Numenius americanus

Male Long-billed Curlew in flight

By Mia McPherson, on May 16th, 2013%

Long-billed Curlew in flight

Last week; while fighting off a bloodsucking cloud of no-see-ums, I was able to photograph this male Long-billed Curlew as it flew past me. The background is the Great Salt Lake at the bottom, the distant Promontory Mountains and above them the sky.

The swarms of biting gnats have been dreadful so far this year and I am impatiently waiting for them to disappear but I’ll keep going to the island to photograph birds and wildlife, they won’t win.

Mia

~I’m out of town but will be back soon, please feel free to share this post with your friends and family!

A simple Long-billed Curlew Post

By Mia McPherson, on April 20th, 2013%

Long-billed Curlew

This is just a simple post with a few Long-billed Curlew images I took not long before I discovered the Mountain Plovers on April 10th on Antelope Island State Park. The Mountain Plovers were great but so are the Long-billed Curlews.

Alert Long-billed Curlew

I think that Long-billed Curlews are elegant and graceful shorebirds and their colors are earthy but vibrant plus they are a lot of fun to observe and photograph.

Long-billed Curlew about to lift off

This Long-billed Curlew was about to lift off when I photographed it so I like the pose and how dynamic it feels.

More Long-billed Curlews have arrived here and just two days ago I heard my first of year Willets calling on the island so soon I will be photographing them again.

Mia

A few bird images from this past week

By Mia McPherson, on April 13th, 2013%

Male Long-billed Curlew calling

Because of fluctuating weather I have only gotten out to photograph three times this past week, on the days I didn’t get out I know I was having withdrawals because it is spring migration and I’m excited to see my first of years birds and to photograph the ones that have already returned.

Last Saturday the weather was a bit on the gloomy side but we went to Antelope Island anyway to meet up with Steve Creek who was camping on the island and visiting from Arkansas. Before seeing Steve I took this image of a male Long-billed Curlew calling. The bills of male Long-billed Curlews are shorter than the bills of females.

Steve didn’t stay in Utah as long as he hoped because our weather turned nasty with a storm front coming in and rain/snow in the forecast. The winds got pretty bad ahead of that front.

Male Mountain Plover

The highlight of the week was when I spotted a pair of Mountain Plovers on Antelope Island State Park, they are rare to Utah and they were lifer birds for me. I sent in my report to the Utah Bird Records Committee along with a few images.

Who knew that sighting a tiny shorebird could cause such an uproar?

Anyway, I took loads of images of the pair of Mountain Plovers that I am very happy with. I suspect there are more of these beautiful shorebirds in Utah this time of the year but they might be located in areas that are under birded or inaccessible to the general public.

Great Egret stalking prey

Yesterday at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge I saw a few first of year birds for me, two Great Egrets, a few Snowy Egrets and Clark’s Grebes delighted me. I also spotted a Rough-legged Hawk from a distance, all the Roughies will soon be gone.

American Avocet in flight

Black-necked Stilts and American Avocet numbers are on the increase at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge and their calls are filling the air. This one flew past me and seemed to beg me to take pictures of it. Okay, the bird didn’t beg, I simply could not resist taking images of it.

American Avocets mating

Speaking of “not being able to resist”, these two American Avocets couldn’t resist courting and mating yesterday. I wish they had been a bit closer but I feel lucky to have gotten the images I did of them because they mate very quickly. You can’t blink while they are mating or you will miss it.

I’m hoping the weather this upcoming week is better so I can experience more of the wonders of migration.

I tripped yesterday in a parking lot which literally brought me to my knees. My knees are scraped up and bruised and although I was embarrassed by my lack of grace, I’ll be fine.

Even though I only got out to photograph birds three times this week each of the days I did get out were very memorable!

Have a great Saturday.

Mia

*Please do not pin my images on Pinterest, Tumblr or any other pinning site, that is a violation of Copyright Laws. Feel free to share the link to my posts but not the images directly.

Male Long-billed Curlew lifting off

By Mia McPherson, on April 2nd, 2013%

Male Long-billed Curlew lifting off – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

I photographed this male Long-billed Curlew last week as he was starting to lift off. It has been wonderful hearing their calls again and seeing them poking around in the new growth of grasses. They are selecting mates already.

I found some Long-billed Curlews in a new location in Tooele County, that was pretty exciting. I’m happy that they are back, I guess you all can tell!

Mia

Seen and Heard – First of year Long-billed Curlew

By Mia McPherson, on March 24th, 2013%

Long-billed Curlew – taken in spring 2012 – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

The light wasn’t cooperating much on Antelope Island this morning because of clouds that were in front of the sun.

But… when we stopped at one of the parking lots that overlooked Bridger Bay I heard a call that made me jump in my seat and before I could say “Long-billed Curlew!!” I could see the bird flying towards the grasses that were a long distance from the parking area. I scoped the shorebird with my lens just to be sure and could see the beautiful colors and long bill of the curlew.

The bird stayed too far away to get images of but that did not dampen my joy.

Needless to say, I have had a smile on my face since then. The Long-billed Curlews are back!!

Mia

More Long-billed Curlew images