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Posts Tagged ‘Lesser Yellowlegs’

Lesser Yellowlegs

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 24, 2023| 1 Comment »

I almost always have trouble identifying shore birds, especially the different kinds of sandpipers. On Thursday, I spotted a single sandpiper-like bird in the shallow water of a pond at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Initially I thought it might be a Solitary Sandpiper, but when I got a good look at its legs, I leaned towards calling it a Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)—Solitary Sandpipers have greenish legs.

It was fascinating to watch the little bird move through the water, carefully raising its feet. On land, it seemed to prance a bit. In the final photo, the bird was flexing its wings as part of its grooming routine and seemed to be keeping an eye on me.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Shorebird Ballet

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 16, 2013| 4 Comments »

Swans have Swan Lake, so why shouldn’t shorebirds have Shorebird Ballet?

It looked like these Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) were practicing their dance moves in the water one day recently. As you can see, it requires great balance and, as the second photo shows, attention to the foot position—you have to keep the toes pointed. (One or more of these might be Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca), but my identification skills are not honed enough to be able to distinguish between the two with any great certainty.)

You can’t turn on the television these days without seeing commercials for dance competition programs like Dancing With the Stars or So You Think You Can Dance.  These birds could be at the leading edge of a new dance craze, Dancing With the Birds.

They already have a leg up on their competition.

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Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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