The Hudsonian Godwit is a large shore bird, about 15 inches. It is found in small widely separated breeding areas. One of those breeding areas is here in Anchorage, AK. They can be seen feeding on the mud flats, from the Coastal Trail, a paved walking and biking trail starting in down town. The only catch is the mud flats are like quick sand! Except at an extreme high tide, the Godwits might be a half mile off shore.
Cook Inlet has one of the highest tidal fluctuations in the world. With a full moon tomorrow there was 27.7 foot tide this evening at 7:48 PM. I have been trying for over a year to photograph Godwits close to shore. I was finally successful this evening, by going down to the Inlet just before high tide. I shot 186 pictures. A few of the pictures were acceptable, even though the light was a problem. It was difficult to avoid back lighted shots, from the sun low in the sky. Sun set this evening was at 10:50 PM.
This is probably a mated pair of Hudsonian Godwits, they stayed close to each other while feeding. The Godwits feed along the edge of the water, on the incoming tide. As the tide comes in, they get pushed closer to shore. I finally picked the right place alone the shore, and they came up close to the rock, I was siting on.
Gary
typo
This message was edited May 19, 2008 7:27 AM
Hay guys the tide is coming in!
Nice one!
Here's some Black-tailed Godwits - the European equivalent, except a bit larger.
Resin
Very nice Gary and Resin...enjoyed the commentary as well!
