I had a good trip up to Montezuma yesterday, and got to see the Hudsonian Godwit for a couple of minutes at about noon before it took off flying to the north.
The bird was at the beginning of Eaton Marsh on Wildlife Drive, and I took a few photos of it before it flew. Because this is only my second Hudsonian Godwit ever, I was feeling rather insecure about the ID; I realize how much more fun it is to have Ken (my husband and usual birding partner) along for joint confirmation and celebration of new birds. Alas, he is out of town and missed this bird. The long, upturned, bicolored bill of the godwit was very distinctive, and when the bird flew it had a striking white stripe across the tail. It looked to be a Juvenile Hudsonian Godwit, when I compare to Sibley's illustrations. I later shared the photo with Jay who confirmed the ID, making me feel much more confident about posting about it here. I included two photos of the godwit with my ebird list for Wildlife Drive yesterday. I had stopped earlier at East Road to look out on Knox-Marcellus after receiving Jay's RBA about a Hudsonian Godwit there. But the few shorebirds were so distant from that vantage point, that I headed over to Wildlife Drive. However, Gary K stayed at East Rd and texted that he had found the Hudsonian Godwit at Knox-Marcellus-- about 20 minutes before I came upon the one at Wildlife Drive. Two birds? There were Black-bellied Plovers both at the visitor's center and at Eaton Marsh. I was also pleased to see a greater variety of ducks along Wildlife Drive. Where we had seen only Wood Ducks on the left side of the drive last week, yesterday there were Gadwall, American Wigeon and one Pintail. On my way up to Montezuma, I stopped at Myers Point. There the most surprising bird was a female RING-NECKED PHEASANT, on the gravel shore with the Gulls! This was on the curved portion of the shore. The pheasant saw me moving for my camera and ducked out of sight. A few minutes later I went near the flagpole for a different angle on the cove area, but I did not see the pheasant again. It was a good day to be out birding! Diane Morton -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
