18 Pelicans

We were having breakfast in the cockpit this morning and this pelican comes over the trees, drops fifty feet, and with the gained momentum, slides across the water on frictionless rails right by the boat its wing tips a mere centimeter above the surface.
Here come four more practicing formation flying. They bank and drop one behind the other like a ski patrol coming down a mountain.

You would think that they really enjoy flying.

We have been watching pelicans diving for fish. You see this big splash and, when the spray clears, the pelican is facing the other way. It took a while to figure out how it is done. The pelican dives downwind. At the last second, it inverts. As it hits the water upside down, it somersaults over its own beak and ends up facing upwind ready for take off.