Tweets,

This afternoon near my home in Kirkland, I parked beside a marshy
woodland to watch a Flicker and some Chickadees excavating tree
cavities for nests. As I stood with my back to a roadside ditch, I
heard a shuffling noise behind me and turned just in time to get a
photo of a rail-like bird disappearing into the vines and brambles
alongside a small grassy, muddy stream. The bird turned to look at me
just long enough for me to get a photo. From deeper in the woods, it
let out a few closely-spaced, raspy calls much like a rail.

Here is the photo I managed to get:
http://www.songbirdphoto.com/images/possibleGodwit_20120327_IMG_7031.jpg

Our bird books do not seem to show any similar woodland birds. One
bird that does look quite similar is the Marbled Godwit.

Can anyone look at the photo and confirm the ID? Anybody know if
Marbled Godwits (or whatever this was) are ever spotted around here?
Is this likely a rare sighting of a migrating individual?

Thanks and good birding,

Marc Hoffman
Kirkland, WA
http://www.SongbirdPhoto.com
mailto: tweeters at dartfrogmedia dot com