Found the Godwit!

This afternoon I went down to chase a Godwit at Pea Island. Not just any Godwit, mind you, but a Hudsonian Godwit. These little buggers are a rare visitor here to the OBX and can cause quite a stir when sited. I actually got a call this morning when I was dramatically escaping the clutches of a particularly vicious Quercus species and decided to make the trip down. Jeff Lewis, "the informant", had said that the bird was .45 miles south of the PI visitor's center on the beach (east) side of the road... A seemingly wide expanse to find the proverbial needle in the haystack. However when I arrived, I found the bird here... note the red circle Quite possibly, this was the easiest chase I have ever done. At first I thought that the bird was completely oblivious, but I soon discovered that it was favoring its right leg heavily as it fed in the high grass 10 yards west of the dune line. I must have watched her for a half an hour and she was more than cooperative. From the pictures that you can see below, she is easily identifiable in the profile shot and corroborated by the telling black and white wing plummage of the flight shot. Now I must head off to bed, I'm off to Mattamuskeet early. Ahhhh, coffee.

Cheers