{"id":8201,"date":"2013-04-25T03:10:57","date_gmt":"2013-04-25T09:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=8201"},"modified":"2024-08-10T16:48:06","modified_gmt":"2024-08-10T21:48:06","slug":"gulf-coast-whimbrel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/25\/gulf-coast-whimbrel\/","title":{"rendered":"Gulf Coast Whimbrel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WhimbrelGulf Coast Whimbrel on a floating mat of seaweed<\/span><\/p>\n

Among\u00a0the shorebirds I enjoyed seeing and photographing while I lived in Florida were Whimbrels, I could see flocks of 25 or more during the winter along the coast. There had been rough waves the day before I photographed this Whimbrel which pushed floating mats of seaweed up\u00a0close to the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, the Whimbrels were feeding on small crabs that were in the seaweed.<\/p>\n

I know that Whimbrels do show up here in Utah during their migration north but I have yet to be able to get close enough to photograph them. Whimbrels breed in northern Arctic regions and can live up to 20 years. They are similar in appearance to Long-billed Curlews that I often photograph here and in Montana but bill length helps with ID. \u00a0The curve of their bills matches the curve of the burrows of Fiddler Crabs, their favorite prey item.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Whimbrel photos plus facts and information about this species. <\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among the shorebirds I enjoyed seeing and photographing while I lived in Florida were Whimbrels, I could see flocks of 25 or more during the winter along the coast. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132150,"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":[27,25,468,200,2000],"tags":[4004,5132,14752,173,4077,996,992,4524,274,3996,4119,202,373],"class_list":["post-8201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-honeymoon-island-state-park","category-whimbrel","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-coastal","tag-coastal-island","tag-gulf-coast","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-numenius-hudsonicus","tag-sandpipers","tag-seaweed","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-water","tag-waves","tag-whimbrel","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/whimbrel-mia-mcpherson-2165.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-28h","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":141895,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/22\/whimbrel-memories-and-high-hopes\/","url_meta":{"origin":8201,"position":0},"title":"Whimbrel Memories And High Hopes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I was working on some older posts when I came across a few Whimbrel photos I\u2019d never written about before, including this one from Fort De Soto County Park.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Whimbrel on floating seaweed at Honeymoon Island State Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/whimbrel-seaweed-mia-mcpherson-2168.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/whimbrel-seaweed-mia-mcpherson-2168.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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ISO, my aperture and other techs as I dropped onto my knees before laying flat on my belly to photograph the flock of 20 or so Whimbrels.","rel":"","context":"In "Florida"","block_context":{"text":"Florida","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/florida\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Whimbrel in flight over the Gulf of Mexico at Honeymoon Island State Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/whimbrel-flight-mia-mcpherson-1826.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/whimbrel-flight-mia-mcpherson-1826.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/whimbrel-flight-mia-mcpherson-1826.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw my first of the year Long-billed Curlews two days ago on Antelope Island State Park flying overhead. 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