White Ibis AND Little Blue Heron in Northampton County! ~ July 27, 2025

In the early afternoon, Mike Schall posted a text alert that there was an immature White Ibis at East Bangor Dam! It took about an hour before I could head up there. When I arrived, Mike and Corinne were there along with Adam Miller and Adam and Owen Smith, but the bird had dropped out of sight in the thick vegetation. Adam, Owen, and I walked a little farther down the tracks to see if it had moved to the west, but it was still out of view. I had seen the previous two county records, so I wasn't that upset that it wasn't visible. It was really humid, so after about 15 minutes, we decided to walk back out to the car, watching along the way. Luckily, Adam spotted it flying east back towards where it was originally found. I got one fairly good photo of it in flight and another that was blurred, but I added it here to show the underwing pattern.

An immature White Ibis.

I also got a few of it after it landed near one of the Wood Duck boxes.

An immature White Ibis.

Three Wood Ducks, a Double-crested Cormorant, and a pair of Ospreys were also noted while there.

I stopped at the Tatamy Exit retention pond on the way back home and found 2 Great Blue Herons, a Great Egret, and 6 Least Sandpipers there.

Great Egret

The Hollo Road retention pond was very full from last night's rain, so there was no shoreline for shorebirds. I drove over to Green Pond and noticed the continuing Great Egret in the retention pond along Green Pond Road. A little farther down the road, I caught a glimpse of another white wader in the flooded cornfield on the north side of the road, but this one didn't look right for a Great Egret. I turned around at the intersection, parked, and slowly walked over to check it out. It was an immature Little Blue Heron! I took some photos of it and then sent out a text.

An immature Little Blue Heron.

A Green Heron was in the small, wooded pond by the house at the intersection.

Green Heron

Mike and Corinne showed up and saw the Little Blue. I checked the back retention ponds along the golf course edge and found a Great Blue Heron and two more Green Herons. While I was there, the Little Blue Heron flew over from the flooded field and landed in the southeast pond that I was at. I took a couple more photos of it and then had to get back home.

The immature Little Blue Heron.

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