Hudsonian godwit sighting

On Saturday 20th March, visiting bird watcher Hans Wohlmuth spotted an unusual looking godwit at North Bay. Bar tailed godwits regularly visit the island each summer, but this one looked a bit different, and photographs confirmed it was indeed a Hudsonian godwit – the first record of this bird to the Island. It has been seen on the Island for a week on sea grass flats at Old Settlement and North Bay; or the airfield grassy areas. This bird breeds near the tree line in north western Canada and Alaska, and also on the shores of Hudson Bay. They migrate to South America and the Caribbean, and are vagrants to Europe, Australia, and South Africa. This is the first record for Lord Howe Island, bringing the new total of birds sighted on the Island to 238. I took this photo on Old Settlement Beach.