You don’t see many glossy ibis in the Tampa Bay area. For years the only place I saw them was at Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland but in recent years I’ve seen a few on this side of the state. Lettuce Lake Park in north Tampa was another place I would see them. Recently there has been one hanging out at the nearby Possum Branch Preserve but it’s hit or miss to see it there. Last year I saw one at the bird rookery in north Tampa but I didn’t see any babies. This year there were several adults there and on my last visit in late May I saw babies.
They nest on the back side of the rookery so there’s no way to see the babies until they are juveniles and moving around on the rookery. There were 2 families there with the parents feeding them all over the rookery. They would fly off to get food and the juveniles would travel all over the bushes. The parents always seemed to find their own babies when they got back.
One of the juveniles was old enough to fly down into the pond and get some water. He didn’t have the deep burgandy color on his face but his green feathers on his wings were beautiful.
They were patiently waiting for Mom to come back with food. Some were practicing their wing flaps and hopping.
Deep in the bushes I could just barely see a much younger set of twins.
I’m hoping next year we’ll see even more of these beautiful birds at the rookery.
I agree, we also have not seen many Glossy Ibis in the Bay area, and no nesting areas yet. We moved to St. Pete from SE Florida in October, after 50+ years in Fort Lauderdale, and receive and love your postings We saw large flocks, but not many nests or young birds or hatchlings, at Wakodahatchee and Green Cay Preserves in Delray Beach. Check them out next fall or winter. They were almost as common as White Ibis and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and Herons and Egrets there. We did see some adults at Myakka this past breeding season, but not many, and no immature birds, ever, that we can recall nor would recognize until now from your posting.