[mou] Hudsonian Godwits - Lewiston Lagoons

[Chad Aakre]

All I have to say is "Holy Crap"  Lewiston was chock full  of birds so hold 
on to your knickers.

Hudsonian Godwit - 4 individuals - 2 in breeding plumage
Bairds Sandpiper - 1
Least Sandpiper - 1
Dunlin - 6
Pectoral Sandpiper - 300 plus or minus 50 (wow!!)
Wilson's Snipe - 20 plus or minus 4
Greater Yellowlegs - 16 plus or minus 3
Lesser Yellowlegs - 13 plus or minus 3
Lapland Longspur - hundreds ( some in brilliant breeding plumage)
Northern Shovler
Blue Winged Teal
Green Winged Teal
Lesser Scaup
Pied Billed Grebe
American Coot
Bald Eagle


I arrived at the lagoons about 5:25 and was giddy with delight as there were 
so many shorebirds.  As I scanned the bunch, I noticed the 4 godwits.   I 
studied them extensively and took a lot of good notes.  I was pretty 
convinced they were Hudsonians when the whole bunch of shorebirds took 
flight as a Bald Eagle flew over.   I got the scope on the flying godwits 
and clinched the ID by observing the white rump and white stripe on the 
wing.   The white rump stood out on all 4 birds as they circled 4 times 
before landing.   What a beautiful bird.   I then took the time to take some 
more notes and study the other shorebirds.   After a while a local birder 
named John Weaver stopped by and I showed him the godwits.    At about 6:30, 
John Hockema and Helen Tucker showed up and had nice looks of the godwits 
standing in the water of the ponds.  As John was scoping the other 
shorebirds he pulled out a Baird's Sandpiper from the mix.   I never regret 
stopping at the Lewiston Sewage ponds on my daily commute.

Chad Aakre
Winona County

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