Willets are large gray to brown shorebirds with long gray legs with thick straight bills.
March is a month when I begin to anticipate the arrival of Willets, I have been listening carefully for them and hoping to catch sight of them along the causeway to Antelope Island any day now.
Gray skies, freezing temps and the inversions are beginning to get to me so I thought I would share some bird images from warmer days on Fort De Soto County Park's north beach in sunny Florida.
I've had the good fortune to photograph both the eastern and western Willets in breeding plumage, the eastern in Florida and the western in Utah and Montana.
Four years ago today Hurricane Ike was out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico and the waves that it generated made a strong splash at Fort De Soto County Park.
These images were taken at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Montana. There were two Willets; an adult and a juvenile, on the shoreline of the lower lake that delighted me.
On the first day of my recent trip to southwestern Montana I came across two Willets (Tringa semipalmata) near a lake shore, one was an adult and one was a juvenile.
Getting "Down & Dirty" pays off when photographing shorebirds like this Willet in the surf I photographed in Florida as it walked along the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico.
I've heard people call Willets "Plain Brown Birds". I reckon they may have never seen one looking like this Willet.
I bet you are wondering what I mean by "Poopy perches", I know I would be if I saw that title. Am I talking about perches that are man-made and ugly? Or perches that are just not all that appealing visually?
Willets have returned to Utah, on the causeway to Antelope Island hundreds of them can be seen in the shallow water. They seem to spend some time there fattening up after migration before they get down to the serious business of mating and rearing their young.
The image above was taken at Fort De Soto on Florida's Gulf coast. The Willets there are habituated to people and because they are it is easier to approach them than it is here in Utah.
This is the third post in my series about Wild and Wonderful Antelope Island State Park, I've saved the best (and longest) for last. The Birds! Okay, maybe they aren't the best thing about Antelope Island State Park, but I am a bird photographer and they are what I am most passionate about!
There are images that I have created that as soon as I see them on my monitor become listed as one of my favorites.
Yesterday I observed an adult Willet defending its young from a group of Black-billed Magpies that were near the Willet's chicks.
One of the habits I have developed after becoming a serious bird photographer is observing and learning about bird behavior and the habitats
I hereby put the millions of biting gnats on Antelope Island on notice: No matter how many times you break through my insect repellent shield, I am still going to photograph birds on Antelope Island.
Be prepared to become addicted to birds. You will have withdrawals if you don't shoot often enough, your shutter button finger will develop a nervous twitch
The Willet is thought by many people to be a "plain brown bird" but I find their subtle coloring quite appealing whether they are in breeding or nonbreeding plumage.
Auto levels in Photoshop must be used with a light touch. Using auto levels can create too much contrast in an image, can cause color casts, it can brighten an image too much, it can strip the light and can make some images look very unnatural.