![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/long-billed-curlew-0925-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"long-billed-curlew-0925-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nOne of two shorebird species I think of as “Cinderella birds”. Here’s why.<\/p>\n
This time of year both Long-billed Curlews and Willets are found in good numbers on Antelope Island so yesterday morning I was hoping to get lucky and photograph both species taking off. When their wings are folded, Willets and curlews are statuesque but rather plain-looking birds.<\/p>\n
But when they raise those same wings, their transformation is instantaneous and I think, quite remarkable – curlews suddenly become much more colorful and Willets reveal an almost shocking broad white wing stripe bordered in black. Cinderallas indeed.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/6,3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I found this male (based on bill length and shape) curlew foraging in short grass on a slope on the north end of the island. When he eventually struck this pose his erect and alert posture suggested to me that he was thinking of taking off so I prepared myself for exactly that.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6,3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n It took him a few seconds to make his decision but this time I was right. When he began running just prior to liftoff and opened his wings, the cinnamon colors on their wings that I adore were revealed. I got quite a few shots of him in flight but this photo taken early in his takeoff showed the cinnamon colors as well as any flight shots I got.<\/p>\n So, did I get my twofer yesterday morning? Did I get a similar takeoff shot of a Willet?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/6,3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Nope.<\/p>\n I did have high hopes for this Willet perched on sagebrush but ‘he’ was sleepy and damn-near comatose so he barely moved for the entire time I was with him. Eventually he was making me<\/em> sleepy, so I moved on to look for other birds.<\/p>\n Maybe next time I visit the island I’ll get my twofer, but it didn’t happen yesterday.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fair warning: <\/em><\/p>\n If you’re local and planning on visiting the island anytime soon, be prepared for a daunting gauntlet of road construction. Yesterday morning I ran into construction on I-15, most of Antelope Drive is a construction mess and will be for a long time and then there’s the ongoing construction fiasco along the causeway to the island. Even though it was before 7 AM when I got to the island I almost wished I had a stiff drink to settle my nerves. Almost…<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/long-billed-curlew-0983-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"long-billed-curlew-0983-ron-dudley\\"")
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