Hello Tweeters,



This afternoon, after today?s Westport pelagic, I spent some time looking at
a group of godwits in the Westport marina. Within the flock of 140 Marbled
Godwits was a single Bar-tailed Godwit. The Bar-tailed was paler overall
than the nearby Marbled Godwits, with a much more prominent supercilium
extending behind the eye, and noticeably shorter legs. We had spotted an
interesting godwit from the boat as we pulled into the harbor, but hadn?t
been able to get good enough looks to confirm its identity. The bird
appears to be a juvenile molting some of its body feathers (notably the back
feathers).



The flock of godwits was on the rocks at the east end of the marina ? the
best vantage point for viewing them is Float 21. This was at 5:00 p.m.
today, about two hours before high tide. I believe this site is primarily a
high-tide roost for the birds, so they might not be there during the middle
of the day tomorrow.



I also stopped at Bottle Beach on my way home. There were 9 Red Knots in
among a flock of 300 Black-bellied Plovers and 150 Dunlin. Other shorebirds
present in small numbers were Short-billed Dowitchers, Western Sandpipers,
and Greater Yellowlegs. I couldn?t pull a Golden-Plover out of the
Black-bellies, no matter how hard I tried.



The pelagic trip was awesome ? excellent diversity, great looks at
Flesh-footed Shearwaters, and more Skuas than I ever imagined seeing in a
single day.



Good birding,

Matt Dufort

Seattle, WA


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