A Pelican’s Meal Makes the Virginia Wildlife Calendar Cover

By Molly Kirk/DWR

Caroline Prevost leaned out over the bow railing of the boat, focused on a brown pelican floating on the water, and snapped a few shots. “Some of the pelicans were diving, some were just sitting there, and there was one that appeared to be wrestling with a fish,” she recalled. “It was about 10 o’clock in the morning, so the light was kind of harsh, but I just made my shutter speed pretty high to help with the lighting. It was just a split second that I got that shot with the fish trying to escape.”

Prevost wasn’t quite sure what sort of image she’d captured until she looked at her photos on the computer later that day. But she loved the moment in time she’d captured, of a speckled sea trout poised at the edge of the pelican’s beak, a gush of water arcing out of the beak. “It looked like a statue,” Prevost said. “And when I looked at the very next frame, the fish was in his mouth, and down the throat he went.”

That statuesque moment of time earned Prevost the spot on the cover of the 2026 Virginia Wildlife Calendar, as the Virginia Wildlife magazine staff selected her pelican and sea trout image to grace the cover out of more than 1,500 images submitted for the July/August 2025 Virginia Wildlife Photography Showcase issue of the magazine. “I’m beside myself with excitement. It’s such a big honor to be showcased in your calendar, to be selected out of all the entries,” said Prevost.

This was the third year that Prevost has entered photos into the Virginia Wildlife Photography Showcase, and images she took appeared in the 2023 and ’24 Photography Showcase issues. Prevost, who lives in Chesapeake, Virginia, has only been focused on wildlife photography for the last four years or so. She’d been a hobby street photographer, but aimed her lens toward wildlife during the COVID pandemic. “I really couldn’t do street photography anymore because everybody was wearing masks,” she said. “So I turned to wildlife, and I never looked back. I fell madly in love with it and felt like I found my passion. I’d always loved animals, but I wouldn’t have called myself a bird watcher, per se. But once I started doing it, it was just love at first sight.”

Caroline Prevost enjoying a crisp morning in the field. Photo by David Prevost

The wildlife viewing and photography community have been welcoming to Prevost. “There were people that I met when I was first starting out that, so to speak, took me under their wing and showed me different birds. I wasn’t familiar with all the species,” she said. “They also gave me camera help. I found out about eBird and how to identify what I’m seeing. And I’ve just had a wonderful group of friends; we hang out as much as we can, and we learn from each other. I can’t tell you how much I love my photography and wildlife friends. They’re just amazing people, and we all have this shared love of wildlife. We want the best for it, we care for it, and we promote conservation by showcasing species in our photography and on eBird postings. I’ve had people tell me that they would never have seen a species of bird if I hadn’t posted an image of it. And that’s the biggest compliment I can get.”

Prevost takes advantage of the many wildlife-dense spots in the Virginia Beach area for her photography. Fort Monroe National Monument, Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Greensprings Interpretive Trail in Williamsburg, and Stumpy Lake Natural Area in Virginia Beach are some of her favorites. “At the Great Dismal Swamp, I’ve been having luck with a lot of screech owls and in February I got a bobcat,” she said. “Then there’s always the Virginia Beach oceanfront and Rudee Inlet. This area is really rich with wildlife. You never know what you’re going to find, because there are so many species of migrating birds.”

Her calendar cover shot was taken in January 2025 on a wildlife viewing boat trip during the Virginia Beach Winter Wildlife Festival. In fact, the same image won the “Wildlife Action” category of the 2025 Winter Wildlife Festival Photo Contest. Prevost considers her photography to be “a passionate hobby,” she said. “I’m exploring ways to possibly make money from my photos, but up until now, it’s just been a hobby and I enjoy putting them on Facebook to share them with others.

“The more I do it, the more I want to keep doing it,” said Prevost. “Every time I get out in nature and I see one of God’s creatures, it just makes my heart sing and I want to capture an image of it to showcase the beauty and that we need to protect and conserve wildlife.”

Molly Kirk is the DWR creative content manager.