willet – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Soon Prairie Willets Will Be Arriving In Utah

By Mia McPherson|March 9th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Prairie Willets, Utah|Tags: adult, breeding behavior, breeding season, calling, courtship display, low light, migration, Prairie Willet, rock, sandpipers, shorebirds, spring, Tringa inornata, willet, willets|

March is a month when I begin to anticipate the arrival of Prairie Willets. I've been listening carefully for them and hoping to catch sight of them along the causeway to Antelope Island any day now.

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Bird Images From Warmer Days And All At 300mm Or Less

By Mia McPherson|January 26th, 2013|Categories: Atlantic Ghost Crabs, Birds, Fish Crows, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Laughing Gulls, Pinellas County, Prairie Willets, Short-billed Dowitchers, Yellow-crowned Night Herons|Tags: bird photography, Corvus ossifragus, Fish Crow, Ghost Crab, Gulf of Mexico, Laughing Gull, Leucophaeus atricilla, Limnodromus griseus, Nyctanassa violacea, Prairie Willet, Short-billed Dowitcher, Tringa inornata, willet, Yellow-crowned Night Heron|

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.

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Saltmarsh And Prairie Willets In Breeding Plumage

By Mia McPherson|October 7th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Prairie Willets, Saltmarsh Willets, Utah|Tags: adult, breeding plumage, comparison, differences, Eastern Willet, mangroves, Prairie Willet, rabbitbrush, Saltmarsh Willet, sandpipers, shorebirds, subspecies, Tringa inornata, Tringa semipalmata, Western Willet, White Mangrove, willet|

I've had the good fortune to photograph both the Saltmarsh and Prairie Willets in breeding plumage in Florida and in Utah and Montana.

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4 Years Ago Today When Hurricane Ike Stirred Things Up At Fort De Soto

By Mia McPherson|September 12th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Laughing Gulls, Pinellas County, Prairie Willets, Reddish Egrets, Ring-billed Gulls|Tags: bird photography, Black Skimmer, Egmont Key, egret, egrets, Egretta rufescens, Gulf of Mexico, gull, gulls, Hurricane Ike, Larus delawarensis, Laughing Gull, Leucophaeus atricilla, Prairie Willet, Reddish Egret, Ring-billed Gull, Rynchops niger, skimmer, Tringa inornata, wading birds, waves, willet|

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.

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Prairie Willets in Beaverhead County, Montana

By Mia McPherson|July 29th, 2012|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Montana, Prairie Willets, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: adult, bathing, calling, immature, juvenile, lake, lake shore, lakeshore, lakeside, plumage, Prairie Willet, shorebirds, stretching, summer, Tringa inornata, valley, water, willet, willets, wing, wing lift, young|

These images were taken at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Montana. There were two juvenile Prairie Willets plus an adult on the shoreline of the lower lake that delighted me.

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Prairie Willet and Boreal Bluet Damselfly

By Mia McPherson|July 26th, 2012|Categories: Beaverhead County, Centennial Valley, Montana, Prairie Willets, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge|Tags: Boreal Bluet, Damselfly, damselfly nymphs, darning needle, dragonfly nymphs, Enallagma boreale, immature, juvenile, lake, lakeside, Lower Lake, Prairie Willet, sandpipers, summer, Tringa inornata, water, willet, willets, young|

On the first day of my recent trip to southwestern Montana I came across two Prairie Willets near a lake shore, one was an adult and one was a juvenile.

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Prairie Willet in the surf of the Gulf of Mexico

By Mia McPherson|July 16th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Prairie Willets|Tags: adult, beach, coast, coastal, crasshing waves, Down & Dirty, Gulf of Mexico, low ISO, Prairie Willet, sea foam, shorebird, shorebirds, surf, Tringa inornata, water, waves, willet, willets|

Getting "Down & Dirty" pays off when photographing shorebirds like this Prairie Willet in the surf I photographed in Florida as it walked along the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico.

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Plain Brown Bird?? Pfflllt…

By Mia McPherson|June 14th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Prairie Willets, Utah|Tags: adult, balanced, desert island, plain brown bird, Prairie Willet, rabbitbrush, sandpipers, shorebirds, spring, Tringa inornata, underside, willet, willets, wings|

I've heard people call Prairie Willets "Plain Brown Birds". I reckon they may have never seen one looking like this willet.

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Birds on Poopy Perches

By Mia McPherson|May 26th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Horned Larks, Humor, Long-billed Curlews, Prairie Willets, Utah|Tags: bird photography, bison poop, curlew, curlews, Eremophila alpestris, Horned Lark, humor, lark, larks, Long-billed Curlew, manure, Numenius americanus, perch, poopy, poopy perches, Prairie Willet, Tringa inornata, 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?

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Prairie Willets – In Utah and Florida

By Mia McPherson|May 3rd, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Prairie Willets, Utah|Tags: adult, beach, calling, coast, early morning light, grasslands, Gulf of Mexico, marshes, Prairie Willet, rabbitbrush, rock, rocks, sandpipers, sea foam, seafoam, shorebirds, stretching, tidal lagoons, Tringa inornata, water, waves, willet, willets|

In Utah I see Prairie Willets in much different habitats than I saw them in Florida, here they stand on rocks, perch precariously on shrubs, and forage in grasslands.

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Prairie Willet Resting In A Spartina Marsh

By Mia McPherson|April 4th, 2012|Categories: Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Prairie Willets|Tags: adult, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, marsh, Prairie Willet, resting, sandpipers, shorebirds, spartina, spring, tidal lagoon, Tringa inornata, water, willet, willets|

My Nikkor 80-400mm VR was being repaired when I photographed this Prairie Willet and I was using my 70-300mm VR.

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Playing Favorites – Resting Saltmarsh Willet

By Mia McPherson|August 24th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Low angle, Pinellas County, Prairie Willets|Tags: beach, coast, favorites, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, resting, Saltmarsh Willet, sand, sandpipers, shore, shorebirds, sky, subtle colors, summer, Tringa semipalmata, water, willet, willets|

There are images that I have created that as soon as I see them on my monitor become listed as one of my favorites.

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One Prairie Willet’s Defense Of Its Young

By Mia McPherson|July 16th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Davis County, Prairie Willets, Utah|Tags: adult, aerial defense, alarmed, Bird behavior, Black-billed Magpie, calling, chicks, defense, defensive, flight, flying, grasses, Great Salt Lake, juveniles, magpie, magpies, perched, Pica hudsonia, prairie grasses, Prairie Willet, predators, response, sandpipers, shorebirds, threat, Tringa inornata, wildlife, willet, willets, young|

Yesterday I observed an adult Prairie Willet defending its young from a group of Black-billed Magpies that were near the willet's chicks.

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Killdeer and Willets – Territorial Disputes

By Mia McPherson|June 4th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Killdeer, Prairie Willets, Utah|Tags: adult, adults, breeding season, Charadrius vociferus, conflict, desert island, hillside, Killdeer, nesting area, Prairie Willet, rocky outcrop, shorebird, shorebirds, spring, territorial disputes, Tringa inornata, willet, willets|

One of the habits I have developed after becoming a serious bird photographer is observing and learning about bird behavior and the habitats

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Saltmarsh Willet In A Fog

By Mia McPherson|November 13th, 2010|Categories: Birds, Florida, Low light, Saltmarsh Willets|Tags: adult, fog, foggy, lagoon, low light, Saltmarsh Willet, sandpipers, shorebirds, Tringa semipalmata, water, willet, willets|

The Saltmarsh 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.

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Auto Levels in Photoshop

By Mia McPherson|November 9th, 2010|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Prairie Willets|Tags: auto levels, lagoon, photoshop, post processing, Prairie Willet, sandpipers, shorebird, shorebirds, Tringa inornata, water, willet, willets|

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.

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