Willet In Flight Showing Off Those Flashy Wing Patterns
Sometimes I should be much more careful when choosing a single image from a series to post on Feathered Photography.
Tag: willet
Peekaboo Willet
Soon the Willets on Antelope Island will mostly leave the island proper (if they haven’t already) and move down to the shoreline of the lake where they’re less accessible so for the last several weeks I’ve been striking while the iron is hot and photographing them at every opportunity.
Willets On The Rocks
Plus yet another Willet mystery but this one involves shadows rather than behavior.
Willet On Sagebrush
A Couple Of Willet Takeoffs
Willet – Allowing Enough Room For Wings At Take-off
Many things can go wrong when photographing birds at take-off and clipping wings is at or near the top of the list. The amount of room the photographer needs to allow for raised (or lowered) wings is hugely deceiving. Sure, you may catch the wings in a horizontal position without clipping them but that position is generally much less desirable.
Willet – A Flashy Transformation
I’ve been noticing Willets on Antelope Island for a week now but until yesterday I’ve been unable to get close to any of them.
Wispy Willet (and the effects of bokeh on an image)
The background bokeh of an image can have a huge impact on the overall aesthetic quality of an image.
A Willet, An Impaled Pellet And A Photographer Caught By Surprise
After eight years of photographing birds it’s not every day that I see something new but yesterday I did.
Willet – The Transformation Of An Avian Chameleon
With its wings folded the plump, drab-plumaged Willet is brown and inconspicuous but a remarkable transformation takes place when those wings are opened.
A Clumsy Willet
Occasionally a bird will have trouble maintaining stability on its perch and the results can be entertaining.
Willet Take-off
Yesterday morning I found this Willet perched on one of the Tintic Quartzite boulders so common on the northern part of Antelope Island. The Willets are still active on the higher slopes of the island but it won’t be long until they’re spending most of their time along the shoreline and causeway.
Willets On Antelope Island
Willets aren’t flashy birds but right now they’re very conspicuous on Antelope Island because they’ve come up higher on the slopes for their spring mating activities.
Juvenile Willets In Montana’s Centennial Valley
On my mid-July trip to the Centennial Valley I spent several days with an adult Willet and two juveniles. I reliably found them foraging for insects where a dirt road met Lower Red Rock Lake. Most of the shore birds and wading birds in this area are truly wild and difficult to approach but these three birds were the exception as they repeatedly let me get close as they fed and preened. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 This was the most perfectly coiffed of the two juveniles, as the other youngster had a patch of unruly feathers on the back of its head and upper neck. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 This particular site provided a bountiful Arthropod smorgasbord for the willets, both in the water and on the shoreline. The birds would feed on aquatic insects and crustaceans in the shallow water for a while and then get a little variety in their diet by coming up onto the shore and gobbling down hordes of terrestrial insects. Here, the more unkempt juvie (notice the fluff of feathers on the back of the head) feeds on a variety of dipterans that it flushes from the vegetation. I’ve cropped this image unconventionally to show more of the “bugs” in the air. I didn’t get a catch light in this shot but this image showed the insects best. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc At times some of the insects almost seemed to dare the Willets to pluck them out of…
Bathing Willet Adult
Several weeks ago I found this adult Willet near the shore of a lake in Beaverhead County in sw Montana. Most of the shorebirds in this remote area of the state aren’t used to people so they’re difficult to approach but this single adult (and a couple of juveniles – likely the offspring of this bird) were very cooperative – which makes me speculate that this adult had migrated from an area where it had become accustomed to humans. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 It spent quite a while feeding on aquatic insects and crustaceans. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 There was a variable breeze blowing and in many of these shots and I liked the effect it had on the water surface. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 Then the Willet began to bathe… 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 and occasionally would even give me direct eye contact. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 As it completed its bath it did a few wing flaps to get rid of some of the water. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 And then a vigorous shake to help dry and rearrange the feathers. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 Then of course there was the post-bath preening. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 And finally a nice wing stretch to complete the bathing ritual. The wing movement scared up some flying insects from the foreground vegetation. Willets appear to be pretty much “plain brown birds” until they…
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Peekaboo Willet
Soon the Willets on Antelope Island will mostly leave the island proper (if they haven’t already) and move down to the shoreline of the lake where they’re less accessible so for the last several weeks I’ve been striking while the iron is hot and photographing them at every opportunity.
Willets On The Rocks
Plus yet another Willet mystery but this one involves shadows rather than behavior.
Willet On Sagebrush
A Couple Of Willet Takeoffs
Willet – Allowing Enough Room For Wings At Take-off
Many things can go wrong when photographing birds at take-off and clipping wings is at or near the top of the list. The amount of room the photographer needs to allow for raised (or lowered) wings is hugely deceiving. Sure, you may catch the wings in a horizontal position without clipping them but that position is generally much less desirable.
Willet – A Flashy Transformation
I’ve been noticing Willets on Antelope Island for a week now but until yesterday I’ve been unable to get close to any of them.
Wispy Willet (and the effects of bokeh on an image)
The background bokeh of an image can have a huge impact on the overall aesthetic quality of an image.
A Willet, An Impaled Pellet And A Photographer Caught By Surprise
After eight years of photographing birds it’s not every day that I see something new but yesterday I did.
Willet – The Transformation Of An Avian Chameleon
With its wings folded the plump, drab-plumaged Willet is brown and inconspicuous but a remarkable transformation takes place when those wings are opened.
A Clumsy Willet
Occasionally a bird will have trouble maintaining stability on its perch and the results can be entertaining.
Willet Take-off
Yesterday morning I found this Willet perched on one of the Tintic Quartzite boulders so common on the northern part of Antelope Island. The Willets are still active on the higher slopes of the island but it won’t be long until they’re spending most of their time along the shoreline and causeway.
Willets On Antelope Island
Willets aren’t flashy birds but right now they’re very conspicuous on Antelope Island because they’ve come up higher on the slopes for their spring mating activities.
Juvenile Willets In Montana’s Centennial Valley
On my mid-July trip to the Centennial Valley I spent several days with an adult Willet and two juveniles. I reliably found them foraging for insects where a dirt road met Lower Red Rock Lake. Most of the shore birds and wading birds in this area are truly wild and difficult to approach but these three birds were the exception as they repeatedly let me get close as they fed and preened. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 This was the most perfectly coiffed of the two juveniles, as the other youngster had a patch of unruly feathers on the back of its head and upper neck. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 This particular site provided a bountiful Arthropod smorgasbord for the willets, both in the water and on the shoreline. The birds would feed on aquatic insects and crustaceans in the shallow water for a while and then get a little variety in their diet by coming up onto the shore and gobbling down hordes of terrestrial insects. Here, the more unkempt juvie (notice the fluff of feathers on the back of the head) feeds on a variety of dipterans that it flushes from the vegetation. I’ve cropped this image unconventionally to show more of the “bugs” in the air. I didn’t get a catch light in this shot but this image showed the insects best. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4. 1.4 tc At times some of the insects almost seemed to dare the Willets to pluck them out of…
Bathing Willet Adult
Several weeks ago I found this adult Willet near the shore of a lake in Beaverhead County in sw Montana. Most of the shorebirds in this remote area of the state aren’t used to people so they’re difficult to approach but this single adult (and a couple of juveniles – likely the offspring of this bird) were very cooperative – which makes me speculate that this adult had migrated from an area where it had become accustomed to humans. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 It spent quite a while feeding on aquatic insects and crustaceans. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 There was a variable breeze blowing and in many of these shots and I liked the effect it had on the water surface. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 Then the Willet began to bathe… 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 and occasionally would even give me direct eye contact. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 As it completed its bath it did a few wing flaps to get rid of some of the water. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 And then a vigorous shake to help dry and rearrange the feathers. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 Then of course there was the post-bath preening. 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4 And finally a nice wing stretch to complete the bathing ritual. The wing movement scared up some flying insects from the foreground vegetation. Willets appear to be pretty much “plain brown birds” until they…