Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: very long bill

Another photo from my archives, taken SW of Calgary on 10 June 2011. These birds often seem to put on an excellent one-legged balancing act. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson's_Snipe www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wilsons_Snipe/id

I love coming across a Wilson's Snipe / Gallinago delicata perched on a fence post at a wetland ( west of the city). The heavens had just opened and this photo was taken in very heavy rain, with tiny hailstones bouncing in through my open car window. Taken on 7th June. As today progresses, I know I am going to find it more and more difficult to remember what day and time it is. I stayed up all last night, as it was the annual Dawn Chorus at 3:30 a.m. this morning, in Weaselhead. We were so lucky that it stayed dry most of the time, with just a few raindrops and a few flashes of lightning. I think we were walking for about four hours. Haven't yet heard how many species we saw/heard, but the number of species and actual birds was way down. (Later: 44 species of bird were heard/seen). I think we must be insane to travel from different parts of the city at this unearthly hour (I left home around 2:45 a.m.), but it's quite fascinating to witness the start of a brand new day for our feathered friends. In case anyone is interested, a Spotted Sandpiper was the first (at 3:45 a.m.), followed by a Song Sparrow (3:49 a.m.), Yellow Warbler (3:58 a.m.), American Robin (3:59 a.m.) and Clay-colored Sparrow (3:59 a.m.).