Thank you, St. Veronica! - 04 May 2009
After working in the yard today, I decided to see if the White-faced Ibis was still down at Lake Erie Metropark. Grabbing the scope I headed south to the metropark and headed toward the picnic areas and Fisherman's Cove. A first pass failed to produce a bird, but upon turning around I spotted the ibis feeding among a group of Canada Geese at the northernmost parking lot.
I slowly approached the the birds and began to digiscope from behind a tree approximately 30 meters away. With the birds south of my location I had to wait for the White-faced Ibis to turn its head so that the setting sun would illuminate its face. I would then be able to show the distinctive red eyes and facials skin. Several dozen images and several videos later I then moved so that I was between the sun and the bird. But after only a couple of images the bird flushed to the south. I followed it to the south end of the park where it fed next to the southernmost parking lot. An older couple let me use their car as a blind so that I could get some closeup digiscoped images. Unfortunately, the Coolpix P5100 ran out of memory.
No problem, I simply popped out the old card and tucked it in my pocket and grabbed a fresh one. The bird flushed again, this time by passing joggers. But I was lucky enough to grab a few flight shots as it passed nearby.
Heading back to the car I reached into my pockets and pulled out the keys. A quick stop at Panera and I was heading home. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way I lost the memory card with all my images and videos on it. Ever so slight panic slipped in as rummaged through pockets, jackets and car seats looking for it. No dice. Rats. St. Veronica, please help!
At 8pm I decided to drive back to Panera just on the outside chance that I might've dropped it in the parking lot. No luck there, but when I went inside and inquired, "did anyone find a memory card by chance?", the manager smiled and handed it to me. Unbelievable.
I raced home and popped the card into the computer - there they were. What a relief, and some of the images even came out sharp. Prayers do get answered!
Lake Erie Metropark, Wayne, Michigan, US
May 4, 2009 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments: Continuing bird
2 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 6
White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi) 1 juvenile/non-breeding; white skin patch circling red eye; pink skin on face.
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S4
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
May 4, 2009 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments: Continuing bird
2 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 6
White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi) 1 juvenile/non-breeding; white skin patch circling red eye; pink skin on face.
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S4
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
