ML269070391

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

The photos that I will submit were taken with an iPod touch through my 20-60x, 80mm spotting scope. They are poor, but the best I could manage given distance and unfavorable sun angle. These were larger than any other shorebirds in the pond and had very long, bi-colored slightly recurved bills.This indicated they were godwits, so the only question remaining was Hudsonian or Marbled Godwit. These birds were plain gray on the upper parts and unbarred white on the underparts, indicating they were in non-breeding plumage. All birds appeared to be the same size, which eliminates a mixture of the two species. Marbled Godwits usually shows at least some buffy orange coloration somewhere, but these showed none. In any plumage, Marbled would show some barring on the upper parts but the upper parts on these birds were plain gray. The white superciliums stood out more than they would on Marbled Godwit. The last, but very important field mark that was seen was the black underwing coverts on one of the birds when its neighbor thought it was too close and nudged it away, causing it to briefly lift its wings.

Technical information

Model

iPod touch

Lens

iPod touch back camera 3.3mm f/2.4

ISO

25

Focal length

3.3 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/2.4

Shutter speed

1/381 sec

Dimensions

3264 pixels x 2448 pixels

Original file size

883.02 KB