As I stood on the deck of our motel room in Lincoln City, Oregon this past week-end looking out at the waves of the vast Pacific Ocean and watching the sun set, I couldn’t help but notice the beginnings of the southward movement of many different bird species. Most noticeable of these, owing to their size, were the flights of Brown Pelicans, Pelecanus occidentalis, winging their way south in single file lines of from just a few to a few dozen birds. As I heard the voice of our eight-year-old daughter playing inside the room, I began to wonder if she would be able to stand in the same place when she reaches my age and witness a repetition of this age-old cycle of migration for herself. Would she be able to show it to her own children or would it be simply a story she would tell them that their grandfather told her? Read the rest of this entry »