![\"willet](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/willet-9149-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI’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.<\/p>\n
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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 320, Canon 7D Mark\u00a0II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4\u00a0tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n This bird allowed my first close approach of the season and became an example of one of the instantaneous decisions the bird photographer must make in the field (and this time I made the wrong one). I’d been photographing it for a while when suddenly\u00a0the bird\u00a0hunkered down (as you see here)\u00a0in an obvious fear\u00a0response to something threatening in the sky. The threat turned out to be an approaching pair of sky-dancing Northern Harriers and one of them was coming in very close. I had to make a snap decision – keep my lens trained on the Willet because it was probably about to take off due to the threat or go for the sky-dancing harriers, a behavior I’ve seldom photographed and never from this close.<\/p>\n I chose the harriers in the sky and as I was attempting to acquire focus on them I heard the Willet give an alarm call and take off. I never did even get my focus locked on to the acrobatic harriers so I struck out completely. Bird photography ain’t easy!<\/p>\n In any plumage Willets are drab and inconspicuous until they\u00a0raise their wings when they instantly become quite spectacular.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/3500, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark\u00a0II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4\u00a0tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n When their wings are raised\u00a0a bold white wing-stripe suddenly appears across the base of the primaries and secondaries which\u00a0otherwise\u00a0are black and set off by black coverts.\u00a0From below the white stripe also contrasts sharply with the almost black wing-linings. This transformation is startling and quite flashy.<\/p>\n Willets typically flash their wings immediately after landing but\u00a0that’s not what this bird\u00a0was\u00a0doing here (image taken an hour and 17 minutes after the first image and in the same area – possibly the same bird). There was a stiff, cold\u00a0wind from the north which made the\u00a0Willet unstable on\u00a0its precarious perch and it simply raised its wings to maintain balance. It had to do so repeatedly.<\/p>\n Willets are\u00a0a common species\u00a0in some areas and many folks don’t pay them much attention.\u00a0But for me they’re a welcome harbinger of spring and I love watching their interesting behaviors (including spectacular fights – I call them “Willet Wars<\/a>“) and even listening to their raucous and incessant calls<\/a> which some find annoying.<\/p>\n They don’t annoy me\u00a0and I\u00a0welcome them back.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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.<\/p>\n![\"willet](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/willet-9345-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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