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."
I'll be out photographing birds like this Willet foraging in the Gulf of Mexico, other wildlife and the beauty of nature.
I got to find, point out, and photograph a rare Upland Sandpiper in Utah well out of its normal migration route and range, what a day. What a find
I photographed this Solitary Sandpiper two days ago at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and saw several more and I also photographed a pair of them the week before.
This sleeping Willet image remains one of my favorite images because it was so comfortable in my presence that it fell asleep.
I photographed this migrating Least Sandpiper in the same pond as the Wilson's Phalarope chick at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge but on different days.
When I photographed this trio of Great Yellowlegs in Florida I didn't have to worry about how far away they were, in fact at times they moved too close to me
The Long-billed Curlews on Antelope Island are fascinating subjects to photograph and observe or anywhere for that matter.
This alert Spotted Sandpiper was photographed at Fort De Soto County Park in January of 2009 as it walked down some rip rap towards the water.
This Dunlin was just about finished molting into its breeding plumage and would have soon been on its way to the Arctic and sub-Arctic tundra to breed and raise its young.
The only time I see Least Sandpipers here in Utah is when they are migrating through the Great Basin hub of the Pacific Flyway.
It isn't every day that I add a lifer to the list of shorebirds I have seen and photographed but yesterday I did when I saw and photographed a Pectoral Sandpiper.
These Spotted Sandpiper images are from my last trip to Idaho and were taken near a creek in the Targhee National Forest.
There are two subspecies of Willets in North America and during the breeding season in Utah the birds we see are the Western subspecies.
This is just a simple post of a foraging Western Sandpiper that I found while working on moving my images from their old galleries to the new ones yesterday.
I'm sharing a simple Semipalmated Sandpiper image today that I photographed at Fort De Soto's north beach back in May of 2009.
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.
This Willet image was taken on August 12, 2007 which is now over seven years ago and I can easily recall how thrilled I was to photograph this shorebird.
I came across this diminutive Least Sandpiper while photographing Greater Yellowlegs at a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto's north beach in the fall of 2008.
On my recent trip to Idaho and Montana I was delighted to photograph a foraging Solitary Sandpiper in a farm pond in Beaverhead County, MT.
Normally I prefer to have my subjects larger in the frame than this image of a Willet tiptoeing on the surface of the Great Salt Lake as it landed.
Two days ago I was able to photograph a Willet on Antelope Island calling from some rocks and foraging in the grasses and blooming Redstem Filaree.
Yesterday for the first time this season I saw and heard Willets on Antelope Island State Park.
For those of us; including myself, who are tired of gray, cold days I thought this Willet photographed in Florida might delight in the sweet light, sea foam and warm Gulf waters the image contains.
So I finally have images of the breeding plumage of this small shorebird that show the spots that gave this bird the name Spotted Sandpiper!
It won't be long before I start seeing juvenile Willets that are about the size of the one pictured here.
Just a simple Willet image today that I took on Antelope Island State Park earlier this month.
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.
It really isn't too hard to spot this Spotted Sandpiper on the seawall, I just thought it was a catchy title. I saw my FOY (first of year) Spotted Sandpiper this past week and that got me excited.
The Willets are moving into their nesting territory on Antelope Island State Park and I am excited about that. What I am not excited about is that the biting gnats (no-see-ums) are back too.