Long-billed Curlew with Willet

[Bob Pelkey]

Long-billed Curlew with Willet at San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve
Fort Myers, Florida USA

This was the second time I've observed the curlew in my nearly three years of birding.
The first sighting was at Little Estero Lagoon 27 December 2008 (again without another of its kind).
The species can be found in abundance in the Big Cypress National Preserve (I've been told).
It was very interesting to see the Willet attempt to pick up the scraps or possibly attempt to take
the food from the curlew. Note the closed eye of the curlew as the prey is consumed.
This behavior is likely to protect itself from injury.


Canon EOS-1D Mark III ,Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM
1/1000s f/11.0 at 840.0mm iso800 hide exif
Tripod used, image sharpened, lightened, and uncropped.

Full EXIF Info
Date/Time	27-Jan-2010 17:161
Make	Canon
Model	Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Flash Used	No
Focal Length	840 mm
Exposure Time	1/1000 sec
Aperture	f/11
ISO Equivalent	800
Exposure Bias
White Balance
Metering Mode	matrix (5)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Program	shutter priority (2)
Focus Distance

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Interesting behavior and good to have two species in the frame. I wish the shutter speed would have been higher as there is some motion blur, wish for a better head angle of the willet and the OOF bird on the right is a bit distracting. I might remove that one and put the other two birds further to the right in the frame.

[Matthew Studebaker]

Great find in terms of rare species for Florida. Wonderful detail, shooting angle, light. For me, the image may work to document behavior but with the out of focus willet blocking most of the primary subject, as an image, it kind of falls apart.

[Daniel Belasco]

Great shot. Hope you had the chancce to take many more of this bird.

This is the one bird I would really like to photograph. I will be in Florida the middle of March and would like any suggestions of where to photograph this bird. I will be driving all around Florida and up the west coast maybe as far as La.

[Bob Pelkey]

I am clueless as to how to remove the Willet at right, Axel, and find your suggestion intriguing.
If an image falls apart due to behavior, Matthew, I'll take behavior every time. Thanks for your thoughts.
I'm finding myself more conservative in firing at will at the birds I observe, Daniel. I've yet to shoot
rapid fire, yet got a few shots of this bird with a very keen eye on its prey a fraction of a second earlier.
The one represented here I thought would be found most interesting. The curlew is regrettably a migratory
species in Florida, but will hopefully be present when you make your trip. The venue where the species
is possibly in relatively great abundance is on Turner River Road (north/south) just South of I-75, but you
have to access the area from Highway 41. I encourage you to make the drive which will require most of your day.
Don't be discouraged by the quality of the unpaved road.