Our yards feed an itinerant white ibis flock, and the birds are now grazing assiduously at the Katz’s next door. Although common in southwest Florida, ibises appear exotic to visitors more familiar with ancient history. They may remember ibis mummies offered to the ibis-headed Thoth, and how each cadaver was sarcophagus-packed before being stacked in a catacomb not far from the grassy Nile marshes where the birds had fed and bred. Although ibises don’t have hallowed status in our HOA, they are state and federally protected, which serves them well in this life. But further south in the Everglades, where status is complex, they are well-known as Chokoloskee Chickens, and are quite tasty, I’m told.