April 27 2016. Ruthven Park, Cayuga ON. On my way to the bird observatory, passing a still dormant winter-wheat field just a mile or so short of my destination, I noticed a small group of shorebirds in a large puddle. I pulled off the road, grabbed my binoculars and saw that they were Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs. Nice, I thought, they’re refuelling after an overnight flight of scores, if not hundreds, of miles.
Once at the bird observatory I made a point of going down to the river to see whether the water was low enough to expose a small and often productive gravel bar. It was barely exposed but a Spotted Sandpiper and one Lesser Yellowlegs were there.
It was a steady morning at the bird observatory. I helped here and there, stood by as others with more patience explained all about birds to a large kindergarten group, and completed the daily census; by which time the Spotted Sandpiper had gone.
The forested areas held groups of White-throated Sparrows, I had brief looks at a Pileated Woodpecker, admired a pair of Rusty Blackbirds and two bright Eastern Bluebirds who ornamented an otherwise quiet corner.
I returned to check the gravel bar several times and each time the number of Yellowlegs seemed to increase. Around midday, and the last time I looked, there were five Greater Yellowlegs and two Lesser Yellowlegs. That may have been it for the day for, as we watched, something made them decide to leave and six of the seven rose and flew off upstream. Anticipating that the seventh would soon follow I readied the camera and got this okay-ish shot as it lifted off.
