Thirteen birders was a lucky number this evening, as the juvenile White Ibis came into the egret roost site between 6:45 and 7:00 p.m. Through Jim Pawlicki, I learned that the Ibis was also seen feeding earlier today (a first, apparently), on the east side of Wood Marsh. I am not sure but I think that before Jim and Dave saw the bird yesterday, only one person had seen it (Mark Pearce). He got a photo which confirmed the ID, then the word was sent out to David Suggs, the Buffalo RBA operator/transcriber, who in turn put out an alert to BOS members via their one-call-now phone hotline. This is the second record for Kingbird Region 1. The first was about 20 years ago in southern Erie County.
DIRECTIONS: The egret roost can be accessed by heading south on Griswold Rd from Rt 77. Griswold Rd changes names and becomes Ditch Rd. Turn left (east) onto Owen/Bartel Rd. from Ditch Rd., proceed about 3/4 mile and then park on the north side of the road, between and opposite the two firing ranges (closer to the second one). From there walk the dike separating "Wood Marsh East" and "Hunt Club Marsh" straight north (a narrow path goes through the cattails by the road) about 3/4 mile to the first dike-intersection and then continue east (right) about 1/4 mile--the actual roost location is on the south side of the dike (the dike is actually named Wagoner Rd. on Google Maps) just before the heron rookery, and should be obvious with the egrets. One could also park on Meadville Rd and walk west along the "Wagoner Road" dike, being sure to walk on the south side of the ditch. This is the same dike that birders walk for the Prothonotary Warblers in summer. The distance is roughly the same either way. Timing-wise, anywhere from 6-7 pm should be best, as most of the Egrets fly in sometime after 6:30 but some start earlier. Good birding! Willie ---------- Willie D'Anna Betsy Potter Wilson, NY dannapotterATroadrunner.com http://www.betsypottersart.com -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
