Three Hudsonian Godwits made an appearance at the Field 7 pools this morning. I am unsure who found them originally, but they were probably present as early as 9;00AM. The three godwits were a beaten and battered bunch, with one bird having a sizable tumor on his head and another on his leg. A second bird had a bad leg that he could barely walk on, choosing to sit down in the parking lot when he was not feeding. I was originally notified of the birds presence while at West End when a photographer said that he had seen a "Long-billed Dowitcher” with tumors on his body. Having seen that species a few times at Heckscher this Fall I did not rush off. Thankfully, a call from Doug Futuyma alerting me to the godwits presence (thanks Doug!) found me watching the waterfowl at the Field 6 picnic area puddle and a quick drive over to Field 7 produced the three godwits. Field 7 was very active, with cars coming and going frequently. In a short time two of the godwits flew off heading west, while the bird with the bad leg stayed.
Also present were a continuing Lesser Yellowlegs (1, Field 6 picnic area), Long-billed Dowitcher (1), American Golden Plover(2), and a late juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper. I will post a few photos of the godwits later on my flick site. Cheers, Ken Feustel http://www.flickr.com/photos/kfeustel/ -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
