By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL/Designated Writer

ORANGE BEACH, ALA. — First of all, to the person who invented the term “Redneck Riviera,” my Performance Fishing Gear hat is off to you. Though the nickname is fairly inaccurate, it is still massively perfect. It gives this place its own identity and it needs no geographical explanation.

I’ve been coming here for almost 20 years and I have come to appreciate that it’s more than just a bunch of condos and restaurants. Usually something grabs my attention that I had never paid much attention to before.

This year will be remembered by me as the Pelican Year. It’s not unusual to see the occasional brown pelican, but this year it is has been amazing. They have been everywhere and in all different shapes and sizes.

And they are not shy. They will fly right by the condo balcony to show off their majesty. I couldn’t be more impressed if Anthony Davis (of the New Orleans Pelicans) flew by my balcony.

There are plenty of gulls everywhere — feed one a Cheez-It from your balcony and watch how fast they get the word out — and there is the random egret showing up every now and then. But when it comes to the guys who rule this area, it’s the pelican. The other birds just get out of the way whenever they show up.

For whatever reasons, the pelicans are just posting up and ruling the roost (see what I did there!). When a fish gets out of line when a pelican is near … BALLGAME! But mostly the pelicans just hang around until a better gig comes along, When you see 20-25 of these guys take off together to go play the back nine, it’ll make you drop your drink with the umbrella in it. Meanwhile, the rest of the bird species pull over to the side of the road.

Even though I’m in Alabama, I’ve never been prouder that our Louisiana state bird is dominating on the Redneck Riviera. Alabama may have all those national football championships, but they are still stuck with the Northern Flicker as its state bird.