Bird Photography
The Thrill of New Birds
A birding story
On St. Patrick’s Day, my friend Gina and I went birding at one of my favorite local parks — Sweetwater Wetlands Park.
We always find lots of wildlife there, but Thursday was a stellar birding day! Not only did we see some of my favorite birds, including the elusive Limpkin, but we saw two birds that neither of us had seen before.
One was a Glossy Ibis. His sable-brown feathers were striking against the sunlit greenery of the wetlands.
There are three types of ibis in Florida: the very common American White Ibis and the less common White-Faced Ibis and Glossy Ibis. I still haven’t seen a White-Faced but I can now check off Glossy Ibis from my Birds to See list.
Based on the Cornell Lab’s All About Birds website, this Glossy is probably a non-breeding male. The breeding males are more colorful. But, if you look carefully, you can see touches of maroon, green, bronze, and even a little violet in this guy’s feathers.
Like all ibises, the Glossy is a wading bird that frequents shallow waters and muddy ponds and wetlands. They can also…
