The Big Dee

I twitched the Hudsonian Godwit at the Dee Estuary on Friday. It had been seen a week earlier roosting at Burton Mere Wetlands, before disappearing and then being refound at the high tide roost on the Dee Estuary off Flint, Wales a few days later.

Right on the edge of my two hour twitch limit, and with a day off, the pull of this mega Yank wader was strong. Hudsonian Godwits are not common anywhere and this is only about the sixth ever in the UK, with the first being seen at Blacktoft Sands in the early 80s. Ever since then, it has been high on my list of vagrant waders to see, but I have never been anywhere near one... until now!

I arrived at Flint and made my way to a ridge at the top of the saltmarsh. This was a good vantage pooint from which to view the waders as they came into roost. With the tide coming in, me and a handful of other birders scoured the growing Black-tailed Godwit flock carefully. The saltmarsh fringe obscured many of the birds and apart from one interesting candidate (which I later dismissed), the Hudwit remained elusive. A few claims were made, but I saw nothing convincing, and I think a little desperation was creeping in to some birders. The bird was probably there somewhere, just out of view.

At a little after 2pm, the tide peaked and the immense Blackwit flock moved a few hundred metres onto the saltmarsh proper, giving more unobstructed views. The godwits gathered in a packed line, spread out along the grass, many obscured by other birds, or by the grass itself. We all scoped the flock hard for 45 minutes and our best efforts failed to pick out the smaller Hudsonian. A little desperation set in, and I began to wonder when the tide would drop and the godwits would disperse, ending our chances. 

Needle in a haystack
 

Fortunately, a hunting Peregrine came to the rescue, flushing the flock, which erupted skywards over the estuary. I switched from scope to bins, knowing this could be our moment, and sure enough as the Blackwit flock turned as one flashing silvery white underwings, my eye locked on to the odd one out - the black bird in among the white. This was the Hudsonian Godwit, helpfully sporting contrasting sooty underwings. It stood out very conspicuously. I yelled out its appearance and the other birders latched on to it quickly too. Superb!

Pic by JWN Andrews

After a while, the flock landed, looking jittery, for the hungry falcon was still at large, trying her luck further down the expanses of the big Dee Estuary. Shortly, she returned and the flock flushed again, revealing, as if by magic, our American visitor.  Again the flock settled back on to the saltmarsh after a minute or so and we all grilled the flock to no avail. After the third flight and subsequent return, I picked up the Hudwit sleeping on the near edge of the flock. There was no doubt; a strong white loral stripe above a dark lore, blackish feathers on the mantle and dark burgundy barring on the belly. He was also noticeably smaller than the Blackwits, perhaps 10-15%. After watching him for a few minutes, he woke up and wandered casually into the flock, where he melted into the larger Blackwits and vanished. It was time to go so with a big successful twitch smile on my face, I ploughed back east through the Friday afternoon traffic.