Friday Photo #656 – Curlew Twilight

Photo: Curlew in July midnight twilight, Flakstadøy, Lofoten Islands, Norway. July, 21, 2025. 23:53

I haven’t had much luck with the Arctic Skuas in my neighbourhood this year. I have seen them flying directly over my house on several occasions in the last weeks, but anytime I head out to the moorlands to take a look, just silence… Silence from the Arctic Skuas at least, but the neighbourhood is still alive with life for the next few weeks as various types of young fledgling chicks gain strength for their long migrations south.

The curlew parents fly around in an attempt to distract you from their chicks, which sit absolutely still in the bushy heather attempting to remain unseen. The young chick from the curlew in this image happened to be just along the side of the trail as I was passing by. Had I been a hungry fox, it would have been an easy meal. But I was more interested in getting a nice shot of the parent, as it was obvious I wasn’t having any luck with the Skuas on this evening.

With the sun soon setting combined with a layer of fog out to sea, it was getting dark-ish for wildlife photography at midnight. The curlew was often in front of mountains and other vegetation most of the time as it flew around and landed on various small outcroppings. This was too dark and pushed my ISO up to 25600 at times. It wasn’t until it finally landed in an area overlooking the sea where I could get more light from the brighter open background and distant mountains. I could also drop my shutter speed a little as well as the bird luckily remained still for long enough to get a few shots.

The following morning as I was walking to the shower, two of the Arctic Skuas flew right outside my bathroom window… Perhaps I should just sit on the toilet for my future wildlife photography attempts.

Camera Info:
Nikon Z8
Nikon 180-600mm f/536-6.3
300mm
ISO 2800
f6.3
1/640 Second
WB Daylight