Rickubis Bird Page featuring:  Ibises 
This page was born 02/15/2025, by moving material I had on other pages.  Rickubis designed it.  (such as it is.) Last update:
Images and contents on this page copyright ©2002-2025  Richard M. Dashnau

           Go back to my home page, Welcome to rickubis.com
           Go back to the RICKUBISCAM page. 

----------------------------------
Welcome to Brazos Bend State Park. That's me on the trail. One of the most popular reasons for people to visit BBSP is to see the birds.  Over the years, I've captured a few
 pictures and video clips of Ibises, and am collecting them here.

01/21/2024 It was cold again at BBSP.  When I checked the temperature at the Forty Acre Parking Lot, it was 39.2°F, almost the same as the previous
weekend. But the air on this day was very damp. This damp air, when moving, can draw the heat right out of me. It's always colder down near the Observation Tower, mostly
because of the wind blowing off of Pilant Lake. The morning was overcast, and the air was hazy--which is further indication of hold cold it would feel. Another temperature
reading from that area showed 39.3°F. But this time there was the wind off of Pilant Lake.
  

Last weekend, I'd watched dark Ibises (most likely White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi) foraging on the floating plants in Pilant Slough. They seemed to be picking at, and
trying to eat various round plant objects--maybe parts of  the Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) floating everywhere. Today, I saw one of them with the kind of thing
 I normally see them catch. It was a frog, and from the markings I could see (large, oval spots on the back), probably a Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus).  
   

The following images demonstrate something that still surprises some folks when I call attention to it. Wading birds are not equipped to break down animal prey into
smaller parts. Whatever they eat, they swallow whole. This could lead to quite a struggle if the prey is large compared to the size of the bird's head. In this case, the frog
wasn't very mobile (probably because of the cold) and didn't pose much of a problem for the Ibis. There is video, but I probably won't upload it.  The light on this day was
difficult to work with--especially for a non-photographer like me. I tried shooting the last 4 images at high shutter setting and adjusted ISO. They came out REALLY dark,
so I enhanced them as well as I could.  (flash!?!?  I don't even try to use one.)  I walked to Elm Lake, and then North to New Horseshoe lake. It's not evident from this article,
but there were many amazing birds active all around while I walked, even with the cold.  I took a few more temperature readings at New Horseshoe lake, then tuned back.
   

On 01/14/2024 I went to BBSP. I almost didn't because of forecasted rain and a cold front. But, I decided to go anyway, spend a couple hours outside,
then work in the Nature Center.  When I checked the temperature at the Forty Acre Parking Lot, it was 40°F.  It's always colder down near the Observation Tower, mostly
because of the wind blowing off of Pilant Lake. The morning was bright and clear, and White-Faced and White Ibises were foraging on the floating plant mass near the
Southeast corner of the tower. I'm pretty sure they were White-Faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi) but I have a hard time telling them apart from Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)--as do
many other folks. Some of these photos show that they had red eyes--which is one way to tell they were White-Faced.
   

In any case, the low morning sunlight enhanced the wonderful metallic green/bronze of their feathers.  A few White Ibises (Eudocimus albus) were foraging with them. At
other times, I've seen the Ibises pulling prey out of this mat, but have had a hard time identifying what organisms were being caught. When I watched closed on this day,
the Ibises seemed to be picking up plant buds or plant root bulbs. A couple of the pictures above show this. This video clip shows many examples of this in slow motion.
   


03/07/2021   I started as a Volunteer ranger/interpretive guide at Brazos Bend State Park in 2001. Starting then, I went to BBSP at least once a week--EVERY week; although
there were some periods where I had to go "on hiatus" due to occasional medical procedures. In a single day, I could interpret for over 100 people...or 10.  I feel fair average of contacts
would be 50 per week.   50 folks per week x 51 (weeks in a year)  would be 2550 folks per year.   2550 x 19years is.... a LOT of people (48,450 --but maybe take off about 6 months' worth
because of the medical stuff (that's about 1200 less)).  That still adds up to a lot of folks that I've experienced the park with.  It was great fun, and the park is a great place. And then
our viral visitor appeared. And I stopped going to BBSP in March of 2020.  There were many factors involved with this--all of us know the adjustments that were made. I missed the park.
I can't remember exactly, but I did go out to BBSP a few times during 2020.  I also went out a few times in 2021. I decided I should go once more while there was still some controls in place
so I volunteered on March 7.  During the 6 hours I was there I spoke with 100 people while wearing a mask and maintaining distance.  It was great as usual!  There is always a lot
to see at BBSP, but I think it will be a while before I go out there again.  If you live in Texas, you can probably figure out why after March 10.  What did I see today? Well, here we go.
There was a mother Coypu(aka Nutria-Myocastor coypus)  with at least 2 babies on a little mat that they made from Giant Cutgrass. They were at least 50 yards away, so I couldn't
see too much. I passed them again on my way back to my car, and pointed them out to a number of visitors then.  One of the babies went off to forage by itself, and I noticed the Ibis
behind it, so I tried to get some pictures with them both included. They were quite far apart, so it was hard to get them both in focus.  That is not a White Ibis, but either a Glossy
Ibis(Plegadis falcinellus), or a White-faced Ibis(Plegadis chihi).  I've seen people who can identify birds a lot better than I can arguing over identification of one of these.  I know
 it's one or the other. I can't really pick out the eye color, but the legs are more gray than pink or red.  From what I can find, Grey legs would make it be Glossy Ibis. The last 3 images
 are frames from a video clip.
    
 Ibis is at least 20 feet away from coypu.          Three moments as the Ibis paused.           Each view is a bit different.                         Just the Ibis Grey legs, not red or pink.
 
03/01/2020 (added 2/14/2025)  This White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) caught a Broad-banded Water Snake (Nerodia faciata) at Brazos Bend State Park.
The two images are photos, and I used captured clips to make this edited video.  
  

 11/30/2008 As a last experiment, I took some photos and video clips of some White Ibis foraging. I was able to shoot some video of a White Ibis taking off. I shot the video at 420 frames per 
second. When I reviewed that clip, I was amazed. The Ibis' wings unfolded and went straight UP to meet over the Ibis' back. Then with just ONE downward flap, the Ibis becomes airborne. The
images below are some frames pulled from the clip. The clip can be seen here (wmv 4.0 mb).
--
                   WINGS GO STRAIGHT UP!                                             WINGS PUSH DOWN                                                           IN THE AIR!

12/03/2006--As I hurried back to lead my hike, I saw a group of White Ibis in some trees, and this one posed for me. I just liked the picture, which you can see below.
-------------------------------------------
------------------------NICE IBIS!-------------------------------------------------                                 -------NICE IBIS CLOSER!


        Go back to my home page, Welcome to rickubis.com
        Go back to the RICKUBISCAM page.
        Go back to the See the World page.