In early November, most shorebirds have already migrated through our area.
We have a few Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs still being found, but they’re not common.
Which is why I was surprised to learn a Hudsonian Godwit, a slender shorebird rare for our area, was sighted in northwest Ohio in a marsh near the western shore of Lake Erie.
Off I went in search of the bird and found it exactly where it had been sighted a few days earlier, in a marshy area with good amount of mudflat habitat.
In non-breeding plumage, the bird is mostly gray, but you can’t miss the characteristic long pinkish-red black-tipped bill.
One of the fascinating things I learned about Hudsonian Godwits: they travel almost 10,000 miles from the Arctic to the tip of South America during migration.
With no stopping.
Amazing journey!
