Hudsonian Godwits (2) at Lagerman Reservoir; Boulder County

[Bryan Guarente]

My wife and I had a chance encounter this evening with two Hudsonian Godwits on the NW side of Lagerman Reservoir.  Poor photos can be found in the eBird checklist below.  Light was getting poor and the rains were starting to build in, so hopefully the photos can prove something.  If the photos can't prove anything, here is my description for good measure.

Two godwits actively feeding with Willets.  Godwits were larger than the willets by a couple of inches (made me wonder about the other godwit species which are larger).  Strongly bi-colored, slightly upturned beak (orange at the base, black halfway down and until tip; upturned beak rules out Black-tailed Godwit).  Black legs.  Male had a strong white supercilium and malar area which contrasted greatly with the grey-brown face.  

The female of the pair was strongly marked on the back (dark grey-brown circles on an off-white background).  Female also had strong face pattern with white supercilium and malar (ruling our Bar-tailed... but I sure tried) that contrasted with the rest of gray/beige face.  Female had some slightly darker rufous tones to the belly.  

Other shorebirds at the reservoir were:

32 Long-billed Dowitchers

3 Willets (Western)

20 American Avocets

3 Semi-palmated Sandpipers

1 Greater Yellowlegs

9 Wilson's Phalaropes

4 Killdeer

Full checklist and poor photos below.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S68290924

Hopefully they stick around through the night and someone can get better photos.  You are going to ask me what the winds say about whether this bird will stick around... another email might be coming out in a minute about that.

Thanks

Bryan

Bryan Guarente

Meteorologist/Instructional Designer

UCAR/The COMET Program

Boulder, CO

[Bryan Guarente]

No godwits this morning.  Turnover has been good in shorebirds. Keep checking but as of now, reports are all null. 

Bryan

--

[Bryan Guarente]

I have received comments about the poor photos of my reported Hudsonian Godwits.  I have multiple highly-qualified sources saying these birds were Marbled Godwits when scrutinizing the photos.  My feelings don't jive with this, but the appropriate thing to do is call these birds "godwit sp." as I have limited experience with Hudsonian Godwit, there are certain marks that leave the birds uncertain and I should learn from the experience of others.  Thus, I will be dropping the status of my Hudsonian Godwits on the eBird checklist to godwit sp.

To summarize the thoughts of the experts, these birds were:

1. Too large to be Hudsonian Godwits (should generally be the same size as the Willet in the photo).
2. Back pattern on both birds were too speckled instead of more solidly colored like would be on Hudsonian.
3. Molt pattern should be different on a Hudsonian Godwit as it would be in two stages of molt across its body while these birds were more uniform in molt.

To summarize my continuing nagging uncertainties:

1. The lighter colored bird had some subtle rufous tones on the slightly striped belly which doesn't jive with Marbled Godwit.
2. I haven't found Marbled Godwits (in-person or in photos) with as contrasting of a facial pattern (plain white supercilium and malar contrasting strongly with the eyestripe)
3. The contrast between the head/neck and the body color was dramatic in person which doesn't match with Marbled Godwit which should be more uniform in tone all over.
4. The darker bird I saw was darker rufous than is shown in the photo, but that can't ever be proven without better documentation.

As an aside/unprovable wrinkle, it is interesting to note the wind patterns on Saturday for most of the day should have been pushing eastern birds westward with a nice swath of winds coming up the standard Hudsonian Godwit migration route (OK into KS) then peeling off westward into the Colorado Front Range.  Check them out here:

https://earth.nullschool.net/#2020/05/03/0000Z/wind/isobaric/850hPa/orthographic=-100.99,37.00,3000/loc=-105.071,40.180

This might also explain the multiple warblers being seen in Jeff Co today (Black-throated Blue, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Wilson's, possible Hooded) as well as the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher yesterday at Standley Lake.  Lots of fun to think about.

Thanks,

Bryan

Bryan Guarente

Meteorologist/Instructional Designer

UCAR/The COMET Program

Boulder, CO

[Derek Hill]

I don't see why the photos aren't Hudsonian... Typical of Hudsonian, the birds are quite different in plumage, a feature more pronounced in Huds while MAGO are more uniform between birds in a group. The contrasting dark underparts and paler head, esp on the right bird, typical of Hud. The upperparts don't look particularly pale and spangled IMHO in this photo.  Size can be tough to judge from a single photo, but even in this photo, these birds look roughly the same size as the Willet... if you imagine the Willet were turned sideways in profile view and with its head up, its not any smaller than the godwits. Also I don't see how one can accurately assess molt pattern from this one poor resolution photo. Overall the color and jizz look OK for Hudsonian. Spent years in a region where Hudsonian was the much more numerous and expected species, and I just get the Hudsonian vibe from this pic, though looking on a small low quality monitor right now. Did anyone else see the birds in person?

Derek Hill

Fort Collins

RE:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S68290924

[Derek Hill]

Just realized there is a second photo on the ebird page, and while it shows a different perspective, it's still not great. The willet looks like a pale gray bird with a much darker head and neck, which must either be an artifact of my monitor or the exposure, just going to show how misleading a photo can be.

Derek Hill