Crossville Chronicle, Crossville, TN

May 24, 2009

Pelicans come, pelicans go

By Carl Flangan / Signals contributor

On the cold, cloudy, and rainy day of April 12, a group of white pelicans were spotted west of the RV Park beach. They were floating in a circular group. There were about 30 of them and they were accompanied by five common loons. Later in the day, the pelicans floated east to a position directly north of the Tansi Marina parking lot, approximately 400 feet out in the lake. At 3:30 p.m., some groups began to fly up and down. At 3:50 p.m. they all took off, lifting in a spiral motion to their flying height and left Lake Tansi.

There were varied opinions of why they were here. Some believed they were off course to the north due to the storm in Texas and the Gulf Coast. Or maybe they followed some of our Florida residents back home.

The pelicans were seen and photographed by several people.