Having second thoughts.
Back in May I posted several photos of this Long-billed Curlew in flight on Antelope Island, but I didn’t post these two because the bird was already slightly past me so his right wing hides some of his neck and head. Yesterday, on closer inspection, I found something about each image that compensates for that insufficiency, at least in my mind, so I decided they were worthy of posting after all.
Based on bill length I believe the curlew is a male.
1/6400, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
In this shot it’s the three-layer banded background that I like so much The bottom layer is sand/mud flats of the Great Salt Lake, the middle layer is small part of the lake itself and the upper layer is blue sky. This is the only photo in the series that caught the curlew centered in the middle layer and the fact that he’s calling, loudly as I recall, is also a plus.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Four frames in the burst later he’d risen above the darker blue of the lake and stopped calling but in this shot I like the almost geometric shape of his wings collectively and the matching checkered patterns of both wings and tail.
Readers know that homogenous blue sky backgrounds don’t have much appeal for me (they’re kinda boring) so if these backgrounds hadn’t been banded I wouldn’t have liked the photos nearly as much. The fact that he’s sharp and there’s a catch light in his eye in both images only adds to their appeal for me.
Yes, I wish he hadn’t been past me. But other things helped to make up for it and no photo, at least of mine, is perfect.
Ron
Lovely, thank you for taking another look and deciding to share!
I really love the calling one. When I lived in eastern New Mexico, curlews would be flying overhead. I always knew because of how they call in flight. Same with sandhill cranes. 😀
Thanks, Arwen. It’s a distinctive call, isn’t it.
Very! And the cranes…they sound like wind in the wires. It’s the only way I can explain it. The first time I heard that I ran outside to see what on earth it was. However, it wasn’t on earth. 😀 It was in the sky.
Perfection? A myth.
I love both photos and agree that the banded background makes the first – it really shows off the intricate feather patterns well.
Thanks, EC. I rarely get a background like that, which is part of the reason I like it so much.
Agree!
Good.
Curlews and other long-billed birds always make me wonder what it’s like to go through life with such a long appendage. But then, they may look at us and wonder how we do without them.
The second photo and your comment on the wing geometry has me trying to decide whether they look more like a Mobius strip or an M.C. Escher engraving.
Lyle, I’m not very familiar with either of your references in your last sentence so it looks like I’ve got some research to do.
My vote- an eschquisite reminder of Escher. That was difficult to type and more difficult to pronounce.
😁
Excellent photos – like them both for the same reasons you do. With the drought really affecting our lakes we have had a really bad spring and early summer with a serous absence of shore and wading birds. I think we had just one or two Curlews and they flew away recently due to temps reaching the high 90’s.
Everett, I haven’t seen any curlews for weeks now, possibly for the same reason. But then I haven’t been to Antelope Island in a while either.
Beautiful shots even if past you…… 🙂 Both show the Curlew well and layered background “works”.. The first shot with the out stretched wing and him calling is just lovely……..
Thanks, Judy.