At the beach last weekend we noticed hoards of brown pelicans, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus, in the Bay. At high tide they were on all of the logs and there was even a floating bit of wood with four pelicans going for a ride.
By Sunday at almost high tide they were all gone:
Brown pelicans measure up to about 4 feet long and weigh about 8 to 10 pounds. They nest off the rocky California coast and when grown migrate north to spend the summer in estuaries, river mouths and seacoasts of Oregon, Washinton and British Columbia. A pelican eats up to four pounds of fish a day. Listed as an endangered species in 1970 (due to wide-spread DDT use in the 1940’s and 1950’s), the pelicans have been making a real comeback–as we can attest to this year in the Siletz Bay.
On The Way 
Those crazy pelicans have been something else this fall!!! It’s good to see them. Thanks for posting the photos!