Tweeters,

Yesterday evening, while birding Crockett Lake (near the Keystone ferry
terminal on Whidbey Island), I found two godwits along the south shore of
the lake, just west of the double line of pilings that runs across the lake.
One godwit was large with cinnamon tones on the underparts and in the wings
when it flew briefly, and was definitely a MARBLED GODWIT. However, the
second godwit appeared slightly but distinctly smaller, without the cinnamon
tones, and a bit darker on the breast.

The lighting was poor (looking against the light, getting close to sunset
with an overcast sky), but I believe the second bird may have been a female
BAR-TAILED or HUDSONIAN GODWIT. (It definitely was not an adult male of
either of these species, both of which are colored deep reddish-brown or
chestnut on the underparts.) It's also possible that it was a second MARBLED
GODWIT, but the size difference was distinct enough that I think it was more
likely one of the smaller species. For the record, there was a recent
HUDSONIAN GODWIT sighting on Vancouver Island, so this is not as outlandish
as it sounds.

I hope that the two birds will still be at Crockett Lake tomorrow, and that
someone will have a chance to check them out. As you can imagine, I was
bummed at not being able to put a positive I.D. on the second godwit, but
even the MARBLED GODWIT was new for my Island County list (which I have been
gradually working on since 1964).

The only other shorebirds at Crockett Lake that I could see were 3
WHIMBRELS, which flew a couple of times while I was there and ended up near
but not with the godwits; one BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER; one KILLDEER; and 25
peeps which were too far away to I.D., but were probably WESTERN SANDPIPERS.

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net