Marbled Godwit

     I like big birds and I cannot lie, you other birders can't deny... when marbled godwit ends up on the tip of Breezy Point, just a quick bike ride away, you don't dip out!
     While ripping off a Sir Mix A Lot song may not be my thing, I really do like me some big birds. Don't get me wrong, I love little warblers, gnatcachers, and swallows-- but I also love and take great joy in observing large raptors, a large shorebird, or a duck. My definition of a big bird is anything larger than a thrush, and part of the reason I may take a favoring to them is because you can look at them without binoculars and watch them even more so interact with their environment-- you are not limited to just the field in your binoculars.
     So, when a Marbled Godwit - this falls into the larger shorebird category for myself - is on a local beach and has been hanging steady, a life bird, accessible by bike-- you go get it! Off to Breezy Point I went...

Not a bird, but happy to see so many Monarchs in the air... this one is on Poison Ivy.

Lots of rain means lots of puddles-- it has been a rainer than normal summer and these puddles attract birds. These puddle birds, in the 4-wheel drive lot on the beach, are lesser yellowlegs.

With the Lesser Yellowlegs was also this solitary sandpiper, a nice surprise!

Okay, small bird exception-- although- they are not that small-- I love terns. A common tern prepares for a good...

...long stretch of the wings. Those wings best be ready for a long flight down toward Brazil and Argentina for the winter!

Smile!

Don't they look like little hustling commuters, trying to get to work on time? A ruddy turnstone, left and a semipalmated plover, right.

Go little turnstone, go!

I liked this juvenile laughing gull in its soft brown tones.

Ever wonder how a bird gets water proof feathers? The preen gland or uropygial gland is how! A waxy oil is collected by surrounding feathers that the beak is then rubbed over to then spread to other feathers.

Target bird-- a marbled godwit that thinks it is an American Oystercatcher.
That beautiful, upturned, thin bill, tall on twiggy legs, I was so stoked to see this bird in person!

This bird is either non-breeding or immature as indicated by its plumage and bill color.
Many folks think of Spring and Fall as migration times ... truly many birds get their migration south starting in August as they have bred in late may through June, with their young grown- it's time to head to their wintering grounds. This bird migrates and breeds in the grasslands and into Canada, on the side just East of the Rockies. They generally don't hang in NY, but this one perhaps got off track a bit- it's winter destination is the Southeastern Coasts of the United states and/or the coasts of Mexico and Central America.

A semipalmated plover taking a rest in the sand- saw 3 plovers on the beach yesterday, semipalmated, piping and black-bellied.

A stone-standing, sleepy ruddy turnstone.

 A great black backed gull eating a discarded dogfish.

Worlds largest gull eats the not worlds smallest shark.

More looks at that godwit.

That long bill is for probing, worms, insects, and other invertebrates-- even small fish.

It's also used for precarious preening!

Gorgeous bird- so glad to see it and add it to my life list!

But before we go...

A little tater tot learns the way of the Adult American Oystercatcher.... make as much noise as you possibly can, be loud and proud!