{"id":2629,"date":"2011-07-03T12:24:42","date_gmt":"2011-07-03T18:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=2629"},"modified":"2026-04-01T06:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T11:20:07","slug":"shorebirds-long-billed-curlew-juvenile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/07\/03\/shorebirds-long-billed-curlew-juvenile\/","title":{"rendered":"Shorebirds: Long-billed Curlew Juvenile"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes I just feel so lucky being a bird photographer. Not only do I get to be outside in nature when I am photographing, view amazing vistas, hear the calls of birds and animals. And then I get nice surprises too like I did this morning when this Long-billed Curlew juvenile approached near enough to get head shots of it.<\/p>\n

\"CloseClose up of a juvenile Long-billed Curlew – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I went back out to Antelope Island<\/span><\/a> early this morning and hoped that I would come across some Long-billed Curlews along with any other birds I might find. I went to the location where I found an adult and juvenile curlews on Friday and found three chicks and one adult today.<\/p>\n

The juveniles were foraging in the grasses under the watchful eye of the parent. I lost sight of two of the juveniles but I was keeping one eye on the adult near the shoreline and one on a chick that was visible.<\/p>\n

As I sat there watching and waiting to see if the adult would fly in to be near the chicks I spotted this young Long-billed Curlew very close to the vehicle. \u00a0It must have come through the heavy grasses because I sure didn’t see it approach. I started clicking away.<\/p>\n

Yes, I feel lucky to have gotten the chance to photograph this young Long-billed Curlew so close and have it be comfortable in my presence thanks to the “mobile blind”. It walked away down the slope to the water, unhurried, and undisturbed by me.<\/p>\n

What was not so lucky? The biting gnats are still around nibbling on exposed skin even with insect repellent on and the mosquitoes buzzed me constantly. The things bird photographers will tolerate to get those images.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Long-billed Curlew photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

PS:<\/strong> Because of my personal ethics regarding bird photography, nesting birds and chicks I would never approach a young bird as close as this bird was to me on purpose but if the bird walks up to me I do take advantage of the opportunity presented.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes I just feel so lucky being a bird photographer. Not only do I get to be outside in nature when I am photographing, but I get nice surprises too like when this Long-billed Curlew juvenile approached near enough to get head shots of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,1022,199,26],"tags":[4134,4142,677,4808,4809,4141,4109,4143,4067,4071,4132,4133,4046,274,4193],"class_list":["post-2629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-davis-county-utah","category-long-billed-curlews","category-utah","tag-chick","tag-close-up","tag-closeup","tag-curlew","tag-curlews","tag-fledgling","tag-grasses","tag-head-shot","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-long-billed-curlew","tag-numenius-americanus","tag-portrait","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/long-billed-curlew-utah-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-4634.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-Gp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2618,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/07\/01\/friday-photos-long-billed-curlews\/","url_meta":{"origin":2629,"position":0},"title":"Friday Photos – Long-billed Curlews","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The juvenile Long-billed Curlew was foraging and preening in the vegetation on the ground below the adult perched on the boulder","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Landing adult Long-billed Curlew, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/long-billed-curlew-adult-landing-mia-mcpherson-3652.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/long-billed-curlew-adult-landing-mia-mcpherson-3652.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/long-billed-curlew-adult-landing-mia-mcpherson-3652.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/long-billed-curlew-adult-landing-mia-mcpherson-3652.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24945,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/05\/31\/growth-of-bills-in-long-billed-curlews\/","url_meta":{"origin":2629,"position":1},"title":"Growth of Bills in Long-billed Curlews","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I thought a post on the growth of bills in Long-billed Curlews might interest some of my readers.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Long-billed Curlew chick at Bear River NWR, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/long-billed-curlew-chick-mia-mcpherson-7781.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/long-billed-curlew-chick-mia-mcpherson-7781.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/long-billed-curlew-chick-mia-mcpherson-7781.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/long-billed-curlew-chick-mia-mcpherson-7781.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14602,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/23\/the-long-billed-curlews-are-back-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":2629,"position":2},"title":"Long-billed Curlews Are Back In Utah!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Curlew walking the shore of the Gulf of Mexico at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-6031.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-6031.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-6031.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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