Dear birders,
I was at Lake Byllesby this morning from 6:45 AM to about 11:15 AM this morning
and had a great time. There was a lone godwit way out on the mudflats that was
backlit when I arrived. A flock of Willets eventually came and joined this bird
and I was able to observe it for a long period of time with the aid of other
birders scopes (thank you everyone). There was a General consensus going on
with our group that the bird was a Hudsonian's Godwit since this is the species
that was seen with the Willets the day before. Some of the characteristics of
this bird also pointed to this ID. It was about the same size as the Willets,
appeared to have a cinnamon colored belly and also a bi-colored bill. I was
very exited because this would be a "lifer" for me. After careful observation
and some time later I was finally able to definitively determine that this bird
was actually a Marbled Godwit (once the bird was in good light it was obvious).
This reminds me of the instance in the book "Kingbird Highway" when everyone
was traveling to Massachusetts to see a Spotted Redshank and eventually one
birder determined that it was a Greater Yellowlegs that had actually gotten
into some oil. Obviously today we just couldn't see the bird well enough to get
a positive identification. It does go to show you that with birding it is best
always to be sure. Just think of the tragedy if this bird would have gone on my
life list:)
Other good sightings from the lake:
Wilsons Phalarope- 2 males and a female
Long-billed Dowitcher- Great close views and also heard it go into flight with
its different call from the Short-billed Dowitcher (Warren Wegner let me listen
to his CD to clinch ID).
Osprey
Sora- Foraging in the open very early.
Franklins Gulls
Palm Warblers
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Good Birding and send good thoughts to those poor sea birds on the Gulf Coast,
Jason Caddy
South Minneapolis, MN
_________________________________________________________________
The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with
Hotmail.
http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?tile=multicalendar&ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_5
----
Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net
Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
