The Glossy Ibis
Off in the distance, in protected wetlands, I could see a dark shape — I imagined it to be a heron, or some other larger bird common to the area. I snapped a few photos of it, knowing it was too far off for any good shots, but still curious as to what it was.
Imagine my surprise when I got home and put the photos on the computer! What fabulous colors! What an exotically curved beak! I felt sure that it was related to an ibis somehow, as I had, of course, seen ibises before in aviaries and the like. But I had never seen one with those colors.
To the bird book, then, a handy dandy field guide that, while perhaps not the most clear when describing different species of cardinals, still had a picture of a glossy ibis, resembling this mystery bird.
Of course, it turns out, that this species is not rare (and is in fact, according to Wikipedia is “the most widespread ibis species” in the world). And it turns out that this particular bird, or its brethren, had been spotted in several places on Long Island and reported to LI Birding. But it was a treat for me, never having seen it before, and I will be keeping my eyes out in the future (although I think, but cannot find anything to verify this, that it might be a migratory species, just stopping by on its way north).
Another view or two
The Glossy Ibis
27 April 2009
Village of Westhampton Beach, NY
Not to change the subject but….
I noticed under your “My Gear” that you listed a Panasonic Lumix camera. Which model do you have?
Last week I just upgraded from the Panasonic Lumix FZ7 to the newer Panasonic Lumix FZ28. I think those are among the best P&S cameras out there personaly.
Alan G
May 14, 2009 at 7:39 am
Ah, let’s see, I had to go back to the Amazon order history to figure this out… Panasonic Lumix LS70S, purchased in June of 2007. I originally purchased for size and price, because I was looking for a camera that I could bring to an amusement park and take on rides and things without worrying if it would break, I would lose it, etc.
I do love how it handles shady conditions, though. I have not found another p&s camera that meters so well for the price I paid.
How are you enjoying the FZ28? It reminds me of my old Kodak Z7590 (with better specs, of course, as this camera is the one that initially got me started in photography and is 4+ years old now).
Al F.
May 14, 2009 at 10:28 pm
I really like this series. My old one was 6 megapixel while my new one is 10 megapixel. The built-in zoom feature is pretty nice with the new one having an 18x zoom feature. If you decrease the photo size to 6 megapixel it will give you a 24x zoom which approaches 800mm. Even though it has image stabilization, a tripod is still necessary for photos utilizing full zoom.
I’m not big into movies but both take excellent movies. The new one allows you to take HD (1280 x 720) down to the small (320 x 240).
If you remember the two photos on my blog I had of the Brown Thrasher, they were taken with my old Lumix FZ7 at full zoom which was 12x for that camera. I would guess he was about 35′ – 40′ away.
Alan G
May 15, 2009 at 8:00 am