This afternoon at Levee Pond Park in Puyallup a Lesser Yellowlegs was hanging out with two Greater Yellowlegs. The LEYE was typical in all respects except that its legs were a dull fleshy pink color instead of the usual yellow. Side by side with the Greaters, the difference was pronounced - not a trace of yellow or even orange anywhere on the Lesser's legs, which otherwise appeared normal. The eyering seemed a little more pronounced than usual but the bill was the right length for a Lesser, straight and black throughout. Easy to distinguish the bill length when the bird is standing next to a Greater Yellowlegs. The Lesser was noticeably smaller than the Greaters - it was just the right size for a Lesser. Only the legs were pink.

I'm curious if anyone else has heard of a pink-legged Yellowlegs.

Brian Pendleton
kc7wpd at hotmail.com
Seattle, WA

BTW, the Slaty-backed Gull was loafing with 300 GW Gulls on a sandbar below the 11th St bridge in Tacoma from 1-2 this afternoon. I was glad to finally see it again, having missed it last year despite multiple attempts.