Long-billed Curlews are large, buffy brown shorebirds with very long, down curved bills, long legs with plain crowns.
Yesterday I spotted this Long-billed Curlew foraging and calling in the grasses of the north end of Antelope Island State Park.
Today I wanted to share an assortment of spring birds all photographed at Bear River MBR yesterday on a bright and beautiful morning.
Spring birds I look forward to seeing and hearing include Long-billed Curlews which should be arriving in northern Utah any day now.
I will say that my favorite and most memorable times photographing Long-billed Curlews happened while I was still living in Florida well away from their breeding grounds.
Two days ago I heard and saw my first of the season Long-billed Curlews while looking for birds to photograph in northern Utah and I could barely contain my excitement.
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.
Yesterday when I saw, heard and photographed these Long-billed Curlews while on Antelope Island I was reminded of all the times I have taken photos of these large shorebirds here in Utah, Montana and in Florida and how I have enjoyed having an intimate view of their lives both through my lens and with my eyes.
Four days ago I was able to take my first photographs of Long-billed Curlews this year on Antelope Island State Park and although I was disappointed in the quality of most of the images I took I enjoyed seeing these large sandpipers again.
Taking photographs of shorebirds at eye level was very fulfilling for me and the images that resulted from my down & dirty technique have always made me feel an intimate connection to the birds.
It was one year ago today that I saw and heard my first Long-billed Curlews of the year and this morning as I sit here knowing there are cloudy skies outside I am wondering if the curlews have returned to northern Utah today as well.
I saw quite a few Long-billed Curlews yesterday wandering in the spring grasses and this time I was able to get nice images of them. Nicknames for Long-billed Curlews include "sicklebird" and "candlestick bird."
In bird photography there is such a thing as over processing mistakes and the mistake I see most often is adding way too much saturation.
The first of March always makes me think of and listen for Long-billed Curlews, our largest shorebird of North America.
I kept this photo of the Reddish Egret with the surprise curlew in the background not because it is a great image but to remind myself to look beyond the subject in front of me.
The Long-billed Curlews on Antelope Island are fascinating subjects to photograph and observe or anywhere for that matter.
I photographed Long-billed Curlews, Willets and Chukars along with a few other birds and a Pronghorn buck. It was a beautiful spring day.
This pose made me think "The Long-billed Curlew Scores" but he was really just exhibiting a territorial response to another curlew that was nearby
Owls are well known for being able to turn their heads 270 degrees, Long-billed Curlews aren't.
I thought a post on the growth of bills in Long-billed Curlews might interest some of my readers.
I had some fun with this Long-billed Curlew yesterday after the clouds thinned and the sunshine fell consistently on Antelope Island State Park.
Yesterday this Long-billed Curlew preened, fluffed, shook and called on a pile of pooh.
Long-billed Curlews will nest on the island in the grasses soon but before then I look forward to watching their courtship displays both on the ground and in the air.
Two days ago I saw my first of the year Sage Thrasher and now I am hoping to see and hear my first of the year Long-billed Curlews as well.
When I lived in Florida I was able to see and photograph two of our largest North American shorebirds during winter which are Whimbrels and Long-billed Curlews.
On my trip last week to Montana I saw quite a few Long-billed Curlews.
Yesterday morning I had Western Kingbirds and Long-billed Curlews in my viewfinder on Antelope Island State Park.
I saw my first of the year Long-billed Curlews two days ago on Antelope Island State Park flying overhead. They weren't close enough to photograph but I know that soon I will have them in my viewfinder again.
Preening in birds is essential for keeping their feathers clean, arranged correctly and for some birds it is a way to distribute oils from the uropygial gland which helps to keep the feathers clean and healthy.
Long-billed Curlews have begun to leave or have left their wintering grounds and should be winging their way to Utah and arriving here any day now.
It has been another very long week so I thought I'd post a female Long-billed Curlew because of her very long bill but unlike the way my week went this curlew is graceful, elegant and serene.