A long-billed curlew feeds on a western mountain prairie in North Utah. Curlews breed in open grasslands of west-central US and winter in wetlands or along the coast. Like most shorebirds, they are skittish and do not allow humans close by. It took a good deal of patience and waiting on my part to get these birds to venture close to me. Even so, they were aware of my presence and would move away if I made any sudden movements. I liked the golden landscape in morning light and shot with a shallow depth-of-field to frame the bird against the soft grass.
