{"id":22574,"date":"2015-04-24T05:55:10","date_gmt":"2015-04-24T11:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=22574"},"modified":"2025-06-09T11:55:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T16:55:25","slug":"a-marbled-godwit-surprise-on-antelope-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/04\/24\/a-marbled-godwit-surprise-on-antelope-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Marbled Godwit Surprise on Antelope Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MarbledMarbled Godwit and friends at Fort De Soto County Park – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/750, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

On the 17th of April I did a post on Marbled Godwits because they are migrating through Utah now to get to their breeding grounds and on that post I mentioned that I saw them often on their wintering grounds in Florida like the foraging Marbled Godwit above that I photographed in a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto County Park<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Quite often the flocks would number 50 or more in one location. In Florida I was able to get close to these shorebirds but more often than not if I just laid still they would approach me. Sure, I got wet and muddy but it was worth it.<\/p>\n

\"MarbledMarbled Godwit at Farmington Bay – Nikon D200, f8, 1\/750, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

In October of 2010 while photographing birds in the shallow waters of Glover Pond near Farmington Bay a Marbled Godwit seemed to just drop down out of the sky in front of me and the bird was at close range.<\/p>\n

At first I thought the godwit might be sick because it was late in the year and we had been having issues with botulism but on further thought I believe this was simply a young bird that was migrating to wintering grounds a touch later than the other godwits.<\/p>\n

It drank water, ate and appeared healthy and I checked eBird and see that it isn’t all that unusual to see them in October according to the data submitted.<\/p>\n

This was as close as I had been able to get to a Marbled Godwit here in Utah until four days ago.<\/p>\n

\"MarbledMarbled Godwit on Antelope Island State Park – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/800, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Four days ago while photographing a Willet and gulls in the White Rock Bay area of Antelope Island<\/span><\/a> I saw a big shorebird flying in and suspected that it was a Long-billed Curlew so I trained my lens on the bird and before it landed I realized it was a Marbled Godwit.<\/p>\n

It flew in close and walked up close several times so I was able to get a nice series of images of this godwit in a grassland habitat.<\/p>\n

Marbled Godwits do breed in grasslands north of here and I have seen them at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge but in or near the water. These images are my first of a godwit in a grassy environment.<\/p>\n

I was surprised to see this Marbled Godwit on the island but over the years I have learned to expect the unexpected whenever I am out photographing birds!<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Marbled Godwit photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was surprised to see this Marbled Godwit on the island but over the years I have learned to expect the unexpected whenever I am out photographing birds! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":148068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,1022,697,25,704,88,26],"tags":[4004,5229,5132,11978,4040,4136,3575,2546,3945,4038,9070,3997,4163,4419,3975,274,4140,3996],"class_list":["post-22574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-marbled-godwits","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-desert-island","tag-feeding","tag-foraging","tag-freshwater","tag-godwit","tag-godwits","tag-grasslands","tag-island","tag-lagoon","tag-limosa-fedoa","tag-marbled-godwit","tag-shorebird","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-tidal-lagoon","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/marbled-godwit-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-8942.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-5S6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5182,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/06\/15\/foraging-marbled-godwit\/","url_meta":{"origin":22574,"position":0},"title":"Foraging Marbled Godwit","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I love how peaceful this image is with the Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) paying absolutely no attention to me as I sat very still in the warm waters of a tidal lagoon photographing it.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foraging Marbled Godwit, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-3321.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-3321.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-3321.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-3321.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27257,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/08\/08\/marbled-godwits-are-migrating\/","url_meta":{"origin":22574,"position":1},"title":"Marbled Godwits Are Migrating","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The past few times I have gone to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I have seen Marbled Godwits flying over and I know that their migration to their wintering grounds has begun.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Marbled Godwits feeding, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/marbled-godwits-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6873.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/marbled-godwits-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6873.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/marbled-godwits-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6873.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/marbled-godwits-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6873.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6198,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/27\/marbled-godwit-in-a-tidal-lagoon\/","url_meta":{"origin":22574,"position":2},"title":"Marbled Godwit In A Tidal Lagoon","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a single image of a Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) that strolled past me while I sat in the water photographing it. Every time I look at this image I feel a wonderful sense of peace, the same feeling I had when I took this photo.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Marbled Godwit in a tidal pool, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-florida-mia-mcpherson-3322.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-florida-mia-mcpherson-3322.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-florida-mia-mcpherson-3322.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-florida-mia-mcpherson-3322.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1255,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/11\/10\/shorebirds-of-fort-de-soto-marbled-godwits\/","url_meta":{"origin":22574,"position":3},"title":"Shorebirds of Fort De Soto – Marbled Godwits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Marbled Godwits are graceful birds while on the ground, feeding and in flight.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Marbled Godwit standing out from the crowd, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-one-legged-3267.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-one-legged-3267.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-one-legged-3267.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-one-legged-3267.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5342,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/22\/marbled-godwit-with-its-shadow\/","url_meta":{"origin":22574,"position":4},"title":"Marbled Godwit With Its Shadow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This Marbled Godwit had been feeding on the mudflats of a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto's north beach.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Marbled Godwit and shadow, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-3637.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-3637.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-3637.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-3637.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45277,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/02\/28\/marbled-godwit-and-friends-on-exposed-mudflats\/","url_meta":{"origin":22574,"position":5},"title":"Marbled Godwit and Friends on Exposed Mudflats","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2009 I photographed this foraging Marbled Godwit and friends on exposed mudflats of a Fort De Soto County Park lagoon.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foraging Marbled Godwit on exposed mudflats, north beach of Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-willets-mia-mcpherson-6690.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-willets-mia-mcpherson-6690.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-willets-mia-mcpherson-6690.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-willets-mia-mcpherson-6690.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}