Huge flock of Long-billed Curlews!

For just a few moments I could fantasize that it was 1814 and not 2014 as I stood out on the prairie marveling at a flock of 300+ Long-billed Curlews flying by on their way south.  It was a pretty neat experience standing out on the prairie by myself listening to them call as they wheeled overhead.

Once a regular winter resident in northeast Florida sadly my friends back there say this has now become a rare bird. Well maybe my 300 birds would have been thousands 200 years ago, but just for a moment it was fun to watch them.

Part of a flock of 300+ Long-billed Curlews moving over the New Mexico Prairie near Estancia in Torrance County