White Ibises Visit The Bayou!

  Today saw the Bayou being pounded by more storms.  Winds were gusting pretty stiffly and at times the rains were torrential.   All of this storming made for high tides and slippery slopes but, by late afternoon, the skies cleared enough for Mark and I to take a quick walk about the place.  Of course, the first place we always go to is the pier.  It was on the way back toward the shore end that Mark pointed out a large flock of birds overhead.  Looking up, my first thought was egrets but it confused me to see so many flocking together.  Then, I caught a glimpse of the bills of the birds.  Ibises!  Those are ibises!  I was not quick enough to get more than one pretty shabby photograph of the birds before they headed west.  While that was disappointing, the fact that we actually saw this many of the birds made my day.

  The White Ibis is usually found more around fresh water lakes and ponds than salt or brackish water.  There, it will visit the mudflats in search of mud worms, crustaceans and insects.  The ibis has a long, curved bill that it uses to probe the soft mud.  When it senses something, the bill snaps shut and the prey is pulled from the mud.  If it is too muddy, the bird will then go to clear water to wash its supper.  It will also declaw crabs and crawfish and crush their shells before eating them.  

  It has been a long time since I have seen any ibises.  My aunt (actually my mom's cousin) was an avid birder and she often let me tag along on her excursions.  We would search for any bird and Fairie Lyn would quickly and accurately identify it for me.  I learned a lot about birds from this lady!  In her later years, she depended on me to take her birding...which I gladly did as often as I could.  We had fun!  I remember how excited she was on one outing when we came upon dozens of the White Ibises.  She started pointing out the identifying factors of the birds and gave me a brief history of their lives.  This afternoon, I thanked my long-gone auntie for teaching me to appreciate the beauty of birds.  Fairie Lyn, your love of birds lives on through me.