{"id":138985,"date":"2025-01-27T02:36:29","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T08:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=138985"},"modified":"2025-11-14T13:15:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T19:15:10","slug":"willet-and-the-gulf-of-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/27\/willet-and-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"Willet And The Gulf Of Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I dug way back into my archives for this photo of a Willet with waves rolling in from the Gulf of Mexico, taken in 2008 at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Why? Because I can. Additionally, I wanted to write about Willets and the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-138982 size-full\" title=\"Willet with waves coming in from the Gulf of Mexico\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966.jpg\" alt=\"Willet with waves coming in from the Gulf of Mexico, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Willet with waves coming in from the Gulf of Mexico \u2013 Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/500, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Willets<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Willets have two distinct populations in North America.<\/p>\n<p>Western Willets, a distinct subspecies (<em>Tringa semipalmata inornata<\/em>), have fascinating breeding habits in inland areas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They breed far inland in prairies, wetlands, and grasslands of western North America.<\/li>\n<li>Western Willets nest near marshes, seasonal wetlands, and prairie pothole ponds, often in native grasslands.<\/li>\n<li>In the Great Basin, they frequently build nests at the edge of sagebrush near ponds.<\/li>\n<li>Their breeding range extends from southern Alberta and Manitoba to northern California and Colorado.<\/li>\n<li>Western Willets prefer short, sparse cover in wetlands and grasslands, and can also be found on semiarid plains near bodies of water.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Eastern Willets (<em>Tringa semipalmata semipalmata<\/em>) have different breeding habits:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They breed in coastal salt marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States.<\/li>\n<li>Eastern Willets nest in cordgrass, saltgrass, and beachgrass near saltmarshes and on sand dunes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Both the Eastern and Western Willets have <a href=\"https:\/\/xeno-canto.org\/460721\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">piercing, distinctive calls<\/span><\/a>. I&#8217;d even say their calls are &#8220;strident.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Personally, I&#8217;ve enjoyed photographing both Eastern and Western Willets since I started bird photography, and I hope to have opportunities with Willets here in Arkansas or Oklahoma. With sightings reported in both states, I&#8217;m fairly confident I&#8217;ll be able to find them.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Gulf of Mexico<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Did you know that the Gulf of Mexico\u2019s name predates the United States, with Spanish explorers using it as far back as the 16th century?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>You do now.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Or that the recent executive order calling for a name change for the Gulf of Mexico would only apply to U.S. <strong>federal<\/strong> references and the part of the gulf within U.S. marine boundaries?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>You do now.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Did you know that other countries bordering the Gulf of Mexico, such as Mexico and Cuba, are not obligated to recognize this change?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>You do now.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And, lastly, maybe I am too old or possibly even too young for this crap, but I\u2019ll keep on using the real name, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/portfolio_tags\/gulf-of-mexico\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Gulf of Mexico<\/span><\/a>. One deplorable racist isn&#8217;t going to change my thoughts on that. Ever.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/willet-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Willet photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I dug way back into my archives for this photo of a Willet with waves rolling in from the Gulf of Mexico, taken in 2008 at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"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":""},"categories":[25,704,2000,308],"tags":[4039,5229,5132,14752,37,4153,173,4077,4099,3980,4017,274,2315,3996,5424,4119,4047,4748],"class_list":["post-138985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-willets","tag-beach","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-coastal-island","tag-florida-2","tag-fort-de-soto-county-park","tag-gulf-coast","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-morning-light","tag-pinellas-county","tag-sand","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-summer-3","tag-water","tag-wave","tag-waves","tag-willet","tag-willets"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-A9H","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4903,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/05\/03\/willets-in-utah-and-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":138985,"position":0},"title":"Willets &#8211; In Utah and Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Willet with waves at sunrise, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-waves-mia-mcpherson-8979.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-waves-mia-mcpherson-8979.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-waves-mia-mcpherson-8979.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-waves-mia-mcpherson-8979.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":94565,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/09\/07\/willet-sunrise-and-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":138985,"position":1},"title":"Willet, Sunrise And The Gulf Of Mexico","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"When I look at this photo of a Willet in the waves of the Gulf of Mexico I can almost hear the sounds, taste the tang of salt in the air and feel the warm water on my skin.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Willet in the waves of the Gulf of Mexico, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-surf-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8975.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-surf-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8975.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-surf-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8975.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-surf-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8975.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5339,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/16\/willet-in-the-surf-of-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":138985,"position":2},"title":"Willet in the surf of the Gulf of Mexico","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Willet walking in the surf, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-surf-mia-mcpherson-5238.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-surf-mia-mcpherson-5238.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-surf-mia-mcpherson-5238.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-surf-mia-mcpherson-5238.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14726,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/09\/our-willets-have-returned\/","url_meta":{"origin":138985,"position":3},"title":"Our Willets Have Returned","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday for the first time this season I saw and heard Willets on Antelope Island State Park.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Willet foraging in the Gulf of Mexico, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-surf-florida-mia-mcpherson-9495.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-surf-florida-mia-mcpherson-9495.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-surf-florida-mia-mcpherson-9495.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-surf-florida-mia-mcpherson-9495.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4721,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/04\/willet-resting-in-a-spartina-marsh\/","url_meta":{"origin":138985,"position":4},"title":"Willet Resting In A Spartina Marsh","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Florida&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Florida","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/florida\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Willet resting in a spartina marsh, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-florida-mia-mcpherson-0062.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-florida-mia-mcpherson-0062.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-florida-mia-mcpherson-0062.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-florida-mia-mcpherson-0062.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13376,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/01\/13\/willet-delight\/","url_meta":{"origin":138985,"position":5},"title":"Willet Delight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"For those of us; including myself, who are tired of gray, cold days I thought this Willet photographed in Florida might delight in the sweet light, sea foam and warm Gulf waters the image contains.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Willet delight, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-early-morning-mia-mcpherson-0746.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-early-morning-mia-mcpherson-0746.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-early-morning-mia-mcpherson-0746.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-early-morning-mia-mcpherson-0746.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}