Glossy Ibis at Great Swamp

I went to Great Swamp on Monday with my good buddy Laurie. It was a nice day, but a little warm. We had three ideas for Monday things to do. We actually chose the one that involved the most exercise. We did the four mile loop around Great Swamp birding. Since we got to the swamp near the middle of the day many of the woodland birds were quiet. We did get a great crested flycatcher, common yellowthroats. We had fun looking for reptiles and amphibians. We found a garter snake, a wood frog, toad, painted turtles and a snapper that was crossing the path. The majority of the time spent around the pond was geared towards finding bullfrogs in the water. He heard a bunch but only saw 4. It was fun looking for them.

We got some great looks at the osprey and could actually see 5 at one time between nesters and fliers.

The absolute highlight of the day were two glossy ibis feeding in the shallows of the pond. I have never seen them in this area. They have been reported a few times but this was my first time seeing them outside the Outer Banks, NC. As we were looking for frogs, Laurie spotted them on a mud flat about 150 feet away. We watched them for about 15 minutes.I have a picture but it does not do them justice since it was taken facing the sun.

I caught a few stripers tonight fishing from 8:30-11:30 in Providence. I was using zoom flukes and 4" black backed shad bodies.