[cobirds] Lesser Yellowlegs "MV"

Hi all,

A couple days ago while birding at Stearns Lake in south Boulder County, I spotted a Lesser Yellowlegs with dark green leg bands. The bands were on both legs and the one on the left was "flagged", meaning it had a metal extension with lettering on it. I had trouble reading the tag (yellowlegs do like to walk incessantly), but I gathered that one of the letters was a 'V'.

I looked up 'lesser yellowlegs banding' and found a reference to an ongoing project asking for reports of new sightings of any of their banded birds. I sent a message to the researcher describing what I found. You can find information on the project here:

https://ebird.org/ak/news/reporting-banded-lesser-yellowlegs

I heard back this morning regarding the bird I saw. Apparently a couple other area birders contacted the research group and noted or photographed this individual, and the tag in full was 'MV' (so I was close!). The bird that showed up at Stearns was banded at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (Anchorage, Alaska) on June 13, 2019, almost 4 years ago.

What a treat it is to discover just how well traveled our spring visitors are! In addition, last October in central Ecuador in the high Andes I observed a Lesser Yellowlegs at Laguna de Colta in Chimborazo province. This gives us an idea of the sheer extent of their annual journeys. Of course I don't know specifically where 'MV' wintered, but quite possibly in Ecuador or perhaps even further south! Either way, I appreciated being able to observe this rugged beast even if just for a moment in its astonishing life.

Happy migration,

Eric

-------

Eric DeFonso
Boulder County, CO

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAFjVA_ZYiNCeuMyOWjT6%3D044vo-namr0u7jo0JA%3DR%3DWgUC1PXw%40mail.gmail.com.