Marbled Godwit

For the last week or so, Erika and I looked for a small flock of Marbled Godwits reported on eBird at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. We did not list it until 25 October, and we almost missed it then, too. The bird slept at high tide on a distant island behind a flock of gulls. Not the best of looks and, in fact, we would have never seen the bird had not it been pointed out by other birders. I was surprised by the difficultly of adding this species to my Thurston County bird list. I have seen this godwit along Washington’s Pacific Coast in August 2002. There the bird is common. To my surprise, Marbled Godwits are rare in Puget Sound. Thus the Marbled Godwit was added to my county list, but hardly with a satisfying observation. The bird’s long, upturned bill was tucked under its wing coverts. As you can see in the photo below, taken near La Jolla, California, in 2012, Marbled Godwits are spectacular shorebirds.