Hudsonian Godwit Limosa haemastica

A Hudsonian Godwit had recently been found at Lake Wollumboola by Demetris Bertzeletos, so we went on a short twitch on Sunday and we were rewarded with finding the bird. It was difficult to locate amongst the other Godwits, but it eventually raised its wings and the dark undersides identified it clearly.

The Godwit has been seen in Australia before, but it is nevertheless a very exciting and rare find. The relevance of seeing a specific bird species is always linked to where it happens. The Hudsonian Godwit is a long distance migrant and breed from West and South Alaska and North-West Canada to Hudson Bay. Its main wintering sites are in South America.

A lot of people (including us) got excited and travelled (and still travel as I write this) to Lake Wollumboola to see this rare (for Australia) individual bird. Fortunately is has been very compliant and stayed at the same place but due to the holiday season the Lake is very popular these days with other activities than bird-watching and we will have to see how long it stays on.

Enjoy and if you like, feel free to provide comments via the Contact page!