Twitching a Godwit, Shrike, and two Phalaropes!

Saturday 23 December 2023 49 °F

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4:

Still catching up on posting from an absolutely terrifically busy fall of music engagements. Saturdays used to be my weekly day out but I barely managed to keep to this tradition this semester. Thankfully, November 4 provided a window of opportunity to chase a few birds and my friend Jonathan Mott took me up on my proposal to try to find a few of these rarities.

The rarities: Hudsonian Godwit, Northern Shrike, Red Phalarope, and Red-necked Phalarope.

At our first location, the HUDSONIAN GODWIT turned out to be a drive-up bird, showing beautifully right out on the mudflats! So cool!

This BONAPARTE’S GULL was also mixed in with the larger more common species:

MUTE SWANS:

BUFFLEHEAD:

DUNLIN were also nice:

Our next stop was for general seawatching and we had RED-BREASTED MERGANSER:

And the Mute’s rarer relative, a migrant TUNDRA SWAN, another year bird for me! Very cool!

RED-THROATED LOONS:

And a distant COMMON LOON shown here with a HERRING GULL and another Tundra Swan:

Flyover GREATER SCAUP:

And more Dunlin:

And flyby LONG-TAILED DUCKS were nice:

Our next target bird, the NORTHERN SHRIKE, also turned out to be a drive-up bird seen from the parking lot! Super cool!

Unfortunately, we dipped on both Phalarope species which was a bummer because the Red would have been a lifer for Jonathan and a Northern Hemispheric lifer for me, but we had a few small consolation prizes. This SNOW BUNTING was spotted perching on the opposite pier across a wide channel: