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07/21/08
Ibis Parade
Filed under: General, Birding & Outdoors, Florida & SE US
Posted by: Ken @ 2:00 pm

A Parade of Ibises

At once grotesque and stunningly beautiful, the ibis was venerated by the ancient Egyptians because of its association with the Nile River, the source and protector of life. A hieroglyph in the form of an ibis represented Thoth, one of the most important gods, mediator of good and evil, creator of the 365 day calendar and inventor of the hieroglyph method of writing. Florida folklore regards the ibis (mascot of the University of Miami)  as a bit more humble a hero, the last creature to take shelter before a hurricane and the first to reappear afterward. 

As a kid in New Jersey, in addition to the White and Glossy Ibis, I memorized the pictures of the Wood Ibis. To my mind, all three represented truly exotic creatures that, one day, I hoped to see.The Wood Ibis was subsequently upgraded to Wood Stork, but the classification of these birds remains in flux, as discussed in this interesting Wikipedia entry.

When I was 12 years old, I sighted a Glossy Ibis in Troy Meadows, New Jersey. My view was a drop-dead match for the picture in Peterson, but none of the older birders at the Hackensack Audubon Society considered my observation to be credible. The Glossy Ibis, an African native, had wandered to the US, by way of South America, only about 50 years before. No Glossy Ibis had been seen in the northern part of the state in over 10 years. Later that year, others were seen in the same location (and they are now fairly common there and northward up the Atlantic Coast), but my sighting was never made part of the “official” record. I blogged about my early-teen anguish in this entry: Quest for Rare Birds.

As commonplace as the White Ibis may be, as it walks our Florida neighborhood lawns and even breaks open garbage bags to obtain snacks, I cannot help but stop and stare when I see one. These three walked along the margin of our lake, seemingly in a great hurry. Two retained some dark head and body feathers, indicating they had hatched out this year. An adult-plumage bird followed closely behind. Might it possibly have been one of their parents?

Adult Ibis walking along the shore of our lake:

It was following these two immature Ibises:


2 Responses to “Ibis Parade”

  1. Dave B Says:
    August 30th, 2008 at 6:10 pm I’ve been to Troy Meadows a whole bunch this year in search of birds. Not many great finds, but here’s one I enjoyed: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidraymond/2565452269/
  2. Ken Says:
    August 30th, 2008 at 8:42 pm Hi, Dave,

    Thanks for the comment and the link to your FLICKR album.

    It’s been so many years since I walked the boardwalk in Troy Meadows! You have some very nice photos. By the way, you don’t need to buy a 600mm lens. You are doing great! I am using a 300mm IS with a 1.4x extender and that seems to give me as much as I need, about 420mm plus the inherent power of the camera.

    Ken
    On 8/30/08 Dave replied:

    Ken - The boardwalk is largely invisible at Troy Meadows and there is little to no open water there now.  The whole place is a phragmite meadow, and I’ve heard the boardwalk is largely collapsed and broken.  I go in through a different entrance area off of 46/Beverwyck Rd  which is the forested area of the Meadows.  Once in a while I spot a decent songbird or a red tail hawk there.

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