Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Yellowlegs

More snow fell last night and it is still snowing very lightly this morning, 9 October 2018. Shortly before noon, our temperature is -4C (windchill -9C). Last night, I finally took another look at the photos I took way back in May, on our two-week trip to Point Pelee (Ontario) and Tadoussac (Quebec). I have only edited and posted photos from the first day there and a few from our second morning. I really need to get busy on this huge task and I think I may have to post far too many photos at a time. Will do this later in a day or at night, when most people are probably off Flickr. Many photos are simply "for the record" shots and not of good quality. I will see how long I can keep this up, though, as editing and posting photos does not help with the inflammation in my shoulder rotator cuffs. Nor does holding up a camera and taking photos!! On 6 October 2018, I joined a few birding friends for another day out east of the city. The weather was beautiful, and so different from the freezing cold trip that was held about a week earlier. As usual on these birding trips, almost every bird was far, far away. Luckily, this Yellowlegs wandered somewhat closer, so that I could actually see the feather detail on it. Another bird I was happy to see was a Thayer's Gull. I was thinking that I had never seen one before, or at least not to get a photo. However, I checked my photostream and discovered a photo of a juvenile that I took on 25 March 2018. The Thayer's Gull is now called an Iceland Gull. "The darker-winged “Thayer’s” gull of the west used to be considered a different species; the two were lumped in 2017." Like many people, I just don't "do" Gulls. A lack of interest in them does seem to be fairly widespread, On this day, however, our leader, Terry Korolyk, who is a Gull expert (along with tremendous knowledge on hybrids and all birds/wildlife), found several huge flocks of various Gulls at different locations, along with other bird species, including a few more Rusty Blackbirds (whose numbers are declining). A delight to see a few distant Swans, a Wilson's Snipe, Greater White-fronted Geese, Yellowlegs and an assortment of other shorebirds and waterfowl. Thank you, Terry, for yet another enjoyable and interesting trip. Thank you, also, for the ride.

Ha, I'm hoping this photo is not showing up as my main photo for this morning. Posting it only as a record of a two and a half hour walk I did yesterday morning, in Fish Creek Park. I rarely get any photos that are worth posting on these walks and this is about the 'best' of the handful I took. I have missed the two previous walks with friends so thought I really must try and get out on this one. We met near the Bow Valley Ranch and, after walking down as far as Annie's cafe to look for any birds that were around, we then headed across the field to the Bow River. We turned around once we reached the first storm-water pond, which is where I took this zoomed in shot of a few of the birds seen there. The forecast at the moment is for mixed precipitation tonight and tomorrow morning and scattered flurries for Friday (22 September). Our temperature shortly before noon today is 7C, but next week is supposed to be back in the mid to high teens, which would be wonderful!.

Basically, I never go for walks any more, apart from the rare walk outside the city with a group of friends, which is not good, but yesterday evening, I pushed myself out the front door and drove to Mallard Point in Fish Creek Park. People have been seeing all sorts of birds there recently, thanks to bird migration. Several friends had the same idea, too, and they were very helpful and patient, telling me where a tiny Canada Warbler and a Redstart female/juvenile kept moving to. As any birder/photographer knows, Warblers are not easy (almost impossible!) to see and photograph! A huge amount of patience is needed. I also walked along the edge of the Bow River, just as far as the bridge, which is where I took this photo of a Yellowlegs. This was a fast-moving bird, constantly changing direction. My birding skills are not good enough to be able to tell if this is a Greater Yellowlegs or a Lesser Yellowlegs. The two species are very similar, but this one was on its own, with nothing to compare it to. A wild guess would say "Greater Yellowlegs". A Gull sp. was the only other thing I photographed. At least one Osprey was circling the river from way, way up. Why are Yellowlegs so hard to identify? - Sibley Guides. www.sibleyguides.com/2012/07/why-are-yellowlegs-hard-to-i...

It was such a treat for me to have the chance to see a few shore birds and ducks, and close enough to photograph. Friends Dorothy and Stephen invited me to go with them to the Irrigation Canal in the city on 15 October 2012, where we saw several Greater Yellowlegs and Hooded Mergansers. It was very overcast weather, but I managed to get a handful of photos that were just about OK with a bit of help from post processing : ) www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/greater_yellowlegs/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Yellowlegs

A highly cropped image, but it's so rare for me to see shorebirds, let alone get a photo : ) Photographed in Fish Creek Park, Boat Launch area, in a manmade pond near Highway 22X yesterday. Not sure if this was a Greater Yellowlegs or Lesser, but I think maybe a Greater. I wasn't expecting my photo to come out at all, so I guess I wasn't listening carefully enough to the ID that was given, ha.

I have barely seen any birds for months - wildflowers have been my main focus. I thought this was a Yellowlegs, but now I can't decide if it might be a Solitary Sandpiper. How embarrasing - I feel as if I am back to square one with birds, needing to learn everything all over again, LOL! Help! Note on 12th September 2007: thanks for the ID confirmation, Danny (DJS Photo) and David Trently!