I posted earlier this week about some Plegadis ibis I saw in a flooded ag field in the Florence area. I got some very good photos of them and saw what looked like at least one Glossy Ibis. Knowing this is a difficult identification to make after breeding season, and having seen considerable discussion of it on the listserve for another state in the past week, I returned last Thursday to see if I could refind the bird(s) and get more photos. I did refind one Plegadis ibis that appeared to be a Glossy and got more photos. Then I did more research into the field marks separating White-faced and Glossy in Basic plumage. I believe at least one of the birds I saw has the field marks for Glossy and could be more than one but when I photographed the small flock they were moving around quickly as they fed so can't tell if photos are of same bird or not.
I discuss the field marks on my Birds and Nature <http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com>blog (link works, I tested it) including dark and brown eyes in bird in Basic (past juvenal) plumage,bluish/grayish facial skin that does not extend behind the eye (and not pinkish facial skin as found on White-faced), and the shape of the border of the facial skin clearly shown in one of the pics shows the widening of this border between the eye and the bill as seen in breeding birds (per Kaufman, Advanced Birding). Even if you are not so interested in identification, you might want to check out the photos as I was able to enlarge them to very close up views of Plegadis ibis rarely seen in the field. Please note that other than cropping to enlarge the photos, I did not additional editing or tweaking so as not to muddy up the identification process. So as usual I welcome constructive remarks even those that let me know I missed something (as happened with one of the shorebirds I identified this week as a Semipalmated that Christian Nunes spotted that was actually a juvenile Least Sandpiper-can be seen towards bottom of blog page). SeEtta Moss Canon City Personal blog @http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com<http://birdsandnature.blogspot.com/> Blogging for *Birds and Blooms *magazine @Birds and Blooms blog southcentral/ <http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/category/southcentral/> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
