ML620676240

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

***Stellar breeder for Eastern NY. Locally common here but extremely rare in the greater region outside of migration, with this being the last known breeding spot for UPSA in the Eastern half of NY. Once quite a plentiful breeder in the open farm grasslands around the Hudson Valley and surrounds, now a genuine rarity besides this last holdout where one pair (perhaps multiple over the years but only one at a time) has faithfully returned for at least two decades now. To be honest, I had no idea UPSA still even bred in the region, but thanks to a tip from Pedro Miranda, I learned that West Ames Rd still had a pair! Despite few successful reports this year, I thought that today — with gusting winds and impending rain — would be the perfect choice to check for a notoriously skittish, shy bird. Not my brightest decision but somehow it actually paid off. When I arrived, I began scanning the posts on the farm, and remarkably within a couple minutes of my arrival, I noticed a gangly shorebird had perched up on one of the fence posts. An absolute beauty of a grassland denizen, with long yellow legs, a blocky head, and a stout yellow beak making for a weirdly proportioned face. Wide eyed look to it, too, as if it were reciprocating my endless curiosity as I watched it from afar. Lovely buffy, scalloped plumage with barring on the underwings and a long tail with white outer edging. An adorable gorgeous curlew indeed! Stayed on the last row of fencing for most of the time, but twice it came one row closer. Gave its incredible wolf whistled song twice, a primal cry which carried far. Eventually, it dove back into the same patch of grass twice, making me think a nest might be in the making! Photos to come

Technical information

Model

NIKON D500

ISO

1600

Focal length

600 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Dimensions

1482 pixels x 988 pixels

Original file size

428.67 KB