The upside of all the rain we have been having this past week is an increase in the number of "wading birds" that I see. You know, wading birds: egrets, herons, ibis, etc. I love taking pictures of herons because they stay perfectly still. They stand like statues over the water waiting for the exact moment to spear their prey. I like that. It makes it much easier for a beginner like myself when the subject stays still.
There has been a flock of Ibis on our property. They were here a month or so ago when we had a lot of rain and the pastures turned into large, murky ponds. They stay together in flocks, I counted at least 20 birds. They are fast and always walking away from me. They are constantly probing their long beaks into the marshy grass or water. Did I mention they were fast? Oh ya, and very skittish. I can't get very close to them before they all fly away.
Unlike the Heron who stands on the bank of the pond, posing for me, Ibis prefer to be deep in the grove of trees in the pasture, which is now flooded. So not only can I not get very close to them, but they hid from me between the branches and trunks of the trees. It is really difficult to get a clear, focused shot of them because there is always so much "stuff" in the foreground. Did I mention they were fast? This results in lots of blurry pictures where you can kind of see the backside of a bird between some branches.
This week the Ibis have returned. I can see them out in the pasture. It has been pouring rain so I haven't tried to get any pictures. This morning after I took the kids to the bus stop, I spotted a couple of them. It was barely sprinkling, so I tucked my pants into my rubber boots, hopped the fence to the pasture, and commenced my Ibis hunt.
I walked through the mucky pasture only avoiding the obviously large cow patties, which are nice and soggy. 10 minutes later I returned home with a bunch of blurry photos. Aggg!
This is the best of what I could come up with:
