Yesterday the weather finally got its act together and it was a fine day for birding at Rondeau. Once again the winds were no good for a lakewatch, so I went directly to south point trail. Lots of birds were around to sort through.
Yellow-rumped Warblers were quite numerous once again, as one would expect this time of year.
Lots of Palm Warblers were mixed in as well.
A Chestnut-sided Warbler was a decent find, but did not come close for a decent photo.
White-throated Sparrows had finally arrived in numbers, but I found no uncommon sparrows.
A Winter Wren posed at one point. I always found these guys difficult to photograph!
It was a good day for raptor migration with a stiff WNW wind. I noticed a Red-shouldered at one point, and lots of Sharp-shinned Hawks were moving west. At one point I saw a large accipiter which I decided was a Northern Goshawk. We do not often see them, but they do pass through in small numbers.
Later, there were lots of raptors to see at Keith McLean C. L. Turkey Vultures were having a good day!
After an enjoyable walk on south point, I headed up to maintenance area and the north end of Harrison Trail. While along the maintenance fence, I got an alert on Discord that a Glossy Ibis was at Keith McLean C. L. Damn, I wanted to spend lots of time in Rondeau while there were lots of birds on a rare nice day!
Luckily I was not far away, and arrived at the place in short order. An ibis is always a must-see!
The ibis was still on site but in the distance. It was an juvenile type, so really not obvious to species at that distance, even though finder listed as Glossy.
My camera was no match for the distance.
I do not think anyone could tell for sure what species it was at that distance. A digiscoped photo suggested Glossy, but I was not sure, nor was anyone else.
At one point it got up for no apparent reason and circled for a few minutes, then landed back in the same spot.
Meanwhile, some other local birders had arrived and saw the ibis circling. Included were Garry Sadler and his son Jeff. With camera in hand, Jeff got some flight photos which were pretty decent even though highly cropped. I am posting them here with permission from Garry.
An immature ibis (either White-faced or Glossy) can be difficult to ID at times. Also they can be highly variable, and as well there are hybrids!
I recall reviewing one on the OBRC, and we could not determine species. It went down as Plegadis sp.
The White-faced will show a red iris, not seen in Glossy. The juvenile's eye can show subtle differences, but often will not show red (in White-faced) until later in the winter. The ibis at McLean's seems to be dark, which suggest Glossy, but again it is a young bird.
One must look at the facial skin. The juveniles can be very similar in both species, but turns reddish in White-faced. Our bird is dark, but both species can show this at this age.
Another feature is the lining of the facial skin, which can be a very thin, very light blue in young Glossy. On Glossy, it is on the upper and lower edge, but not around the back of the eye. There is a hint of this on the upper edge in our bird (see photo above). As well, there is no indication that the lining goes around the back of the eye.
Leg colour is another feature to study. The legs in our bird are not helpful. They are certainly dark, but both species can be dark at this age. The legs are brighter red in White-faced of older birds.
Our bird is indeed a tricky one to ID. I think it leans towards Glossy (which I would prefer...lol.... since we had a White-faced there in the spring!). The face seems to be the best feature here.
I suppose some "experts" should weigh in on this bird. But, we may not know for sure the species of our bird.
In any case, an ibis is always a neat bird to see!
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| Blue-winged Teal at McLean's |
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