White-faced Ibis in a frozen marsh – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
When the clouds cleared out yesterday morning there were birds to be found and today I am focusing my daily post on the White-faced Ibis that overwinter in the marshes of Farmington Bay WMA that I photographed there yesterday.
I don’t see the ibis every time I go to Farmington Bay during the winter so when I do it is a treat, yesterday morning I saw over a dozen of them that were within range of being photographed from the shoulder of the road. The light was beautiful and it showed because the iridescent plumage of the White-faced Ibis positively glowed.
Overwintering White-faced Ibis in flight – Nikon D500, f8, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
There was a noisy air boat nearby that caused some of the ibis to take flight and I took advantage of that by photographing the ibis as they flew by. This ibis flew past with the sky in the background…
White-faced Ibis in flight over a frozen marsh – Nikon D500, f8, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
And then dropped down so I had the frozen marsh in the frame behind the ibis. There is still some snow on the ground from the last storm and that contrasted with the dried vegetation nicely.
White-faced Ibis landing in icy water – Nikon D500, f8, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
This may or may not be the same bird that is in the two photos above, I’m not 100% certain. The White-faced Ibis was using its wings to slow itself down before its toes touched the water. I really like how this image shows the marshy habitat as well as the ibis landing because it gives a sense of “place”.
Two overwintering White-faced Ibis at Farmington Bay – Nikon D500, f11, 1/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
By the time I had taken this image the noisy air boat had flushed most of the White-faced Ibises but that allowed me to take this photo of a pair of them where it shows they were both standing on one leg close together without other out of focus birds nearby. One of the ibis looked on as the other preened.
I mentioned in a recent post that Great Blue Herons that stay here in northern Utah are tough birds and they truly are because they can withstand our bitter cold winter temps and I wanted to mention that these overwintering ibis are pretty tough too. Most of the White-faced Ibis that breed here in the summer left for warmer climates long ago.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my White-faced Ibis photos plus facts and information about this species.
Another wonderful series of shots. Although I gotta admit I did a double-take on pic # 4 before I realized there were actually two Ibis standing together; then I read your caption which explains everything. I must be getting old. Thanks Mia.
Thank you.
I also say Wow. The white-faced ibis is a very pretty bird. Thank you for taking pictures of them. I live in an area where I never see different type of water birds. So this is a real treat to see them on your blog. Every thing you see maybe common to you, but a real treat to me.
Wow, beautiful bird.
Mia the light and everything are perfect and very beautiful! I would be excited to get such photos too!