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No godwit this AM on Falls Lake at I-85



Hi C-birders,

This morning between 8 and 9 AM I was at the location on Falls Lake where 
Will and Ricky reported the Hudsonian Godwit yesterday. No luck, but 
given that the lake is pretty much entirely mud flats at this point, the 
bird could still be around. Or there could be something even better 
hiding out there... Pectoral Sandpipers seemed almost as common as 
Killdeer out there. And I could point my scope at random into the lake 
and have a better than even chance of both Great Blue Heron and Great 
Egret in the field of view. I picked out several Spotted and Least 
Sanpipers and a couple of lone Yellowlegs, one of each type. I also 
spotted a couple of distant heat-distorted reddish blobs that I believe 
were Dowitchers. 

As the water level continues to fall, it may become easier to find 
shorebirds by canoe than from land. Even after hiking out along the 
powerlines to the location Will described yesterday, there were more 
shorebirds off in the distance than up close. Then again, the water may 
be too shallow for boats in many places, judging by the increasing number 
of carp backs that were sticking out above the water's surface.

And a word of advice: if you visit in the morning like I did, either hike 
out along the beach instead of the powerlines, or bring dry shoes and 
socks along. The weeds under the powerlines can sure accumulate lots of 
dew. Squish, squish, squish, squish...

My contribution to the Great Naming Debate: when a species gets split, 
why can't one of the new species retain the old common name? For 
instance, everybody's favorite bone of contention, the Blue-headed Vireo, 
still has the same LATIN name as before, Vireo solitarius! If they're 
going to call it "solitarius" in Latin, why not continue calling it 
"Solitary" in English? And I still have Rufous-sided Towhee on my life 
list, I don't care how eastern it is!

Good birding,

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/