We had a lovely morning at a local lake. First highlight: an Osprey perched on a high limb overlooking one end, whom we admired for a while at what we hoped was a comfortable distance, and eventually took flight to circle around right in front of us for a minute or two, pausing to hover a couple of times while staring intently down at the water, then drifted vertically downward into what finally became a dive, almost disappearing below the surface and rising back up with strong wingbeats carrying a modest-sized fish, which he took off presumably to some more promising horizontal perch that we couldn't see. Ospreys dive and take fish with their feet stretched out in front of them, using a reversible toe to grasp with two talons on each side, which are so huge and curved that they were easily visible against the limb where we first saw him.
Second highlight: around 200 American White Pelicans had rested overnight in the shallows here, and after some preening and touring of the lake, were taking flight again in the morning sun in groups of about 25, circling gently (always counterclockwise) over the lake as they gradually gained altitude, flying very much in unison, finally heading off to points further north. We didn't see much feeding, and there couldn't possibly have been enough fish in a small lake for all of them anyway; they must not get to eat much along the way when gathering in such large groups. And since there are numerous lakes and reservoirs in the area, some much larger, we wondered why they were all together here. The Osprey might have been glad to see them move on.
(SLC 15x56, BN 10x32)