White Ibis - Yacht Basin Road, Bolivar Peninsula (TX)
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens + 1.4x teleconverter
1/2000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 250
Five White Ibis standing on a log that I believe was carried to this location by the surge of a hurricane several years ago. The log has been in this location for as long as I have been coming to Bolivar. Three overlapping photos were stitched together in Lightroom to produce this image. Yacht Basin Road crosses coastal marsh for about a mile and dead-ends at the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. Shorebirds can be seen feeding in the pools on both sides of the road. Whimbrels, White Ibis, Long-billed Curlews, Great Blue Herons, other wading birds, are often seen here. Audubon literature indicates that Clapper Rails, Willets, and Seaside Sparrows breed in the cordgrass marsh bordering the road.
This area is definitely one of my happy places. Would any birder not be happy to spend some time here?