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1\/2500, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I photographed this Willet perched on sagebrush on Antelope Island on May 25, 2014. It would occasionally call to other Willets in the area but that was about the only interesting pose variation it gave me and eventually I lost some interest because head-on poses aren’t my favorites and I already had more than enough photos of that posture.<\/p>\n I pride myself on my ability to anticipate when a bird is about to cast a pellet. Usually they struggle for a while to get it out and that gives me time to get ready to fire off a burst and try to catch the pellet in mid-air. Other times it comes out quickly with little warning. Occasionally I’m lucky enough to get a series of shots as the pellet is coming out and flying through the air.<\/p>\n In situations like this, while using my old 7D camera, I always had to worry about filling up my buffer and missing the most crucial photos. So when this bird began to retch I was nursing my short bursts along and hoping to get the pellet coming out without filling up my buffer. Willets tend to retch for a long time so I had to be both judicious and lucky.<\/p>\n Here’s what Cornell has to say on the subject of Willets casting pellets.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1000, f\/9, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n But this Willet was the exception – almost immediately after the retching began the pellet was out and I missed the shot(s) of it falling because my attention had wandered. In fact it surprised me so much that when I noticed it happening earlier than expected I jerked my lens when I attempted to push the shutter button too fast. All I ended up with was a blurry mess.<\/p>\n But what amazed me was the fact that the pellet had actually become impaled on a sharp, dead twig from last year’s growth as it fell, or was thrown with force, as the Willet vigorously shook its head. The pellet just happened to end up in about the only place it could be impaled.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This huge crop (only 5.6% of original image) of the same photo convinced me that the pellet was actually impaled on the twig rather than just sticking to it because it was wet. It stayed there for some time but when the Willet flew off the pellet was knocked off the twig by a beating wing.<\/p>\n I know, the pellet becoming impaled was just a meaningless quirky event but I like documenting “quirky” in my photos. By definition, quirky doesn’t happen very often.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve only seen something like this happen once and I’ll almost certainly never see it again.<\/p>\n\n
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