Beach stone-curlew

[greg cowle]

These birds are described as suspicious, they don't stay in one place very long. This was on Wonga Beach. He is a bit past me but the head is turned back just enough. The light is harsh, not much golden light in the tropics. Next low tide at dawn I'll go and see if he is out again in better conditions.
300mm, 1/3200, f4, ISO250.
Greg

[Arthur Morris]

Great bird and walking pose. The sun being almost directly overhead caused lots of problems, most notably the shaded face. That said you can still open up the dark areas especially those about the head with NIK CEP Detail Extractor of my 50/50 recipe.

with love, artie

[Bill Dix]

Great looking bird. You're right that the sun didn't do you any favors on this one, but you've gotten a nice pose and details. Hope you get him again in good light. Next time, consider giving him a little more walking room.

[annmpacheco]

Great looking bird and with the above suggestions, the next one will be a winner! What a beak! what do they eat?

[John Mack]

Very cool looking bird. Light was pretty harsh but who cares. Like the raised foot as well.

[Arthur Morris]

Very cool looking bird. Light was pretty harsh but who cares. Like the raised foot as well.

I care greatly. The quality and direction of the light plays a huge role in the success or failure of an image.

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

Great looking bird and with the above suggestions, the next one will be a winner! What a beak! what do they eat?

A bill shaped like that screams "I love to eat carbs!) Same as Yellow-crowned Night Heron and Wilson's Plover. A quick search confirmed that:

Beachstone-curlews are primarily found in intertidal areas, mangroves and rocky areas away from human habitation and are most commonly seen foraging at dawn and dusk. They utilise estuarine areas, offshore sandbars, islands and coral reefs for feeding, with their diet consisting primarily of crabs and other marine invertebrates.

From Reef Catchments here.

With love, artie

[greg cowle]

Thanks all for the comments, as I noted in the post I do have plans to get better conditions. Still I like to see different species, I hope others do too.
There are armies of soldier crabs on the beach, I assume that is part of the attraction for the beach stone-curlew. If you haven't seen soldier crabs it is amusing to see them marching around then disappearing. I have to try and capture some photos of them also.