Backyard wildlife- Flock of Ibis?

[Iona60]

I've been seeing this flock at the lake edge for a week. Finally got close enough to get a picture. Took a whole bunch of pics of them earlier in the week only to find out that I was only hitting the focus button and never even took one picture. The joys of MS, forgetting how to use something that you know how to use. The white one looks like an Ibis and am assuming that the darker ones are females. Anyone else have a guess?

[jimeka]

They are beautiful birds. If they are anything like swans both parents will be white and the brown and white birds are their off spring. They will loose the brown feathers and become all white. Keep sharing, I love your photos. Have you tried painting these birds? Blessings Jimeka

[Iona60 in reply to jimeka]

jimeka this makes sense as there are only 1 or sometimes 2 white ones. I did a little reading and it says they mate for life.

[erash]

Iona60

Or are the darker ones immature? They do look more downy.

At the birds of prey ctr. They introduced us to a 5yr old bald eagle that still had a few brown feathers on his head. Was told by 5 yrs they usually lose all brown, replace with white and that's how they can determine age. Interestingly, the females are the larger of the breed.

And very interesting, they said the vultures were among the smartest of the raptors.

[Iona60 in reply to erash]

This is quite a large family. I've seen at least a dozen of the immature ones. We've never had them on our lake before. February is a big migratory month. Maybe they are just passing through.

[dmaskal1]

Jimeka, these are great photos with you email that keeps me learning a lot! Thank you!

[Morllyn]

They are American White Ibis (white) and young ones (with the darker colors). Beautiful birds! Thank you!

[Iona60 in reply to Morllyn]

Thank you Morllyn for clarifying this. What a large family they have.

[greaterexp]

Great picture! We have two ponds on our property, and we so enjoy seeing the variety of birds that come in. We have a couple of geese who come back every year to nest, and we marvel at the whole process. We can always tell "our" geese from the others; while the others scatter when we approach, "ours" come toward us hoping for a handful of grain. Aren't they interesting creatures?

[Iona60 in reply to greaterexp]

We get some Canadian geese and can hear them coming. They are sooooo vocal, but so beautiful.

[angelite]

I have been offline for a few days due to household disruptions but back just in time to shriek IBIS ! ! ! : ) Beautiful pic - it looks wonderful where you live, I would love to camp out and never go indoors again ! Thanks for sharing : ) x

[Iona60 in reply to angelite]

We've have lived in this subdivision, on this little lake for 25 years. I think we get so many different birds because we are across the street from some wetlands that can't be built on, which probably acts as a bird sanctuary. My guess is that most ot the water birds we see nest in the big trees in the wetlands. I've always said that it feels like we are camping here.

[erash]

We used to have a family of mallards that would nest in our backyard and swim with their ducklings in our pool (no problem as I won't swim until late May)...they stopped coming when our new neighbors moved in with 4 outdoor cats...🐤🐤🐣🐣🐣⚠️🐱🐱🐱🐱

[Morllyn in reply to erash]

We usually have lots of wild rabbits 🐰 around our house. One year a gentleman moved into a rental house, across from us, with lots of cats. He made a ramp going up to the garage window, and left the window partially open, so they could go in and out. The rabbits disappeared. We thought that the cats had killed them all. The day after he moved, the rabbits 🐰 were back!

[Iona60 in reply to Morllyn]

Guess the rabbits got adept at hiding.

[CalfeeChick CommunityAmbassador in reply to Morllyn]

Smart Rabbits!

[WAshingtongirl]

Love the pic Iona60 . Viewing wildlife is an awe-inspiring moment and your photos capture that.

We have a pair of bald eagles that circle above our neighborhood. I stop what I am doing to watch their graceful flight. I also enjoy the occasional deer that walk through our yard.

[Iona60 in reply to WAshingtongirl]

I love wildlife and now have so much time to spend looking out the window. I'm keeping my real camera handy again.

[Amore55]

Iona, thank you for sharing so many beautiful nature pics. They are all so lovely. God bless! Kelly

[jackiesj]

gorgeous!