[mou] Marbled Godwit satellite tracking

[Robert_Russell at fws.gov]

Minnesota birders might be interested in the satellite tracking project
which banded 5 Marbled Godwits on a southern James Bay Ontario island and
their current status.  Surmising that the estimated total of about 2000
birds nesting in James Bay matched the estimated 2000 birds wintering on
the SE USA coast, Adrian Farmer of USGS, Ft. Collins, CO and Bridgette
Olson of Bear River NWR, UT captured birds this summer and found that all
of them headed SW across Minnesota (a rare fall migrant here) towards
probable wintering grounds in Mexico.  Check out the web
at:http://www.fort.usgs.gov/Resources/GoGodwits/GodwitMap.asp?GodwitID and
check out the first 5 numbered birds.  This now begs the question where do
those SE coastal birds come from and this winter they will try to capture
Georgia birds to see where their breeding grounds are.  Based on the
movements of other shorebirds from the eastern Great Plains I'd guess that
maybe Minnesota and eastern Dakota birds are involved but obviously these
birds are out to surprise us.  Exciting stuff!  Bob Russell, USFWS

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