Gr. Yellowlegs - hiding from the Merlin

[Daniel Cadieux]

I was surrounded by quite a few Yellowlegs at a local pond this morning (both Lesser and Greater) as well as a few other species of shorebirds. They were approaching quite nicely when all of a sudden a Merlin came swooping down out of nowhere and flushed all the birds away...all but one!

This fella, a Greater Yellowlegs, simply hunkered down as low as it could in the water and lay there motionless for quite some time. After a while it slowly got up and nervously resumed foraging...minus all its long gone "friends" :-) This image is my favorite of a few similar ones because of the visible leg peeking up from the water (all the others from this series are basically the same minus the yellow leg)

Canon 40D + 100-400L @ 400mm, aperture priority, 1/1000s., f/7.1, ISO400, -1 EC, handheld.

[Robert Gravel]

Nice shot Daniel. My first post and it goes to someone who lives nearby :)

Quite the pose he's showing here :) I beleive you did well with the -1 EC as it probably saved the head from being burnt. I also like the ripples on the water.

I was surrounded by quite a few Yellowlegs at a local pond this morning

Was this taken at Mud Lake ? (I'm in Gatineau and like to go there when I have a chance.)

Thanks for sharing.

[Ed Cordes]

Cute image with a nice explanation. No wonder the yellow legs is cowering down, I would as well.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great behavior and thanks for sharing the story. Smart guy to lie low. :) I like the composition and ripples.

[Juan Aragonés]

A very unusual and interesting image Daniel. Great eye contact and I like the "pano" comp.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Was this taken at Mud Lake ? (I'm in Gatineau and like to go there when I have a chance.)

Thanks for sharing.

Bonjour mon voisin de l'autre coté de la rivière! Glad my image was a good reason for your first activity on BPN:)

This was photographed in the Jack Pine Trail area (in the south-west of the city). It was at another pond that is off the main trail. It can be quite productive at this time of year...feel free to PM me for directions if you need.

[Linda Robbins]

Excellent capture of this behavior. I have only seen this behavior in shorebirds a handful of times. I like your crop and the water color and ripples add to the image. Well done,