I Miss An Ibis

Today I went to Island Beach, a natural reservation in NJ, with sand dunes and many exotic plants and animals. I packed all of my camera gear and started my journey. 

As I got in the car, I opened my camera bag, took out my new Kindle and started reading my book, "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court" - a great one. Disturbed by the grumbling of the car going on a bridge, I shut off my Kindle, and looked at the car GPS. We were on the long island already! Time flies when you're reading a good book; that's my motto. 

I started jumping in excitement. We entered the parking lot, and I dashed out of the car with my camera. As my feet sink in the sand, I looked up to the beautiful blue sky, and the clear ocean. Next to me landed an awkward looking seagull - one I have never seen before. Google says it's a Laughing Gull. I snapped a cool photo of it. I like the nice matt black around its head. Oh, and don't mind the people in the back.

I found nothing else interesting on the beach, so we next had to go walk on one of the trails. I hopped in the car, and my dad started driving. I looked at the map, and we were almost there. As I got out of the car, I found myself in a little opening in the woods. I was very excited to see new exotic birds. 

Oh, and look, a little beautiful bird stood right in front of me, and I snapped some photos. This spectacular bird has yellow on its belly, and its tail is all red. It's called a Brown Crested Flycatcher.

Millions of chirps were all around me, but the birds were nowhere to be seen. Tip: always stay very quiet, as not to disturb the nature, and then you will see the animals. I walked very slowly, and on a tree flew a spectacular yellow bird. She is truly a beautiful sight to see. It is called a Wilson Warbler.


I reached the end of the trail, disappointed I could not see anything really awesome. I looked on the map one more time, and saw another trail. I told my dad to drive the car there, for we might see something new. I always want to go on trails that have bird watching areas (blinds), so I can observe birds quietly. 

I walked some distance, and far out on the tree I saw the mighty Osprey, scanning the perimeter for some food. Right when I started shooting, the Osprey left the nest. I got this extraordinary picture with it in flight, and its talons are exposed. 

 As I walked near the trail, my dad signaled me to go sit next to the cactuses. The cool thing about Island Beach is that the weather changes completely. I mean, can you believe it, CACTUSES IN NJ? 

In another 50 or so feet of walking, I came to this open place, with a swamp next to me. My dad pointed to the ground, and there, very camouflaged, stood a weird frog. I changed my lenses to the wide angle 24mm one. I snapped many photos of it, and after reviewing them, the frog looked like a mutant Turkey Vulture (VERY, VERY, UGLY!!). Actually, not even Google could identify it. I think I might have found a new species!


I looked up to the sky and saw a huge bird flying. But not just any bird. It had a huge beak and pointing downwards. My jaw dropped and I quickly chased it. It landed in a field. I could not believe my eyes. I snapped lots of photos, and I must say, this bird is nice. Out of fifty photos, only one was in focus. According to Google, this bird is called the Ibis. 

The bird watching blind was on my left. But when I got there, a door was in the way. To stay away from Covid-19, we did not go inside the blind. This got me pretty upset, but the door made sense. You don't want animals visiting you in the blind. That was all, and we started towards the car. I finally got home, and uploaded/edited my photos. This was another amazing day, and hopefully not the last. Oh, and for the Ibis, I already miss him!