ML29165371
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Media notes
My sighting was on the shore of an inlet that is just south of downtown Klawock at approximately 6:26 pm on May 19, 2016. The Fireweed Lodge is on the north shore of the inlet and has a dock leading into the water. I was walking along that shore to the left (east) of the dock. As we followed the shore, it quickly curved to the right (south). There, it was basically a grassy mudflat bordering the inlet – great bird habitat. About 5-10 minutes out from the lodge along the shore, at 6:26 pm or so I saw the bird. From the curve of the beak and shape of the body I knew it was an Ibis. I know what Glossy Ibis look like from having seen them while birding in Florida, and thought that might be it. The plumage was the right color. It was picking at the ground in the shallow water southeast of us. I was able to take several pictures, but it flew away at about 6:30 pm. We continued walking up the north side of the river that feeds into the inlet from Klawock Lake (heading east) for about ten minutes, when I saw the same bird land briefly on the shore of the river and then leave. I was not able to get a picture of it at that time. Later that night, I looked at North American ibises in the Sibley eGuide to the Birds of North America. Because I had never seen an Ibis in my various guides to Alaskan birds, I was convinced that it was a rare sighting. The Glossy Ibis did not fit as well as the White-faced Ibis because of the reddish legs and red iris, which I noted in the photos. The Glossy Ibis’s range is also much farther from the northwest. I tried to find an Ibis whose range is noted to extend into Alaska, to no avail. I concluded that the best fit was the White-faced Ibis.
Technical information
- Model
- NIKON D3200
- ISO
- 400
- Focal length
- 200 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire, auto
- f-stop
- f/5.6
- Shutter speed
- 1/1000 sec
- Dimensions
- 6016 pixels x 3759 pixels
- Original file size
- 6.3 MB