White-face Ibis

We went out to check and see if we could gold mine but the dirt was still too moist.  As we were driving back past the fields of lettuce we spotted a flock of birds.  They were gathered down in a canal that holds water for crop irrigation.  At first we thought they were the long billed curlews that like to hang out down here in the winter but the bills aren't long enough or curved enough on these birds.  We realized we were seeing a flock of Ibis.  These are white-face Ibis although they don't show the little bit of white on their face unless its breeding season.  They were taking advantage of any water they could find.  It was fun watching them stab their long bills into the water and down into the mud.  I didn't see what they were catching and eating if anything. 

When we were working at the Imperial Wildlife Refuge the biologist had said he saw some of these birds hanging out around the refuge in the backwaters of the Colorado River.  During the two winters we spent at the refuge we never saw any of these birds so it was kind of nice to finally see them and it was a real treat to see a whole flock.