![\"willet](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/willet-3553-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n1\/2500, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I photographed this Willet on sagebrush yesterday morning on Antelope Island.\u00a0 It would occasionally call to other\u00a0Willets in the area but that was about the only interesting pose\u00a0variation it gave me and eventually I lost some interest because head-on poses aren’t my favorites and I already had plenty of shots of that posture.\u00a0 That was a mistake on my part.<\/p>\n If\u00a0pressed I’d admit that I pride myself on my ability to anticipate when a bird is about to cast a pellet.\u00a0 Usually they struggle a little (or a lot) 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 and even sometimes get a series of shots as the pellet is coming out and falling.\u00a0 In fact, here’s what BNA Online has to say about the process 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><\/strong><\/p>\n But this bird gave me no warning at all – in an instant the pellet was out and I missed the shot(s) because my attention had wandered.\u00a0 In fact it surprised me so much that when I noticed it happening\u00a0I jerked the lens when I attempted to push the shutter button too fast and all I ended up with was a blurry mess.<\/p>\n But what really surprised me was the fact that the pellet impaled itself on a sharp, dead twig from last years growth as it fell (or was thrown).\u00a0 It just happened to fall in about the only place that could happen.\u00a0 At first I thought that the pellet was sticky because it was wet so that stickiness caused it to adhere to the twig but…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
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