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I've only seen a few Marbled Godwits in my life- they are rare on the east coast, and I worked quite hard to find them at a
known spot on Washington's coast. When I took a business trip to Santa Monica in southern California in January of 2005, I had
no idea that shorebirds congregate in large numbers in this area during the winter months. I was especially delighted to find
dozens of striking Marbled Godwits, which allowed close approach, as they were quite acclimated to large numbers of human beachgoers.
The long, upturned bill of this tall bird is perfectly designed to dig deep in the wet sand to extract whatever
lifeforms might dwell therein. In the images below, I've captured Marbled Godwits in various poses as they foraged- this unexpectedly close look
at this beautiful species was an unexpected bonus on a work-related journey!
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