marbled godwit

A nice mix: Willet, Marbled godwit, Black-necked stilt ... sharing the shallows peacefully.

Marbled godwit taking a wary nap right up against the fence along the path by one of the wetland lakes at Crissy Field. Crissy Field, btw, was San Francisco's first airport, back in the early days of aviation. The wetlands were drained and the dunes leveled to make an air strip. Now some of the...

This Marbled Godwit was taking a very nice nap when I unfortunately interrupted it. Of course, after a nap, you always need a good stretch.

Like the Long-billed Curlew, these waders have extreeeeeemly long bills. I saw some again yesterday - a flock of them foraging the mudflats under the incoming tide at Bodega Bay. They were pulling up some sort of worms. I guess that's what those looong bills are designed for - drilling down to...

This was a new bird for me the year before in the same spot. Bunch Beach, Lee County, Florida.

Early morning at the lagoon, Tigertail Beach, Marco Island Florida. Fantastic light and a host of confiding waders. This Marbled Godwit got spooked by a Great White Egret landing close by and went into takeoff mode a few yards from me.

This nonbreeding bird was a first time sighting and capture, and on the day of the 5 plovers.

Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa subsp. fedoa) Sexes similar. Photographed near Jamaica Beach, Galveston Island, Galveston County, Texas, USA. Barrier Island, manicured coastal prairie at ca. 2 m (6.6 ft) elevation.

Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa subsp. fedoa) Sexes similar. Photographed in Jamaica Beach, Galveston Island, Galveston County, Texas, USA. Barrier Island, manicured coastal prairie at ca. 3 m (10.7 ft) elevation.

The muses of tragedy and comedy. And I admit, I had to look up their names. These are just a small sample of the many beak forms in the mixed crowd of waders. That always fascinates me with waders - how they mix and get along, probably because they are so specialized and therefore not competing...

Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) stretching its wings along the Washington Coast (USA) during spring migration.

This is a rarity in Nova Scotia, only being seen in the single digits each year. It was a lifer for me.

A regular rarity that spent about 2 weeks feeding in the mud of Wolfville Harbor, NS, Canada in Sept.

One of several Marbled Godwits foraging along the high-water mark of an ocean beach with a big surf running, right on the border with Mexico

These Marbled Godwits were feeding along the shore going in and out with the waves in unison. Fun to watch!

Taken north of Lancaster.

digiscoped at Honeymoon Island in March

Not sure how this one will post - I had to re-size it dramatically...

Today's bird from my San Francisco Bay Trail stroll last Friday: the Marbled godwit. Lovely shades of reddish and golden brown. Odd that the red on the beak wasn't mentioned in my Peterson's guide. The godwits were the most numerous of the flock and occupied the middle ground, willets on average...