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Tuesday 29 August 2017

An Exciting Local Rarity: Mitchell Glossy Ibis

It came as quite a surprise to me this morning, when I was checking over the local bird sightings and saw that a probable Glossy Ibis had been reported at the West Perth Wetlands last night.  Due to my unpredictable schedule, it rarely works to travel too far after rare sightings.  However something so close to home was hard to pass up and by 5:30 PM, my nephew and I were headed into Mitchell to check things out.  I had been monitoring reports over the course of the day and the bird was being seen again today.  By this time, others had determined it to be a juvenile Glossy Ibis as opposed to the similar looking White-Faced Ibis.


We arrived at the wetlands not long after 6:00 and immediately noticed someone scanning the first cell through the scope.  It was Dave Szmyr who had stopped by the wetlands for the first time to search for the bird.  He informed us that it had been flushed up only moments before, but had gone down somewhere along the edge out of sight.  We were soon joined by others and the group of us scanned the water.  Suddenly we were alerted to something flying over head.  It was our target bird, but there were only brief views as it landed again out of sight at the other side of the cell. 


The others had already gotten good views so they left and my nephew and I wandered around the other side to try and see it closer.  It was very cooperative and let us get good unobstructed views.




It spent most of the time actively preening amongst a group of Mallards.


It wasn't the only bird of interest.  Green herons were numerous and we counted six in a row as they flew across the water.

Along with a good variety of the expected species of shorebirds.  No photos of them, but the water levels are quite good for shorebird activity right now.

As we prepared to leave, we caught one last glimpse of the Ibis in flight.  This time it flew off towards Mitchell.  We did not see it again so I'm not sure whether it will be reported here again or not.


An enjoyable evening at the wetlands.

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10 comments:

  1. Quinten Wiegersma29 August 2017 at 18:15

    Great bird!

    Now only if I could convince my Dad to drive me to Mitchell...

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    1. Jonathan Wilhelm29 August 2017 at 18:22

      Thanks Quinten.

      Forgot to mention when I first wrote the post that it flew off toward Mitchell as we were leaving and we didn't see it return. Not sure if it will be seen again or not.

      At least you managed to see the Wood Stork. A little to far away for me and I had to settle with reading about it.

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    2. Quinten Wiegersma29 August 2017 at 20:24

      I'm sure it will be reported again soon! Maybe closer to London!

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    3. Jonathan Wilhelm30 August 2017 at 06:10

      There's a good chance that it will show up somewhere. You might see it yet.

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  2. Blake A. Mann29 August 2017 at 19:08

    A great bird for you to get near home!
    I am a good 2 hour drive from Mitchell, but perhaps one will show up closer to home.

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    1. Jonathan Wilhelm30 August 2017 at 06:11

      I was really glad that I got to see it. Perhaps it will head your way after leaving here.

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  3. Susan Cooper30 August 2017 at 11:28

    Nice you were able to see the Ibis! Nice photos. It's too far of a drive for me.

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    Replies
    1. Jonathan Wilhelm30 August 2017 at 15:37

      Thanks Susan. Perth county doesn't seem to get nearly as many rarities as other places so it was a pleasant surprise when this showed up.

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    2. Quinten Wiegersma30 August 2017 at 17:57

      And now you guys got a Yellow-headed Blackbird!

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    3. Jonathan Wilhelm30 August 2017 at 18:19

      I saw it on your ebird list this evening. That was probably a bit of a consolation since the ibis apparently didn't hang around. Good eye for spotting it in the reeds. I would love to go look for it if I could get the time.

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