tringa (a white-rumped water bird) melanoleuca (from melas, black, and leukos, white)
Thursday, August 14, 1980 — 1:00 pm
Inverness, Illinois — side road off Palatine Road
This was not one of my most romantic bird sightings. A new housing development was being built about a mile east of Crabtree. A few houses were up, but most of the area was covered by mud and crisscrossed by roads. Muddy puddles were everywhere, and in one of the larger ones, I spotted several shorebirds.
The four yellowlegs were quite a distance away, and I couldn’t get a very good look. I tried to get nearer, but they flushed every time I got close. Finally, I got into a position from which I could see them well. Three were quite a bit larger than the fourth one. They took off again and flew past me. The three Greater Yellowlegs passed on one side giving their three and four-noted call. The Lesser passed on the other side giving its two-noted call.