I haven't seen this mentioned on the listserve yet (maybe I'm not getting the posts? received nothing in the last few hours), but there were seven Plegadis ibises at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge today, Friday, May 18. Presumably the flock incorporated the three White-faced Ibises that had been at Metzger Marsh on the two previous days. I didn't get over to see the birds, but some good observers felt that the flock contained at least four White-faced and two Glossy ibises.

Ottawa NWR is in Ottawa and Lucas counties in northwestern Ohio. The ibis flock was first reported this morning by Tom Kemp and Elliot Tramer, and seen by a number of people thereafter; the flock flew away in the direction of Metzger Marsh early in the afternoon, but was back at Ottawa by evening. The specific location was on unit MS 8b (see the birding map at http://www.bsbobird.org/birding/pdf/OttawaNWRMap-AutoTour.pdf ). The auto tour at Ottawa NWR is supposed to be open this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, from 8 to 4; note that with the new configuration, with the auto tour starting at the visitors' center, the route misses most of MS 8b. To scan that impoundment, you're better off going to the parking lot marked "east parking for trails" and walking west. Of course, the birds could have relocated to somewhere else on the refuge, so if they're not at Metzger and not on MS 8b, it would be worthwhile to take the auto tour route to look for them.

Glossy Ibis is rare in Ohio, and until recently White-faced Ibis was considered accidental here. Recent years have seen an increasing number of records of the latter species, and we have had small mixed flocks of White-faced and Glossy at Ottawa NWR and nearby areas before.

Kenn Kaufman
Editor, Kaufman Field Guides series
http://www.kaufmanfieldguides.com/
Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KaufmanFieldGuides
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/KaufmanGuides



______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]