But then I got to thinking that I didn't have a White-faced Ibis in Monmouth County. In fact, practically no one did, because this was only the second report of the species in that county, and the first one was inaccessible, it being on a private golf course. So, this morning, with the forecast for cold but calm weather (hate the wind off the water), I went up the reservoir.
I had an idea of where the bird was but when I looked there, I had no luck. Oh well, I'll just walk the perimeter, five miles around, and find what I find. I like all the ducks, coots, and grebes there. Coming back to my car to put away my scope I ran into another birder who was also on the quest. He told me the bird had been reported recently, so I doubled back with him. Still, no luck, until another guy, looking for the bird, read a text from some alert app that the bird was near the Chestnut Point parking lot. Not far, but not where we were. So, since my new acquaintance didn't know where that was and I did, we walked up there together. We were approaching the causeway when suddenly the bird flew up and around us and landed in the little cove in front of us. The light was bad but an ibis has a distinct silhouette so there was the bird. If you had asked me what it was, I'd have said glossy because that's the default species, and it's hard enough to tell a White-faced Ibis from a Glossy when the light is good. I took some photos, which would prove nothing, but this was an "if you say so" bird anyway.
Happy that he'd gotten his bird, my new friend and I shook hands--he went back to work, and I started the loop around the reservoir. By the time I got almost all the way around, I ticked off more than 30 species. I was back to where I originally had started when I saw my friends Bob & Bruce peering into the low water. "You're in the wrong place," I told them and they said, "No, it's right there." Sure enough, the bird had move yet again, and this time was in decent light. I still wouldn't have called it a White-faced Ibis--I guess, looking at my photos, I could convince myself that the eye is red and that legs are faintly pink, but again, if you say so.
After a while we had our fill of the bird and started walking back to the parking lot. It was time, I thought, for me to get home, but then we saw Scott coming down the path. Scott had originally looked at the pictures of the bird and determined that it wasn't a glossy and now he was there to get the bird in person and onto his list. Except the directions, as they almost always are, were confusing. Good thing we were there to show him the way. We found the bird again and Scott...said so.
Lots of out of place birds this season...Limpkin, White-faced Ibis, the common rarity of the Trumpeter Swans at Assunpink, and of course, the Red-flanked Bluetail which persists 1 mile from here and has attracted birds from near and far--Maine, Michigan, Maryland...hundreds of birders walking the winding streets of Internment Camp #5 to the bemusement of fellow villagers.
My list for Manasquan Reservoir today:
Canada Goose 140
Mute Swan 5
Northern Shoveler 5
American Wigeon 2
Mallard 105
American Black Duck 100
Lesser Scaup 3
Bufflehead 15
Hooded Merganser 30
Common Merganser 1
Ruddy Duck 60
Pied-billed Grebe 5
Rock Pigeon 55
American Coot 100
Ring-billed Gull 10
Great Blue Heron 1
White-faced Ibis 1
Belted Kingfisher 3
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 Heard Wetlands #2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Merlin 1 Cove trail
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 1
Carolina Chickadee 5
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Carolina Wren 5
American Goldfinch 1
White-throated Sparrow 25
Song Sparrow 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
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