{"id":7086,"date":"2012-08-13T10:21:17","date_gmt":"2012-08-13T16:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=7086"},"modified":"2012-09-01T19:06:53","modified_gmt":"2012-09-02T01:06:53","slug":"bathing-willet-adult","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/13\/bathing-willet-adult\/","title":{"rendered":"Bathing Willet Adult"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Several weeks ago I found this\u00a0adult Willet\u00a0near the shore of a lake\u00a0in Beaverhead County in sw Montana.\u00a0 Most of the shorebirds in this remote area of the state aren&#8217;t used to\u00a0people so they&#8217;re difficult to approach but this\u00a0single adult\u00a0(and a couple of juveniles &#8211; likely the offspring of this bird) were very cooperative &#8211; which makes me speculate that this adult\u00a0had migrated from an area where it had become accustomed to humans.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7087\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/13\/bathing-willet-adult\/willet-7261-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7261-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,643\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;7.1&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;RON DUDLEY&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1342634155&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"willet 7261 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7261-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7261-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7087\" title=\"willet 7261 ron dudley\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7261-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"willet 7261 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7261-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7261-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7261-ron-dudley-150x107.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7261-ron-dudley-400x285.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0It spent quite a while feeding on aquatic insects and crustaceans.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7088\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/13\/bathing-willet-adult\/willet-7285-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7285-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,643\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;7.1&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;RON DUDLEY&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1342634316&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0004&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"willet 7285 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7285-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7285-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7088\" title=\"willet 7285 ron dudley\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7285-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"willet 7285 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7285-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7285-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7285-ron-dudley-150x107.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7285-ron-dudley-400x285.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0There was a variable breeze blowing and in many of these shots and\u00a0I liked the effect it had on the water surface.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7089\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/13\/bathing-willet-adult\/willet-7344-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7344-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,643\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;7.1&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;RON DUDLEY&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1342634490&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"willet 7344 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7344-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7344-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7089\" title=\"willet 7344 ron dudley\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7344-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"willet 7344 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7344-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7344-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7344-ron-dudley-150x107.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7344-ron-dudley-400x285.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0Then the Willet began to bathe&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7091\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/13\/bathing-willet-adult\/willet-7367-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7367-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,642\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;7.1&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;RON DUDLEY&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1342634498&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"willet 7367 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7367-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7367-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7091\" title=\"willet 7367 ron dudley\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7367-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"willet 7367 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"642\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7367-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7367-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7367-ron-dudley-150x107.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7367-ron-dudley-400x285.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0and occasionally would even give me direct eye contact.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7092\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/13\/bathing-willet-adult\/willet-7380-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7380-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,666\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;7.1&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;RON DUDLEY&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1342634507&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"willet 7380 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7380-ron-dudley-300x222.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7380-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7092\" title=\"willet 7380 ron dudley\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7380-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"willet 7380 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"666\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7380-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7380-ron-dudley-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7380-ron-dudley-150x111.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7380-ron-dudley-400x296.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">As it completed its bath it did a few wing flaps to get rid of some of the water.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7093\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/13\/bathing-willet-adult\/willet-7389-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7389-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,687\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;7.1&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;RON DUDLEY&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1342634582&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0004&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"willet 7389 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7389-ron-dudley-300x229.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7389-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7093\" title=\"willet 7389 ron dudley\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7389-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"willet 7389 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"687\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7389-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7389-ron-dudley-300x229.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7389-ron-dudley-150x114.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7389-ron-dudley-400x305.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And then a vigorous shake to help dry and rearrange the feathers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7095\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/13\/bathing-willet-adult\/willet-7410-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7410-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,673\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;7.1&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;RON DUDLEY&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1342634616&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0004&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"willet 7410 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7410-ron-dudley-300x224.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7410-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7095\" title=\"willet 7410 ron dudley\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7410-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"willet 7410 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"673\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7410-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7410-ron-dudley-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7410-ron-dudley-150x112.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7410-ron-dudley-400x299.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0Then of course there was the post-bath preening.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7096\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/13\/bathing-willet-adult\/willet-7492-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7492-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,759\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;7.1&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;RON DUDLEY&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1342635535&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"willet 7492 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7492-ron-dudley-300x253.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7492-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7096\" title=\"willet 7492 ron dudley\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7492-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"willet 7492 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"759\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7492-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7492-ron-dudley-300x253.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7492-ron-dudley-150x126.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/willet-7492-ron-dudley-400x337.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em>1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And finally a nice wing stretch to complete the bathing ritual.\u00a0 The wing movement scared up some flying insects from the foreground vegetation.<\/p>\n<p>Willets appear to be pretty much &#8220;plain brown birds&#8221; until they spread their wings and then the striking and bold black and white patterns there become apparent.<\/p>\n<p>Ron<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Several weeks ago I found this\u00a0adult Willet\u00a0near the shore of a lake\u00a0in Beaverhead County in sw Montana.\u00a0 Most of the shorebirds in this remote area of the state aren&#8217;t used to\u00a0people so they&#8217;re difficult to approach but this\u00a0single adult\u00a0(and a couple of juveniles &#8211; likely the offspring of this bird) were very cooperative &#8211; which makes me speculate that this adult\u00a0had migrated from an area where it had become accustomed to humans. &nbsp; 1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4 \u00a0It spent quite a while feeding on aquatic insects and crustaceans. &nbsp; &nbsp; \u00a01\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4 \u00a0There was a variable breeze blowing and in many of these shots and\u00a0I liked the effect it had on the water surface. &nbsp; &nbsp; \u00a01\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4 \u00a0Then the Willet began to bathe&#8230; &nbsp; &nbsp; \u00a01\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4 \u00a0and occasionally would even give me direct eye contact. &nbsp; &nbsp; \u00a01\/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. &nbsp; \u00a01\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4 And then a vigorous shake to help dry and rearrange the feathers. &nbsp; &nbsp; \u00a01\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4 \u00a0Then of course there was the post-bath preening. &nbsp; &nbsp; \u00a01\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f\/4 And finally a nice wing stretch to complete the bathing ritual.\u00a0 The wing movement scared up some flying insects from the foreground vegetation. Willets appear to be pretty much &#8220;plain brown birds&#8221; until they&#8230;<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/13\/bathing-willet-adult\/\"><span>Continue reading<\/span><i class=\"crycon-right-dir\"><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[334,343],"tags":[47,779,220,255,810,327,809],"class_list":["post-7086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-birds","category-willets","tag-bathing","tag-beaverhead-county","tag-montana-2","tag-preening","tag-tringa-semipalmata","tag-willet","tag-wing-stretch"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1zzJh-1Qi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7086\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}