[cobirds] Hudsonian Godwits (2) at Lagerman Reservoir; Boulder County

My wife and I had a chance encounter this evening with two Hudsonian Godwits on the NW side of Lagerman Reservoir.  Poor photos can be found in the eBird checklist below.  Light was getting poor and the rains were starting to build in, so hopefully the photos can prove something.  If the photos can't prove anything, here is my description for good measure.

Two godwits actively feeding with Willets.  Godwits were larger than the willets by a couple of inches (made me wonder about the other godwit species which are larger).  Strongly bi-colored, slightly upturned beak (orange at the base, black halfway down and until tip; upturned beak rules out Black-tailed Godwit).  Black legs.  Male had a strong white supercilium and malar area which contrasted greatly with the grey-brown face.  

The female of the pair was strongly marked on the back (dark grey-brown circles on an off-white background).  Female also had strong face pattern with white supercilium and malar (ruling our Bar-tailed... but I sure tried) that contrasted with the rest of gray/beige face.  Female had some slightly darker rufous tones to the belly.  

Other shorebirds at the reservoir were:

32 Long-billed Dowitchers

3 Willets (Western)

20 American Avocets

3 Semi-palmated Sandpipers

1 Greater Yellowlegs

9 Wilson's Phalaropes

4 Killdeer

Full checklist and poor photos below.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S68290924

Hopefully they stick around through the night and someone can get better photos.  You are going to ask me what the winds say about whether this bird will stick around... another email might be coming out in a minute about that.

Thanks

Bryan

Bryan Guarente

Meteorologist/Instructional Designer

UCAR/The COMET Program

Boulder, CO

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