Maryland White-Faced Ibis: YES -Sunday 5/9
Phil Davis (pdavis@ix.netcom.com)
Sun, 09 May 1999 22:36:43 -0400
If ANYONE else had been at Truitts Landing Road with me this afternoon
between 5:50 pm and 7:00 pm, they would have seen the bird !!! I was the
ONLY birder there !!! Killer looks !!!
Details:
Arrived at the area about 5 pm. Checked out the marsh to the north as I
headed toward the end of the road .. only saw 3 Glossies. Saw one bird
(from an unknown direction) head across the Bay (bad sign, I thought). Saw
about four birds drop into the distant north end of the eastern marsh (the
high grass area) but they disappeared from view. Strike 2?
the road, east of the big hammock. Disappeared from sight after they
landed. (strike 3, I thought). Saw another bird (from an unknown
direction) head across the bay ... "rats and mice", I thought.
Turned around to head back to the west to check out the primary marsh area
again. Decided to gain maximum height to survey the territory ... with the
sunroof open on my Jeep, I can stand on the console and pop up thru the
roof ... can even use the scope on the tripod that way. Scanned the north
end and closer areas of the marsh. Counted 8 ibis ... hmmm. About 5:45, I
saw two birds cross the road from the north and head south. After about
10 minutes of scanning back and forth and scoping the area, the WHITE-FACED
IBIS popped into view (about 5:50 pm). I say "popped" because it reminded
me of Jim Stasz's words from last Sunday ... when you see this bird, you
know it!. If you are staring at Glossies trying to figure out if the ones
that have more white on the face are this bird .. forget it, you don't have
it. This bird is very obvious. Full white feathering totally around the
eye ... red lores ... red eye ... upper legs are pinkish-red (although the
bird is often in deep water and the sunlight and angle can play with the
color). The bird was about 30 yards from the road, but still quite a ways
in front of me. The birds were working from west to east (towards me).
The bird associated closely with about 4 glossies. I watched it for about
25 minutes, alternating from being in-view to being hidden by the marsh
vegetation.
At 6:15, I moved up further to get the light behind me. By now, the birds
were maybe 20-25 yards from the road. I pulled past them to get the sun
behind me. No sweat. I could see the birds clearly from ground level
(without having to poke thru the roof). The birds foraged constantly the
entire time I was watching.
Around 6:30 the WF bird flew a short distance to the east. It vocalized a
repetitive "oink"-like sound. The 3 glossies followed. This put the birds
near the east end of the west pond.
I had my observations dominated for about 20 minutes with a dialog with a
local ("Steve"), who called the ibis "brants" and Red-winged Blackbirds,
"Baltimore Orioles". Steve left about 6:50. I backed up to the end of the
road. Total ibis count was now 5 glossies and 1 WF.
At 7:00 pm , the White-faced took flight (vocalizing), alone, heading south
over the road and disappearing in the distance behind the large hammock. I
saw at least 2 glossies still in the marsh when I left at 7:10. Not sure
if the other glossies flew or were just out of sight.
Did not hear any Sedge Wrens. Did hear a Marsh Wren or two. Soras and
King Rails were calling.
Patience!!!
Good luck.
Phil
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Phil Davis
home: PDavis@ix.netcom.com Davidsonville, Maryland USA
work: PDavis@OAO.com Greenbelt, Maryland USA
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