Ok I came across a series of digital photos I took 4 years ago in Hawaii, in a little subfolder I had named "godwit". I remember spotting this bird on a grassy lawn by the beach, and determining that it was a godwit of some type, but the distance was too great for a sure ID and a private fence barred closer approach. I also remember spotting some smaller shorebirds in the same field, which I figured were too small and distant to bother with ID as I focused on the mystery godwit.
Stumbling across these 4 year old photos, I think it's probably a Marbled Godwit (which I believe is a decent find on Oahu), but I just noticed another shorebird in all the same shots, feeding near the godwit. Judging from the photos it looks like a large Pluvialis plover, which I assume is a non-breeding plumaged PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER. Actually a much more common bird in Hawaii than MAGO, Pacific Goldens are said to be the most numerous shorebird on the Hawaiian islands. Over-wintering birds are supposedly ubiquitous throughout the islands, even on suburban lawns, and a few stay through the summer.
Well I guess since I remember seeing and identifying distant birds as "godwit" and "smaller shorebird species", I can claim to have seen Pacific Golden Plover
Here are the crappy photos, including originals and photoshop-enlarged zooms showing the presumed Marbled Godwit and Pacific Golden-Plover - digiscoped with a Canon A40 handheld to a Kowa 82mm 32x wide-angle scope. June 2004.
