The marbled godwits are back. I saw the first ones a couple of days ago and they have been on the lawn for at least part of each day since. There seems to be more this year than last. The most I counted last year at one time was 17. Today there were 20 or 21 of them on the SJC lawn. Yesterday there were fewer godwits, but a lot of smaller birds hanging out with them. These included a couple of dowitchers, a bunch of dunlin, and at least one smaller sandpiper (maybe a western sandpiper). Today there were just three or four dowitchers. I wonder if they are the same birds as last year with additional numbers due to successful breeding last summer. Will be interesting to see what shows up next year.