The luck of the Ibis

Not being a natural twitcher, I miss most of the important birds.
It takes more than luck, it needs time, dedication, patience and skill. Consequently, the only Ibis I've seen in this Autumn influx has been the one on my T shirt (a bargain at half price in Tesco).

As the ladies were off on a shopping/lunching trip to Rye, however, I thought I'd give ibises at Dungeness another shot, expecting a distant glimpse through someone else's telescope if I was lucky.
Imagine my astonishment, therefore, when one of the five Glossy Ibises flew over me as I walked to the hide, and landed in the small pool beside the path. Such things do not happen to me! I crawled to the opposite bank, hissing to another passing birder who followed me, and we stayed there, blessing our luck.
The throng assembled in the hide were soon alerted, and the bird unsurprisingly decided to high-tail it off to the lake, to less public surroundings.
The sea was rough on the point, one of my favourite places, and, apart from distant gannets and the usual gulls, three disoriented Brent Geese were the only interest when I was there. It didn't spoil my day when I discovered later that little gulls, shearwaters, skuas and terns were seen later on.