Willet

Gallery: AvianPosted February 18, 20185,295 views4 comments

I often do avian on a tripod, which can be troublesome in soft wet sand, so I recently made "beach wear" shoes from tennis balls (problem solved).

I shot several frames of this Willet today. Of the larger shore birds these are more numerous than Godwits in my area, and happily the most cooperative. In this case a number of my images were taken while the bird was approaching me, which seems to illustrate their curious nature, and this was after the approach. This is full height cropped from left to 4x3 from 3x2.

7D2 400 DO II +1.4X on Wimberley I, ISO 400 1/2500 f6.3 +1/3EV

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on February 18, 2018 at 7:49 PM

Excellent detail, Bill and I like the framing. Thanks for the tip about the tennis balls-it's a great idea.

It's interesting that you refer to Willets as being the most cooperative. I was reading a book by one of the early American bird photographers recently (written around 1905) and he talked about how skittish they were, along with a lot of other shore birds. Apparently they were esteemed as table birds back then.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Williams on February 18, 2018 at 10:41 PM

Nice muted pallette here Bill. Nice detail and lighting. The willet really blends well with the sandy beach. Great idea with the tennis balls too.

Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments

Comment posted by Debapratim Saha on February 19, 2018 at 10:48 AM

Beautiful frame with the typical habitat and like the idea of beach wear for tripod legs.

Registered on February 4, 2018, 26 Posts, 101 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on February 19, 2018 at 2:41 PM

Well composed with superb detail and exposure control. I like the pose at the shadow. You're so fortunate to have a wealth of interesting shorebirds as subjects.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments