Photo of the Day: Brown Pelican

While on a boat in Roberts Bay in Sarasota, Florida, there was plenty for photographer Catherine Dalessio to see. Focused on photographing a colony of nesting brown pelicans, Dalessio watched as birds came and went with nest building material, squabbled over nesting sites, and displayed themselves. “The sky was overcast but was beginning to clear when in flew this pelican with a whole pine branch—pine needles included!” Dalessio says. Just as the bird passed in front of a cloud, Dalessio snapped this picture. “With his wings down, many people have commented that he looks like he is playing Quidditch!”

This image was a Top 100 photo from the 2013 Audubon Magazine Photography Awards. To see all of the photos, click here.