White Faced Ibis

Very tough to tell in the photo but the ibis on the left is a white faced

My son leaves for a new job in Yellowstone on Friday and is working right up until Thursday. He had today off so it was one of the last times we could hang out before he leaves. We would have liked to go for a hike, unfortunately the weather is just miserable, It has been pouring most of the day. I did not want to waste a chance to hang out with my kid and I didn't want to just go to a movie or be indoors.

Along comes a Facebook post of a rare bird in Rhode Island. The bird is a White Faced Ibis. I asked my son if he would want to "chase" it, then go out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants. The ibis was seen this morning at St. Mary's Pond in Portsmouth. After I got out of work we drove down. At first we didn't see the ibis. The White Faced was mixed in a flock of Glossy Ibis. We decided to walk down a path to the pond. From the path we could see the flock near the road. So we walked back to the car and went up the road. We saw the flock then scanned it for birds with white faces.

After a few minutes we found one and then another. We only got a good look for a few seconds. Long enough to clearly tell what it was. The flock flew a few yards behind some reeds. Since we were being rained on, parked in a bad spot, and accomplished our mission we left. As soon as I started to drive the sky opened up big time. We were glad we saw the birds.

After that we went to Beck's BBQ in Middletown for some of the best pulled beef and cornbread on the planet.

Part of the flock of glossy ibis flying from one spot to
another