Marbled Godwit

Two Marbled Godwits Visit Riverview

Marbled Godwits

Two Marbled Godwits have been visiting Riverview marsh for over a week now.  Since they were discovered, they have drawn birders from near and far.  When I visited a few days ago they were feeding heavily fairly close to the dike edge that crosses the marsh from Point Park Drive area.  They were exciting to watch and paid very little attention to the 3 birders present.  There were almost enough godwits to call them a 'prayer of godwits', a name used sometimes for a group of these birds.  

Godwits are classed in the genus, Limosa, with the Marbled Godwit being Limosa fedoa.  Godwits  are large shorebirds with long legs and long upturned bills.  They feed by probing the mud while standing in water or along the shoreline.  There are four species of godwits which occur in North America.  Marbled and Hudsonian Godwits can be found here but Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits are very rare visitors usually to other parts of North America.  Black-tailed Godwits are seen occasionally in Newfoundland.

Marbled Godwit

Godwits are so-named after their vocal rendition of god-wit.  Marbled Godwit vocals are hoarser than other godwits and usually say something like kaaWEK or ker-ret.  They are an easy shorebird to identify.  Because of their large size (46 cm/ 18 in long), they stand out in a flock of smaller shorebirds.  They are often seen wading and feeding in the water, probing deeply in the mud with their long bills sometimes even with their head under water.  They are, in fact, the largest and most widespread godwit.  They are not common here because they are mainly a western species, normally breeding in the prairie provinces and southward into the Dakotas and Minnesota.  They winter on the southern coasts of eastern and western North America into Mexico.  

Specifically, what do they look like?  As you can see in the photo above, they are a tawny colour. Their plumage varies from breeding to non-breeding seasons.  The birds shown above are in non-breeding plumage which is much less barred on the sides and breast than the breeding plumage.  The main feature of a godwit is its long upturned bill.  In the Marbled Godwit it is pink at the base and black at the tip.  The female sometimes has a longer bill than the male, but both have long bills!  The dorsal body areas are mottled dark brown with tan as the dark feather centres are edged with tan.  The long legs are dark in colour and covered in blue-grey hair (seen only with the bird in hand).  The female is larger than the male.  Winter (non-breeding) adults become less barred and grayer.  When Marbled Godwits fly they show their cinnamon-coloured wing linings.  This is an identifying feature which separates them from all the other godwit species.  

The only other godwit you would likely have to distinguish the Marbled Godwit from here in New Brunswick is the Hudsonian Godwit which occurs regularly here in small numbers each fall.  You wouldn't mistake them because the Hudsonian Godwit is smaller, has dark wing-linings and a narrow white wing stripe which is remarkable in flight.  A Long-billed Curlew which is very rare here has a similar colouration to the Marbled Godwit but is larger and has a very long decurved bill (curved downward).

Marbled Godwit

Marbled Godwits nest on grassy plains and meadows near ponds and lakes.  Their nest is a slight depression in the ground lined with grass.  They lay 3 to 5 green to olive eggs marked with brown.  Both adults share the task of incubation.  It is reported that this species is not easily flushed from its nest and incubating adults can sometimes be picked up from the nest without startling them.  After breeding season the birds head to the coasts where they often feed in salt marshes, tidal creeks and other muddy coastal areas.  

Birding for shorebirds is a fun and rewarding activity this time of year.  Viewing the large flocks of migating birds gives one a wonderful feeling of how wonderful nature is and how neatly all the migration paths of millions of birds fit together and how the landscape manages to feed and shelter them all.  It is too good a season to miss.

Calopogon - Small Pink Orchid

Calopogon - Our Third Small Pink Orchid 

Calopogon (Grass Pink)

Calopogon tuberosus (Grass Pink) is another of our three small pink orchids that can be found relatively easily in summer in New Brunswick.  The other two are Arethusa and Rose Pogonia.  See previous blog posts for information on those two.

Calopogon is listed as uncommon by Hinds but is locally common in many bogs in late June to early July.  It prefers to grow in sphagnous bogs and fens and can be found from Manitoba to Newfoundland south to Texas and Florida.  The flower is magenta-pink, 2.5 cm wide with an erect yellow-bearded lip at the top.  Its single basal leaf is grasslike, less than 2.5 cm broad.  There can be 2 to 10 flowers on a single raceme.    The plant is 20 to 30 cm tall (8 to 12 in).  

Calopogon (Grass Pink)

Along with the special lip the flower has 5 similar parts; 3 sepals and 2 side petals.  It has a pleasant sweet smell.  This species is unique in that the flower actually turns upside down as it develops.  Note the lip is uppermost which is the opposite to most orchids.  At some time during its development it slowly turns 180º.  It can easily be recognized by its bearded uppermost lip and its single grass-like leaf.  

Calopogon (Grass Pink)

Calopogon is named from the Greek for 'beautiful beard'.  Its specific name, 'tuberosus', is from the single tuber from which it grows.  Another similar species which grows in North Carolina, Calopogon barbatus, also has pink flowers but they all open at once.  The flowers of our native Calopogon open successively as seen in the photo above.  

Calopogon (Grass Pink)

We don't have any other orchid which turns itself upside down and the deep magenta-pink of this beautiful orchid is a delight to see.  Check one of our bogs early next summer and look for this small gem.

Upland Sandpiper Family Seen

Upland Sandpiper Family Seen

Upland Sandpiper Adult

Last week (August 2) we visited the blueberry fields in the Pennfield area.  It was a hot, sunny day with a nice breeze, a good day to go birding in New Brunswick.  We were specifically looking for one of New Brunswick's rare summer residents,  the Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda).  Upland Sandpipers prefer open areas such as grassy fields, playing fields, blueberry fields, tallgrass prairies, airports, etc.  They are difficult to see, often with just their heads showing above the vegetation.  They sometimes perch on posts.  They sometimes bob their tails like some other sandpipers.  When they land they often hold their wings up high before settling down.  They do not seem to need to be near water like other sandpipers.  

Upland Sandpiper Adult

We looked for a long time for the birds which others had reported being present but as you can imagine it is difficult to see these secretive birds even though they are quite large (31 cm/12 in).  We were just about to give up and were returning from a long drive and careful searching through the area when we spotted a bird walking across the dirt road.  Stop!  We had the pleasure of watching a juvenile Upland Sandpiper sauntering across the road and stopping to play along the way.  That was nice!  The  bird wandered into the thick vegetation and disappeared.  Further searching revealed the adults nearby.  We could hear their discreet 'purring' vocalizations which seemed to be used to keep the family together.  We considered ourselves very lucky to witness this uncommon family.  It was easy to see why they are so hard to see.  They disappear into the vegetation very easily.

Upland Sandpiper Juvenile

The juvenile Upland Sandpiper looks much like the adult, as seen in the photo above.  They are less barred on the body and their heads are lighter in colour.  The individual we saw was a bit smaller than the adults.  It obviously wasn't done growing.  It certainly was unaware of the danger it was in as it wandered across the road.  

The normal breeding range of this species is a relatively narrow strip from Alaska southward across the southern prairie provinces into the mid-western states, across the area south of the Great Lakes into New England with a small area into New Brunswick.  We are on the edge of their territory so are lucky to see them at all.  They winter in South America from southern Brazil to south-central Argentina.  Since they have so far to go to their winter home, they will soon be leaving here, probably by mid-August.  They continue to use their preferred habitats on their migration so can be seen in fallow fields, sod farms and airports.  One wonders how they can make it through the maze of the busy US population areas.  

These are a beautiful species and I wish we had more of them.  They remind us of our need to protect more habitat for such species.  For more information on this species, see a previous post on this blog entitled, 'Upland Sandpiper'.

Spotted Sandpiper

A Fresh Water Sandpiper 

Spotted Sandpiper [Jennifer Ryder Photo]

The  Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) is a familiar shorebird to most New Brunswickers.  It is common along our rivers and lakes.  It is easily identified as a small shorebird with a spotted breast in breeding plumage and by its behaviour of bobbing up and down and teetering almost constantly.  It is North America's most widespread breeding sandpiper.  Its range is from Alaska to Virginia and from Labrador to California.  Its flight is unique, flying low over the water on jerky wingbeats.

Spotted Sandpiper

The Spotted Sandpiper's biology is interesting.  It manifests as reverse parenting roles.  The females arrive early and choose the nesting site.  The female defends the territory and chooses the male.  After the eggs are laid, the male assumes the chief parenting role including incubation. 

The Spotted Sandpiper nests along the shores of our lakes and rivers.  The nest is a ground depression lined with grass and moss.  Three to five green, pink or buff eggs spotted with brown are incubated 20 to 24 days.  The young are mobile soon after hatching and even start to teeter right away.  The diet of this species includes flies, grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, caterpillars, worms, molluscs, crustaceans, fish and spiders.  They often dip their food in water before eating.  

Spotted Sandpiper in Non-breeding Plumage

The Spotted Sandpiper in breeding plumage is easy to identify especially by its spotted breast, its teetering activity and also by the white crescent it shows at the anterior aspect of its folded wing.  The latter feature is helpful in identifying the species in its non-breeding plumage because it loses its spots in the fall and can easily be confused with other small sandpipers.  The call note of the Spotty (as it is often affectionately known) is easily identified (peet-weet).

The teetering of this species has been studied but its purpose has not been determined.  It gets faster when the bird is nervous and stops when the bird is alarmed, aggressive or courting.  Apparently the teetering does not impress the opposite gender!