The glossy ibis from yesterday evening was still present this morning in
exactly the same place on the gull raft island just off the spit and showed no
inclination to move away from the island. It's routine was sleep for 20
minutes, wake up, preen for 5 minutes, walk right feeding for about 5m, fly back to it's original position, preen for 5 minutes, sleep for 20
minutes, repeat, repeat, repeat etc......
It continued more or less in this way all morning up until 11am when it suddenly decided to
fly east over Horrock's hide, was lost to view behind trees, and was presumed
to have gone. However, at 12:25 it was relocated on Teal scrape, viewable from
Charlie Owen hide.
I called in again after lunch on my way to do the weekly shop to find only one other birder present in the
hide but the ibis showing well and much closer in far better light.
Why it decided to relocate here is hard to know, it seemed to be feeding quite well in it's original position, but perhaps it just fancied a change of scenery or diet. I wasn't totally surprised, the only other glossy
ibis that I have seen at the flash was also on Teal scrape on
8th May 2018 (opens in a new window).
The white in the lores and the hint of a purplish sheen rules out juvenile in my opinion, with second calendar year probably the most likely.
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