St. James's Park: Pelicans and People!

More surreal in large ("L").
Last second blip! I struggled to choose...

Today was the first time that I've seen the St. James's Park pelicans by the edge of the pond, and what a surprise they were! These two were just preening between the benches as I wandered around, and seemed totally untroubled by all the passers-by. When I arrived (on the scene) there was no crowd, but people on the neighbouring benches seemed quite (suitably) intrigued; I started taking pictures and quickly a crown formed...

I even touched one of them! The larger of the two was not in the slightest bit perturbed by being stroked, but the smaller one didn't like contact (even though it seemed untroubled by the crowds and being surrounded).

I took loads of photos (of the pelicans and people, as well as the other waterfowl), so will upload a set to Flickr over the weekend (right from here); their behaviour was rather surprising (so calm and friendly; so very tame!) so the pictures do seem rather surreal.