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Greater Yellowlegs - Grand Chevalier

At a time when water levels on the mighty Ottawa River are very high, here is a look at a recent patch of low water, and the water birds that come with open shoreline.

 

I was up very early to get out on the shoreline, hoping to see some early morning arrivals. This Greater Yellowlegs was pretty obsessed with finding food - here, a Giant Water Bug, the biter of toes - and tolerant of a photographer kneeling in the muck.

 

I feel odd doing it, but I wear splash pants and a raincoat before kneeling or laying down in the exposed riverbed. I don’t want to bring a carload of sand and mud back home, and I can throw stuff in the trunk and keep birding if I want to, without traipsing through the woods smelling of swamp.

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Uploaded on April 8, 2023
Taken on September 17, 2021