Calling in at Livermere on my way home I was pleased to find
a roosting godwit. Initially, the bird was sleeping which didn’t offer any real
insight – it did briefly unfurl, indulge in some brief grooming, then resume
resting:
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The bird was then awoken by nearby dog walkers and gave more
instructive views:
Whilst not an id feature as such, the bird was striking in
the field, with the structure of the nominate birds viewed earlier in the day
still fresh in my mind. Accepting this was a lone, first summer bird, without
the more instructive adult plumage.
I recalled reading Mark Golley’s ‘Notes
on the field identification of nominate Black-tailed Godwits in Norfolk’
and the section on first summer birds, containing a healthy warning that this is
a tough plumage in which to ID birds with certainty. I couldn’t remember the
detail in the field but was struck by the birds overall appearance, seemingly
long bill and prominent supercilium.
I determined to get some instructive photos, which was
timely as nearby dog walkers unleashed their hounds, putting everything on the shoreline
up. The bird then flew to the north of the mere, well out of photo or
actionable scope view range, for the subspecies detail I required.
Photos secured I ambled home and uploaded the shots to my
computer:
This allowed me to compare the photos directly to Mark
Golley’s article and the pointers for grey first summer birds therein. I noted
some ‘pro’ limosa features:
- The ‘lanky’ and long-necked appearance;
- Thick bill-base; and
- Prominent supercilium, including where it meets the bill.
I had convinced myself the bird was a first summer and also
that there was sufficient features – beyond my gut feeling – to canvas some
opinions. I spoke to some birding friends over the course of Saturday,
including while dipping the, long gone, Minsmere bridled tern. This reinforced my
belief that there was sufficient pro-limosa features to bother the man himself;
Mr Mark Golley. Who Kindly responded with the following:
I think this is a 2cy limosa but it's a bird that I am
identifying (and would identify in the field at Cley) purely on instinct as
there's not one definitive feather to be able to say to any doubters
"yeah, but look at this scap"...
First if all, ageing it. Well, that's pretty straightforward. It's a 2cy (1st summer) and in image 1, as you'll have seen already in your pix, the old, bleached outer primaries are clearly visible in flight, and there's some moult on inner primaries as well plus a start of something on the secondaries as well. Then, of course, it's entirely grey.
I've seen adult limosa and islandica (known breeding
birds w/colour rings) simply have a grey summer plumage. They are grey all
summer long, choosing to have a year off (often they're older birds, perhaps
not breeding anymore). But they always look rather smooth in the appearance
with no obvious contrast on the coverts. This bird has two generations of
coverts, including old, grey 1w feathers.
So ageing this bird is easy.
It looks like a rangey, slightly gawky and awkward
looking bird, long in the neck, long in the leg ~ both soft features for limosa
(some females can be really giraffe-necked).
In image 2, as you mentioned in your mail, the bulbous supercilium is a decent pointer to limosa (& it's long too). I also like the shape of the head. A bit more pear shaped, with a smooth "long" forehead (islandica, even females, often looked a little more domed).
Also in image 2, the leg length looks ok for limosa
(female islandica can be long legged too). The bill is not only long but it's
also deep based, again things I notice continually with limosa, especially
females.
Image 3 highlights the long neck look, even at rest. Again, it's something that reminds me of limosa.
But the overall look of the plumage offers nothing! Not
one feather. So naysayers will immediately home in on that and say "nope,
can't be done".
What I also find interesting is that there's this lone
2cy Godwit, looking as it does at an interesting location at an interesting
time of year. Again, totally subjective, but islandica would likely be in a
small group of similarly aged birds (and non-breeding 3cy/adults).
For me, I'd be putting this down in my notebook as 2cy
limosa (sex unknown, maybe large male?). It simply has the look...
There may be something in the moult that could become
definitive (adult limosas moult weeks ahead of adult islandicas due to
different breeding range/strategy &) but I need to do some work on that...
I am really appreciative of Mark’s comments, which vindicate my suspicions at least. Whilst not seeing a Bridled Tern at Minsmere I did take the opportunity to view and photograph some grey plumaged Black-tailed Godwits – which were presumed to be islandica. This offers a helpful direct comparison with the above bird:
