They sneak silently into their nests an hour before sunrise, after spending a day and a night hunting at sea. Hundreds of feet off the ground, they settle into the highest branches of old-growth trees.
With its latest purchase of rare Santa Cruz sandhills habitat, the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County expands the Randall Morgan Sandhills Preserve to 200 acres.
The partnership between the Amah Mutsun Tribe and Sempervirens Fund will keep 96 acres of coastal prairie near Costanoa Lodge under a conservation easement.
Spotting fish from 10, 30, even 100 feet in the air, a pelican will angle its head left (to protect the trachea and esophagus) and plummet, protected from harm by internal air sacs. Hitting the water with frightening percussion, it stuns small fish like menhaden, mullet, and anchovies swimming as far as 6 feet beneath the surface.