Long-billed Curlew

[Mike Milicia]

EOS-1D Mk III, 500mm f/4 + 1.4x II, 1/640, f/5.6, ISO 800
About 75% of Full Frame

I found this while looking through some images from a March 2009 trip to Morro Bay, CA that I had never processed.

Looking forward to your comments and critiques!

[Aidan Briggs]

Hey Mike, great low angle, soft light, and exposure. Morro Strand beach is a great place for curlews. Only thing that bothers me a little is the OOF wave line intersecting with the head. Overall an excellent image.

[Bill Dix]

Sweet. Beautiful pose, colors, details. Can't imagine how you missed this one the first time through your files. You must have come back from that trip with lots of keepers.

[Mitch Carucci]

I have been looking for a curlew. Great pic!

[Brendan Dozier]

Very nice low angle pose, Mike. Like the details, BG, and the soft light helps to bring out the fine and subtle feather markings.

[Melissa Groo]

Mike, what a fantastic portrait of this curlew. Doesn't get much better. Love that we can see the feet and that lovely flat sandy surface. Details and light are just wonderful, as is comp.

[gail bisson]

Stunning image ! Love everything about it-the IQ, the walking pose, the sand, the BG. Well done,
Gail

[Michael Lotito]

Great subject and capture. The background and pose are wonderful!

[Arthur Morris]

Beautiful light and striding pose. You forgot to tell them that in Morro Bay this species is a dirt bird :)

[Grace Scalzo]

What's a dirt bird? I like this image alot, striding pose and nice background complete it.

[Mike Milicia]

Beautiful light and striding pose. You forgot to tell them that in Morro Bay this species is a dirt bird :)
Thanks, Artie!
Yes, I think Aidan understated it when he said that Morro Strand Beach is a "great place for Curlews". It's got to be one of the best, if not the very best place for photographing Curlews at the beach in winter.
Opportunities for images like this are a dime a dozen and all you have to do is go down to the beach! And it's also quite good for Marbled Godwits.

[Mike Milicia]

What's a dirt bird? I like this image alot, striding pose and nice background complete it.
Thanks, Grace!

A "dirt bird" is a bird that is so common that birders pay no attention to it.
Sort of like Canada Geese in the Northeast ... ok, there are THAT many Curlews in Morro Bay but I think it would
be very unusual to visit the beach in the morning in winter and not see several of them.

[Mike Milicia]

Sort of like Canada Geese in the Northeast ... ok, there are THAT many Curlews in Morro Bay but I think it would
be very unusual to visit the beach in the morning in winter and not see several of them.
Oops, that should read "there are not THAT many Curlews"

[Arthur Morris]

What's a dirt bird? I like this image alot, striding pose and nice background complete it.

Well covered above and yes, a bit of an exaggeration. But, Morro Bay is the best place in the world to photograph this species. You do however need a long lens as they are not dirt tame :)

Grace, I am sorry that I was unable to contribute anything more than what Clemens noted at the stuck tripod leg thread. Did you have any luck getting it apart?

[Grace Scalzo]

Thanks for the explanation, Artie and Mike. Sure is an interesting looking species. Artie, appreciate your follow up. No, the leg is still quite stuck. For now, I'm just ignoring it as it does not affect the function, just my ability to take the thing apart and clean it.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Grace. At some point, you may have to send it in. Lord, in the days of steel tripods I once sent three in to be fixed. They sent me a note after a year saying that they had simply put them all in the garbage.