I have received comments about the poor photos of my reported Hudsonian Godwits. I have multiple highly-qualified sources saying these birds were Marbled Godwits when scrutinizing the photos. My feelings don't jive with this, but the appropriate thing to do is call these birds "godwit sp." as I have limited experience with Hudsonian Godwit, there are certain marks that leave the birds uncertain and I should learn from the experience of others. Thus, I will be dropping the status of my Hudsonian Godwits on the eBird checklist to godwit sp.
To summarize the thoughts of the experts, these birds were: 1. Too large to be Hudsonian Godwits (should generally be the same size as the Willet in the photo). 2. Back pattern on both birds were too speckled instead of more solidly colored like would be on Hudsonian. 3. Molt pattern should be different on a Hudsonian Godwit as it would be in two stages of molt across its body while these birds were more uniform in molt. To summarize my continuing nagging uncertainties: 1. The lighter colored bird had some subtle rufous tones on the slightly striped belly which doesn't jive with Marbled Godwit. 2. I haven't found Marbled Godwits (in-person or in photos) with as contrasting of a facial pattern (plain white supercilium and malar contrasting strongly with the eyestripe) 3. The contrast between the head/neck and the body color was dramatic in person which doesn't match with Marbled Godwit which should be more uniform in tone all over. 4. The darker bird I saw was darker rufous than is shown in the photo, but that can't ever be proven without better documentation. As an aside/unprovable wrinkle, it is interesting to note the wind patterns on Saturday for most of the day should have been pushing eastern birds westward with a nice swath of winds coming up the standard Hudsonian Godwit migration route (OK into KS) then peeling off westward into the Colorado Front Range. Check them out here: https://earth.nullschool.net/#2020/05/03/0000Z/wind/isobaric/850hPa/orthographic=-100.99,37.00,3000/loc=-105.071,40.180 This might also explain the multiple warblers being seen in Jeff Co today (Black-throated Blue, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Wilson's, possible Hooded) as well as the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher yesterday at Standley Lake. Lots of fun to think about. Thanks, Bryan Bryan Guarente Meteorologist/Instructional Designer UCAR/The COMET Program Boulder, CO On Sun, May 3, 2020 at 6:26 AM Bryan Guarente <[email protected]> wrote: > No godwits this morning. Turnover has been good in shorebirds. Keep > checking but as of now, reports are all null. > > Bryan > > On Sat, May 2, 2020 at 8:52 PM Bryan Guarente <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> My wife and I had a chance encounter this evening with two Hudsonian >> Godwits on the NW side of Lagerman Reservoir. Poor photos can be found in >> the eBird checklist below. Light was getting poor and the rains were >> starting to build in, so hopefully the photos can prove something. If the >> photos can't prove anything, here is my description for good measure. >> >> Two godwits actively feeding with Willets. Godwits were larger than the >> willets by a couple of inches (made me wonder about the other godwit >> species which are larger). Strongly bi-colored, slightly upturned beak >> (orange at the base, black halfway down and until tip; upturned beak rules >> out Black-tailed Godwit). Black legs. Male had a strong white supercilium >> and malar area which contrasted greatly with the grey-brown face. >> >> The female of the pair was strongly marked on the back (dark grey-brown >> circles on an off-white background). Female also had strong face pattern >> with white supercilium and malar (ruling our Bar-tailed... but I sure >> tried) that contrasted with the rest of gray/beige face. Female had some >> slightly darker rufous tones to the belly. >> >> Other shorebirds at the reservoir were: >> 32 Long-billed Dowitchers >> 3 Willets (Western) >> 20 American Avocets >> 3 Semi-palmated Sandpipers >> 1 Greater Yellowlegs >> 9 Wilson's Phalaropes >> 4 Killdeer >> >> Full checklist and poor photos below. >> https://ebird.org/checklist/S68290924 >> >> Hopefully they stick around through the night and someone can get better >> photos. You are going to ask me what the winds say about whether this bird >> will stick around... another email might be coming out in a minute about >> that. >> >> Thanks >> Bryan >> >> Bryan Guarente >> Meteorologist/Instructional Designer >> UCAR/The COMET Program >> Boulder, CO >> > -- > Bryan Guarente > Meteorologist/Instructional Designer > UCAR/The COMET Program > Boulder, CO > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAENnWHtv2nok-XrGbmd2PKJH5TTPnTnYa80z7bDVLrEFDXY-aw%40mail.gmail.com.
