Glossy Ibis at Green Pond, Northampton County ~ May 2, 2015

While walking the Plainfield Recreation Trail, I ran into Kathy Sieminski, who mentioned that she had some Eastern Meadowlarks just up the road from the trail. I followed her up to the spot along Benders Church Road and saw them flying over the field when we pulled up. Kathy left while I slowly drove around the area. At one point, a Grasshopper Sparrow sang from a perch along the road.

On the way back home, I decided to stop at the flooded field by Green Pond to see what the water level was and what was there. The area had really shrunk in size since the last time I was there and was quickly drying up. A quick scan with binoculars revealed a bunch of yellowlegs and what appeared to be Least Sandpipers with them. So, I got out my scope and starting checking them out. I came up with 15 Lesser and 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 3 Solitary Sandpipers, and 45 Least Sandpipers. I decided to do a second sweep to see if I'd missed anything amongst the stubble and surprisingly found a Glossy Ibis, which must have dropped in while I was scanning. I made sure that it wasn't a White-faced Ibis and then started to call another birder about it when the bird took off and headed due west. I quicked grabbed my camera and managed to get a few silhouetted shots as it left the area.

So, the bird was there no more than five minutes! It was definitely a case of "right place, right time."

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