2305_3216 Willet
Last shot (for now) from Pakowki Lake. I spent most of two mornings there, focusing mainly on ibises, avocets, stilts, and some species of waterfowl that I rarely see on my home turf.
The Willet, on the other hand, is a common summer resident - and breeder - in my area. On the ground or in shallow water, it is a pleasant, patterned grey-brown, grading into white underneath. Not flashy, except for its wings when they aren't folded. So one of my ongoing goals in photographing Willets is to try for shots of its dramatic wing pattern of white on very dark brown, and this is usually seen only when the bird is in flight, taking off, or landing. The Willet in this shot is landing. I barely had time to grab the focus before it folded those wings.
I cropped this from the horizontal. I find focus tracking almost impossible with the camera positioned vertically. It's hard enough to track on the horizontal plane!
Photographed at Pakowki Lake, Alberta (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2023 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
2305_3216 Willet
Last shot (for now) from Pakowki Lake. I spent most of two mornings there, focusing mainly on ibises, avocets, stilts, and some species of waterfowl that I rarely see on my home turf.
The Willet, on the other hand, is a common summer resident - and breeder - in my area. On the ground or in shallow water, it is a pleasant, patterned grey-brown, grading into white underneath. Not flashy, except for its wings when they aren't folded. So one of my ongoing goals in photographing Willets is to try for shots of its dramatic wing pattern of white on very dark brown, and this is usually seen only when the bird is in flight, taking off, or landing. The Willet in this shot is landing. I barely had time to grab the focus before it folded those wings.
I cropped this from the horizontal. I find focus tracking almost impossible with the camera positioned vertically. It's hard enough to track on the horizontal plane!
Photographed at Pakowki Lake, Alberta (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2023 James R. Page - all rights reserved.