I had taken a walk to Boat Meadow Beach to see if there was anything “exciting” to photograph. And there, in one of the little tidal ponds in the salt marsh, were 5 of these birds. I wasn’t sure what they were as they looked more like summer shorebirds than birds I would see in the winter. (Click on blog link to see other photograph.)
I was so surprised when I got home and put my photographs up on the computer and realized that yes, they were Greater Yellowlegs. It wasn’t until one of them walked up by the grass that you could see his bright yellow legs. Wow!
According to my Checklist of Cape Cod Birds, Great Yellowlegs are rare but regular this time of the year and usually hard to find. How cool is that!
The long legs explain the reflections below two birds in the first photo. At first I thought those birds were somehow sitting on little gray mounds. Then I realized their bodies are above the water level! 🙂