Friday, December 10, 2010

Eastern Curlews

The other day while I was photographing shorebirds a raptor frightened up a flock of Eastern Curlews (Numenius madagascariensis). They whirled overhead then settled down on the other side of the bay again. The Eastern Curlew is the largest shorebird to visit Australia in our summer - 60-65cms from beak to tail. It breeds as far north as Siberia and Mongolia. (Click photo to enlarge.)
For more photos of the sky visit Skywatch Friday.

16 comments:

  1. G'day Mick,
    Great shot of a wonderful sighting. We get excited over one Eastern Curlew down here.
    Regards,
    Gouldiae.

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  2. Amazing! I wonder how they keep from flying into each other. :)

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  3. What curious beaks...I wonder what strange nook caused these birds to evolve this way?

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  4. What a terrific capture, Mick! That does look like a bird traffic jam!! Have a great weekend!

    Sylvia

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  5. They always sounds so mournful, don't they?

    At least the UK ones do.
    A little mealy-mouthed for their size.
    Lovely to see them wheeling in your picture.
    (jo©o)

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  6. Great shot!!!

    cheers from Uruguay :)

    Embracing who we are - http://gabrielaabalo.blogspot.com/

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  7. it always looks so cool when they take to wings like that. Great shot.

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  8. Wow, how cool to see so many Curlews. Great capture.

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  9. What a very nice capture of movement and flight... nice!

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  10. Great shot, I love how clear all the birds are. It's been a long time since I've seen anything like that.

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  11. I wish I could see one and you have a whole sky full!!

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  12. A fascinating capture of all these wings in flight!

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  13. That's a nice sized flock. I wish I saw more of these birds this way.

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  14. Great photo :)
    I can see you love birds, so do I :)

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