Long-billed Curlew crossing a dirt road – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
To be honest I really don’t know why the curlew crossed the road or if it even cared that it was crossing it, I’d say the curlew crossed the road because the road was in its path. The road is nothing more than a sandy track that runs through a grassland area where in past years I have seen Long-billed Curlews displaying, fighting, courting and mating and I hoped to see that yesterday. I only spotted two curlews in that area but it is early in the breeding season and hopefully more will show up for the displays that the curlews put on in the spring.
It is a good thing I have keen eyesight or I would have missed this first curlew in the taller grasses yesterday morning prior to it moving towards the road and shorter grasses fortunately the second curlew was right out in the open and would have been hard to miss. I noticed that both of the curlews were males and I wondered if any females have migrated into the area yet.
It is so lovely to hear the curlews calling on and over Antelope Island again, I always miss their calls when they are gone for the winter.
Life is good.
Mia
It was standing in for the chicken?
Lovely shots.
What a great strut — he looks quite pleased with himself. 🙂
Cool photos, MiA