Hi Tweets,

On Sunday at 10:00am on August 13, 2006, Heather Ballash and I were
kayaking at high tide at Warm Beach and had the very unexpected pleasure of
an encounter with a juvenile Hudsonian Godwit.

The Hudsonian Godwit was preening on a sand island at the mouth of Hat
Slough of the Stillaguamish River and was kind enough to show us its bright
white rump and large black tail band several times over the course of 15
minutes. The overall plumage was a brownish gray with some dark patterning
on the back. In 10 years of kayaking in August while visiting with my
folks at their cabin at Warm Beach, I've only seen one other Godwit, and
that was a Marbled Godwit.

The bird was roosting with a large flock of:
140 Ring-billed Gulls
90 Caspian Terns
120 Black-bellied Plovers - several still in full breeding plumage
150 Western Sandpipers - the majority juveniles, with only about 10% being
adult from the fifty that were close enough
12 Long-billed Dowtichers

When the Hudsonian Godwit flew off with the large flock of Black-bellied
Plovers, it was amazing how the white rump and white wing stripes on the
bird blended right in with the flock.

On a hike in the mudflats later the same day we had an entirely different
group of shorebirds and an amazing smattering of raptors:
12 Least Sandpipers
1 LESSER YELLOWLEGS
6 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Northern Harrier
2 Peregrine Falcons
1 American kestrel
1 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Turkey Vulture
4 Bald Eagles
3 Ospreys

Access by land at high tide is impossible. The closest boat launch is just
south of Stanwood on the Stillaguamish River (Delorme Pg. 95, C6). Follow
the river west and take the main south easternmost branch of Hat Slough
(there is a smaller option that you'll see first at the end of the dike -
continue past that). The best roosting spots in this part of Port Susan
are to the west of the slough. This is shallow water and kayaks certainly
work the best for getting close to the birds without causing them to spook.

Good Birding,

Marcus Roening
Tacoma, WA
marcus.d.roening at gsk.com