As posted earlier, the *Hudsonian Godwit* was feeding near the raunt earlier today. I would suggest trying for that bird early in the morning as it appears to move from the pond when the tide has turned. Several birders tried late for the Godwit but did not get the bird.
In trying to assist folks in finding the bird, I ventured over to the North End and navigated all the way in to the area known to some as "dead man's cove". Unfortunately, despite several careful sweeps of the pond from that area I could not relocate the Godwit, which could either have been hidden from my field of view or had already headed out into the bay. At the South End this morning, there were noticeably fewer birds than I had yesterday. Including HUGO, other highlights from this morning were, a few *Stilt Sandpiper*s, *3 Pectorals* and *2 Northern Waterthrushes*. Now to the water level - I have had several e-mails and phone calls asking about the water level situation on the East Pond. Here is the scoop: The South End has started to see mudflats opening up and elsewhere on the eastern edge of the pond where the shoreline is higher, mudflats are starting to show. For example the Raunt. However, the North End remains under water. As stated above, I walked in on the North End this morning and there, is currently no mudflats or shoreline on that section of the pond. However, NPS are aware of the problem and giving it their attention, as I witnessed today - After leaving the North End of the pond, I ran into several National Park Service officials who were at the site assessing the outflow situation with an engineer. I accompanied them to the outflow and listened in, as they discussed several options in trying to address the problem with the water level both short and long term. Without getting into any details, I will say that it was very encouraging to witness the attention given to this issue and I am hopeful that the discussion will be followed by actions. To be fair, Gateway NPS are trying, but may be face with several restrictions including budget. However, I remain hopeful that NPS will find a short term solution to get the water level down to where it needs to be for this shorebird season and in parallel work towards a long term solution to address the issue with the drawing down of the pond. Good Shorebirding! Andrew Baksh Queens, NY www.birdingdude.blogspot.com -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
