Date: 5/3/24 10:19 pm From: Alex Castelein via groups.io <alex.castelein...> Subject: [sbcobirding] Bank Swallow + Discussion on the Ibis
Hi all,
This evening right as I and the last few people were getting ready to leave, Curtis and I had a Bank Swallow sitting on the wires behind the police station. Kyle Kusa also emailed me photos of two Lesser Nighthawks that he spotted flying over the slough after everyone else had left, which are very good for the south coast in spring. The 2 Cattle Egrets, 2 Wilson's Phalaropes, and 4 Yellow-headed Blackbirds present were all present most of the time I was there.
As for the ibis, I think it's looking good for Glossy, with the very dark eye, dark gray facial skin (with no sign of pink that I could see), and a thin, pale blue border to the facial skin that doesn't wrap behind the eye. However, the pink on the ankles can of course be problematic. There are many precedents of the CBRC accepting very similar birds with comparable amounts of pink on the legs as pure Glossies, but there is also precedent of them rejecting birds that even look slightly better. That is entirely dependent on the current committee members, so we can only speculate what they'll decide during the next voting period (I'm choosing to be cautiously optimistic!). Check out my photos and a longer description on my checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S171812946
It will also be good to continue getting more documentation of this bird in the following days, especially in different lighting, assuming it sticks. I've had up to 5 ibises at this location for the last week or so, so maybe it's already been here for a couple days. I'll be back there tomorrow.
