I wrote about a missed opportunity to see a rare Bar-tailed Godwit this summer. It was one of those heart-breaking trips where your eyes, arms, and fingers are numb from endless hours of combing through a sea of bird look-a-likes, and finally deciding that the target bird may or may not be out there but it’s time to call it a day. We’ve all been there and it’ll happen again.

My unfortunate luck from that trip took a surprising positive turn.

Months later, not only did a Bar-tailed Godwit appear in the Bay Area, but it was hanging out with a Hudsonian Godwit! I opted to leave my camera in the car because the location required climbing up a small cliff that offered ropes to assist the adventurous. It was an exceptionally rare treat to see three godwits together (I’m including the expected Marbled Godwits). I wished that I had a scope, camera, or high-powered binoculars to really absorb their differences.

Fast forward several more weeks, and yet another sighting of a Bar-tailed Godwit appeared on my rare bird alert – in Emeryville, just a hop, skip, and a jump away! This visit offered a very close view of the bird, which allowed me to really study its features as compared with the hundreds of Marbled Godwits that it chose to associate with.

This winter plumage Bar-tailed Godwit was smaller than the Marbled Godwits, had a white breast compared with the buffy tones of the marbled, and had straight black-and-white barring on its tail (hence the name) that was covered by a layer of black primary feathers. The easiest feature to see in a tight crowd of godwits was the white chest and body, which is how this individual was located that afternoon.

Each time I see a rare bird, it makes me more aware of what I don’t know and how much I have to learn in this field. For one thing, I will be scanning godwits more carefully here on out.