Lesser Yellowlegs

Here's a Lesser Yellowlegs I met about a month ago. These guys don't live in New Jersey, only passing through during migration. They spend the winter in the area around the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic Coast of the southern US, and breed in Alaska and northern Canada. A journey like that requires stopping off along the way, and this fella was nosing around Dukes Brook in hopes of a meal while resting those wings.

I have to admit that, because they're only around here for a couple weeks during migration, I'm not particularly good at identifying them. Having said that, the Lesser Yellowlegs seems to be a fairly common shorebird to see around migration.

May 4, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 128323470, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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