Glossy Ibis in Flight

NOTE: This post is publishing while I am away in Bequia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where the X-T5 is getting its first proper outing. Posts this week were scheduled in advance. My arms were done. We’d spent the better part of the morning watching ospreys fight over the salt marsh at the Ocean City Welcome Centre, and hauling the long lens up and tracking birds in flight had caught up with me. I was ready to call it. Bhavna and I were picking our way back towards the car park when she looked up and said, “Oh look, the black ones.” I looked up too. Five glossy ibis, maybe six, moving against a pale blue sky with that slow, purposeful wingbeat that’s nothing like a heron and nothing like a cormorant — something in between, something distinctly their own. They were heading inland, probably back to the rookery to roost. I’d seen them here last year. Somehow, between then and now, I’d forgotten to factor them into the day. It wasn’t until Bhavna said something that I noticed what had been missing from the experience. The ibis were always part of this place. I just hadn’t been paying attention. I grabbed the Fuji X-T3 and fired off a few frames before they passed out of range. I was grateful for the fast shutter speed and OIS. Tired arms make for shaky shots, and there was no time to brace against anything. Glossy Ibis · Saturday 11 April 2026FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 320 · 1/1000 secXF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 351.8 mm · f/8.0 Looking at the images afterwards, the rust and dark iridescent plumage is striking in a way I hadn’t fully registered in the moment. You’re too busy tracking, adjusting, hoping the autofocus holds. The stillness comes later, when you’re back at the screen.