A photo of a long-billed curlew in flight by photographer Kathy Lichtendahl of Clark won first place in the 2015 Wyoming Wildlife photography competition. The photo appears on the cover of the February edition of the magazine.

Lichtendahl, a visiting instructor of photography at Northwest College, said she took the photo last summer while hiking in the lower Baldridge Mountain area near the Luce/Hogen reservoirs, located near Clark.

“That is one of my favorite hiking areas,” she said. “I was out there photographing landscapes, and as I was coming back on the trail, I was surrounded by eight long-billed curlews, which is more than I have ever seen in one spot before.”

Lichtendahl said she always takes her longer lens while hiking in case she sees wildlife.

“I immediately turned on the camera and took a couple of shots as they flew off, and that was it,” she said. “I was pretty excited when I got home and saw how close they were and how sharp the images were.”

She finds curlews fascinating.

“They are shore birds most of the year, then they end up in the sagebrush on the plains during the summer of the year,” she said.

In addition to winning first place in the Wyoming Wildlife Photo Contest’s wildlife division with the curlew, Lichtendahl also received an honorable mention for her image of a mountain goat in the Beartooths.

This isn’t the first time Lichtendahl has submitted photos to the contest.

“The first time I submitted was in 1994, and I have submitted many times since,” she said. “I have had several in follow-up issues, and some in calendars, but the best I’ve done in the actual competition before was two honorable mentions.”