After the Saturday pelagic trip many of us on the boat drove to Tokeland in
pursuit of the Hudsonian Godwit and the White-winged Dove. I looked for the
dove for a few minutes then went out to the end of the dock at the marina to
check out the godwits. Many other people joined me within a few minutes.
The HUGO was quite easily picked out from among the 300 or so Marbled
Godwits. Its smaller size and grayer plumage made it easy to separate from
the MAGOs. It was much more difficult telling that it was the HUGO instead
of a Bar-tailed Godwit as the bird was resting with its bill tucked away
most of the time we were looking at it. Bill Tweit explained why he felt it
was the HUGO instead of the BTGO which we all believed.

We all left the marina and searched for the White-winged Dove but were
unable to find it. At about 5:00 I returned to the marina with Bob Schmidt
and his friend Peter to look at the godwits again. A Northern Harrier
swooped over the breakwater and all of the godwits took off in flight. I
was lucky to have been looking at the HUGO when the flock took off and was
able to follow it for the entire time it was in flight before they all
landed again on the rocks.

The dark underwing, the wide black band on the tail, the smaller size and
much grayer overall plumage all stood out very well when seen in flight. I
had seen the flock in flight when I first got to the marina but I could not
pick out the HUGO. There were just too many birds in the flock. Since I
was focused on the HUGO the second time I saw the flock take off, I was able
to follow it and note comparisons easily.

Two theories have been suggested about how long the bird will stay in
Tokeland. One is that since it has stayed this long and has found life to be
good, it might stay all winter with the flock of its cousins. The other
theory is that it realizes something is wrong, will leave any day now and
die out over the Pacific Ocean somewhere.

If you haven't already seen it, I would suggest you pay it a visit as soon
as possible. Theory number two just might be right. If theory number one
is correct, you can see it again later as it starts to molt into its
breeding plumage.

Denny Granstrand
Yakima, WA

Denny Granstrand