On arriving to help out at Reifel this afternoon there was not a large crowd of visitors, but that is normal for this time of year. The highlight from yesterday was some Marbled Godwits that had shown up and that I was hoping would return today.
Initially I walked the inner trails waiting until later in the afternoon to check the outside when the tide would start to come in and push the shorebirds into the ponds. When I did eventually head out to the west field, there was not much going on. It was not until closer to 4 pm that things finally started to happen.
Eight Marbled Godwit flew in together.
Seeing one or two is usually a treat, but eight at one time is pretty uncommon around here.
There was also a Wilson’s Phalarope among the birds showing up.
At first it was resting in a clump of grass,
… but eventually got up and started foraging for food.
In addition to the Godwits and Phalarope there were also Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher, Short-billed Dowitcher, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper and Western Sandpiper. A pretty good variety for this time of year.
