The Ibis of Seaside Provincial Park

Laura and I made the trip to Waterside Beach Provincial Park on Monday May 4, Nova Scotia,  to see the White-faced Ibis(1), Glossy Ibis(5) and many Great Blue Heron. We got an early start and arrived at the location before 9AM. By then a convoy of vehicles was already lined up with a camera hanging out of the window of each one. We knew we had come to the right place.

I took a lot of photos in bright sun and then we proceeded to Big Island. We stopped at New Glascow for lunch, and then headed south to Middle Musquodoboit, and along the eastern shore. It was a long day with eleven hours on the road.

Unfortunately, my photos of the ibis lacked the definition necessary to sort through the ibis species so I returned the following day and had much better luck.

The White-faced Ibis was the premier bird of the trip and may be the first Nova Scotia record. I photographed a hybrid White-faced/Glossy ibis at Rainbow Haven Provincial Park in November 2005.

I have about 900 images from the two days so I'll be sorting through the visual records for some time and this blog will have many updates.

Here is the White-faced Ibis.

White-faced Ibis White-faced Ibis White-faced Ibis White-faced Ibis White-faced Ibis

White-faced Ibis White-faced Ibis White-faced Ibis White-faced Ibis White-faced Ibis White-faced Ibis White-faced Ibis White-faced Ibis White-faced Ibis

The ibis at Rainbow Haven Provincial Park was seen and photographed by many folks after November 5, 2005. At the time the internet was in its infancy, relative to today, so technical jargon and images were hard to find especially of juvenile White-faced Ibis. I took the following photo using antiquated equipment by today's standard; low resolution camera and low definition optics.

Note the red eye and wash in front of the eye and reddish legs. This bird is a perfect match for many photos online of juvenile White-faced Ibis.

The decision in 2005 was that the Rainbow Haven Provincial Park ibis was a hybrid. Highlight the following link to review research undertaken on this matter:

http://www.hanstoom.com/nab-v57-n1-2003-glossy-whitefaced-hybridization-new.pdf

GSON5728

Here is a bunch of photos of Glossy Ibis.

Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis

The Great Blue Heron posed as well.

Great Blue Heron Great Blue Heron Great Blue Heron Great Blue Heron Great Blue Heron Great Blue Heron Great Blue Heron