, of course, I was.

The next morning while out for my sunrise stroll, I headed back to this
neighbor's place to see if the bird was still there and found that it was,
but sadly it was dead in their driveway, having died during the night.
From this we concluded that perhaps it had been ill and looking for help.
They sometimes eat things they shouldn't, but short of taking it to a vet
(more easily said than done), how would you know?

Anyway, it was rather unnerving as I’ve never photographed a living
creature one day, only to see it dead the next. Poor bird. Pelicans are
kind of lovable but dopey birds.

Photographed along the Gulf coast near Port Lavaca, Texas, USA.