Click below to hear the curlews call.

The curlew (Latin name Numenius arquata) is the largest European wading bird, instantly recognisable on winter estuaries or summer moors by its long, downcurved bill, brown speckled upperparts, long legs and evocative call.

I love seeing and hearing this bird over the moors in late spring to mid-summer when it visits us to breed, its call is very loud and distinguished.

I was out with Jazz our little Jack Russell one evening when I heard a Curlew close by… so we quickly concealed ourselves in a large patch of moorland grass. I usually ware a woodland camouflaged jacket with matching hat (this stops my shiny head from spooking anything) and I also carry olive-green scrim nets to hide Jazz’s white back, he’s very well-behaved and knows if I stop and crouch down… he’s got to do the same. Out comes the camera and scrim nets, one goes over my head and covers hands, camera and lens body the other as previously mentioned conceals Jazz. We sit and listen, my eyes are fixed on the moor but I keep Jazz in my peripheral vision, his hearing is much keener than mine not to mention his sense of smell so if something is moving up wind he’ll let me know.

10 to 15 minutes pass, Jazz looks up at me then a few seconds later the Curlew cautiously struts out of a clump of moorland grass about 100yards up wind. If you’ve ever been in this situation you’ll understand the feeling… Heart rate goes up, you can’t move quickly, everything movement has to be slow to avoid spooking the Curlew but once you shoot, the noise of the shutter will spook the bird and that’s the time to move but still keeping low track the Curlew trying to get that perfect in flight shot using short bursts and trying not to fill the camera buffer, otherwise you’ve got to wait for it to clear with the risk of missing the shot.

I was extremely lucky that day because the Curlews decided to circle round around us a few times allowing me to get some decent shots, when I went home that evening I was elated and couldn’t wait to see the images on the screen. This happened a couple of times more in the same week and I’d got some images that I was extremely pleased with. What do you think?

Click on an image to see a larger version.