Rare shorebirds spotted at S. Ind. preserve

LINTON, Ind. — Bird watchers at a southwestern Indiana nature preserve were thrilled to recently spot not one but several members of a rare shorebird species that’s an even rarer visitor to the state’s inland areas.

The Herald-Times reports (http://bit.ly/pMhh5L ) that in early September bird enthusiasts spotted five Hudsonian godwits at the Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area. The birds spent a few days at the wetland-filled site about 35 miles southwest of Bloomington before resuming their fall migration.

Hudsonian godwits are a large shorebird with a long, upturned bill which breed in the Arctic and winter in remote areas of southern South America. They are considered rare visitors to the Lake Michigan shoreline during migration, but reports of them inland in Indiana are even more exceptional.

Information from: The Herald Times, http://www.heraldtimesonline.com