The Rare Bird Review

An advance guard of last year's 30,000 missing pelicans in North Dakota are emulating the swallows of Capistrano or the buzzards of Hinkley - they seem to be coming home. At least 10 pairs of American white pelicans have returned to Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Medina, N.D., where last year an entire flock of nearly 30,000 pelicans suddenly abandoned their nests in late spring.

"We're very encouraged by the return of these first few birds,' said Ken Torkelson, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. For more than 100 years, the refuge in the prairie pothole region of central North Dakota has been a summer home to white pelicans, with the colony growing in recent years to be the largest in North America. Scientists and wildlife officials have been unable to determine what caused last year's abandonment.

Assuming the birds would return, and hoping to keep them at Chase Lake through egg hatching and maturing of the young, state and federal wildlife agents have installed a fence to deter predators, and restricted human access to the refuge.

Pelican nesting usually peaks at Chase Lake between mid-April and mid-May. Eggs hatch in about four weeks, and the young must be fed and protected for about seven weeks after hatching until they're able to fly and fend for themselves. 'We'll be a little more relaxed if things go well through all those steps,' Torkelson said. 'But there are still no guarantees.'"

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So if it's spring and the pelicans are back it must be time for the Rare Bird Review to check in on the crazies at the Godlike Forums to see what their take on this is. Stay tuned.