Weekends That Were - May 2024

 26.5.24

A Twitch

Mr D and myself were at Mr P’s at 6.30 and we all set off north. Andy (Mr J) had found a Hudsonian Godwit at a clay pan on the north side and we were off on a twitch. We had all seen the species before – Mr P and I had seen one south of Sydney in NSW several years before and both Mr P and Mr D had had it in Chile at their wintering rounds. However on the east coast, in fact in Australia generally, a HudWit was a rare bird.

We picked Mr J up in Griffin and headed down to Clontarf on the south end of Redcliffe Peninsula where it had been seen on the mudflats at low tide the previous day. High tide was predicted as 11.00 so the thought was that it would be there again feeding on the incoming tide.

We parked up, donned the wellies and headed out across the wet sand to the edge of the middle channel. On the other side, at some distance, we found the bird feeding among White-headed Stilts, White-faced Herons and a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits. Scope views only but we saw it in flight and noted the white rump and, in particular, the black and white underwing.

As it flew to a more distant location we decided to grab a coffee and then go to the clay pan where Mr J had found it the previous day in anticipation of it roosting there again once the tide came in.

At Gregory Rd we trudged out across the very sticky mud, partially covered by the incoming tide, and, with approx 10 other birders (a big twitch by Queensland standards), set up on a mangrove encrusted ‘island’ to await the bird’s arrival. 

In about 30 minutes, sure enough, it flew in along with a small flock of Bar-tailed Godwits and settled down to preening before sticking its head under its wing and going to sleep. It was still relatively distant and only appreciated through maximum scope focus. We watched it for a while then decided enough was enough and headed home, dropping Mr J off at home once again.