Lesser yellowlegs

[gail bisson]

Went out looking for wood ducks but found this guy instead.
I spotted this wonderful BG and decided to wait and see if anything flew into this area.
Used my camo sheet and laid on my belly. Only had to wait 20 minutes and this handsome guy/gal flew in.
Nothing added or cloned. Did not touch saturation or vibrance!
Canon 1 DX, 600mm v.3
ISO 800 SS 1/2500 F8.0
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Arthur Morris]

Spectacular. What was he pissed off about?

with love, a

[Arthur Morris]

I just realized, it is a Greater Yellowlegs with the light base to the bill and a slight upturn. Surely a male as well based on the relatively short bill length.

a

[gail bisson]

I went back and forth on the greater vs lesser identification. I thought it was greater but a good friend who is an expert birder said it was lesser. I am confused!!
I don't know what he was upset about- perhaps he knew that the lump under the camo cover was a human?!

[Tim Munsey]

Fantastic posture, good to upset the bird it seems..

[Bill Dix]

What an amazing pose, and great light. Wonderful image. Great technique: find the background and wait for the bird. The bill has only the slightest upturn - not enough to be conclusive for me - but it does appear to be slightly longer than the head width, so Greater seems a good bet. Either way, a winner.

[Juan Tolentino]

Nice background, but that pose is killer! Well done Gail. Only 20 min? Sounds like an eternity to me under Camo [emoji4]. Definitely paid off!


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[Ian McLachlan]

I don't think he is upset .I think whether greater or lesser, he was just showing off, and how beautiful he could be, and you proved it . Lovely background really sets him off.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Beautiful Image.

What kind of camo sheet do you use ?

I love the pose and the background colors.

TFS

[gail bisson]

Beautiful Image.

What kind of camo sheet do you use ?

I love the pose and the background colors.

TFS
Thanks for the kind words Krishna. I use the LensHide that is sold by LensCoat. It is about 120.00. I love it but it takes a bit of practice to get it on quickly.

[dankearl]

That took some luck... How long is your laying under camo time limit?
Excellent photo, beautiful....

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Spectacular pose, Gail. Love the rocky base and that beautiful background.


Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu (http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu)

[Dorian Anderson]

This is such a cool frame. I've never seen an alert pose like this from a shorebird! BG color is wonderful and the rocks add interest. My vote goes to Lesser. Beak is perfectly straight and generally pretty thin.

[Aditya Sridhar]

Beautiful shot Gail! The colors are stunning! I absolutely love how the bird's on its toes - very, very cool. On the fence about the darker patch running across the middle of the frame - might be tempted to dodge it and see how it looks - but that's not even a nit. This is drop dead gorgeous!

[Arthur Morris]

I went back and forth on the greater vs lesser identification. I thought it was greater but a good friend who is an expert birder said it was lesser. I am confused!!
I don't know what he was upset about- perhaps he knew that the lump under the camo cover was a human?!

Lesser always has an all-black needle straight bill. Furthermore, if you break the bill off a greater and stick it through the head of the bird, it will protrude by about half the length of the bill. With lesser, it will not (or possibly just barely) protrude.

Tell your friend that he should get a copy of my Shorebirds; Beautiful Beachcombers. (https://birdsasart-shop.com/shorebirds-beautiful-beachcombers/) The info here and tons more on ageing and identifying all of North America's regularly-occurring shorebirds (plus tons more) is in the book. You too :). Then you will not need to rely on experts ...

with love, a

ps: there is no doubt that this is a young Greater Yellowlegs.

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

Outstanding (sorry about the bad pun). Pose and colors make it. My first impression when I saw it was "long legged human female on the runway" showing off the latest fashion. The dramatic lighting fits that theme too.

Cheers

Randy

[Mike Poole]

Just beautiful Gail, the perfect height that the foreground rocks don't turn to mush, and the pose and light are wonderful. No nits

Mike

[John Mack]

Great frame. Love the pose and that background. The rocks bring some nice texture.

[William Dickson]

All been said, and I agree, fab frame, love the beautiful colours throughout. Same pose as my Red Grouse last week :S3:

Well done Gail

Will

[arash_hazeghi]

love this pose! very unique ! light is nice and golden, great details and techs

TFS

[Robert Kimbrell]

What a beautiful background. I like the color tones of the rocks he is standing on. Yes the pose is wonderful. Well done.